Back to the Homestead - Homestead Journal Show Notes

Back to the Homestead

Keeping a Garden Journal

 Keeping records is not something that I enjoy much. I just want to get things done and not worry about all the logistics. Maybe it's because I am a nurse and a huge part of nursing is documenting and keeping records; it seems like half of the duties in nursing is writing something down that we just did. However, keeping records ensures we medical folks don't repeat something that didn't work and we can repeat which worked well the last time. Keeping a garden journal...or better yet...keeping a homesteading journal could end up saving time and money (as if these two things are separate entities). A homestead journal may very well keep you from making the same old mistake year after year after year.

If you are anything like me, when to plant is a guessing game. If we plant too soon, the frost gets us. If we plant too late, our harvest comes in late. If we keep simple garden records, we'll be better equipped based on the mistakes from years past. It's the same way with harvesting. What if we planted 100' of purple hull peas, grew them, picked them, hulled them and preserved them and by New Years, we had eaten all that we grew? A garden journal could remind us next year to increase our planting and subsequently our harvest.
Keeping a homestead journal is as important as keeping a canning cookbook or maintenance record on an automobile. With a project as extensive as homesteading, a journal is vital.

Now, we here on the Walker Homestead aren't sitting around writing notes in our homestead journal. We've been busy! The chickens are pinned up and they told me exactly what they think of the new arrangement (in chicken talk). We got some rows pulled and some potatoes planted. We "woke up" the yard, cut back the raspberries, sifting compost, fixing water lines, weeding, refreshing, fertilizing and getting a red neck to boot!
I have put together a garden journal that you can use. They are in both word and PDF format. You can do what ever you like with them. Add stuff. Take stuff out. Modify stuff. The sky's the limit. You may it your own.

Here's the PDF format: backtothehomestead.com/homestead_garden_journal.pdf

I hope this journal is helpful. Let me know what you think.

I often get a book or two on homesteading, gardening and other how-to's from time to time. However, the other day, I picked up a book called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. It's about a young boy from Malawi, a country in Africa, who put together a device he called "electric wind." In his language, there is no word for "windmill." This fellow named William Kamkwamba and his family pulled themselves through a period of famine that we all hope we never have to go through. During this period of time, he would sneak into school (notice I said "into school"). When he got caught and expelled, he would dig around the dump yards and learn from the devices other would just throw away. If you are looking for a motivational read while you rest between chores, this is the book for your summer.

Here's what Amazon says:

With nothing more than a fistful of cornmeal in his stomach, a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks, and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to bring his family a set of luxuries that only two percent of Malawians could afford and what the West considers a necessity—electricity and running water. Using scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves, William forged a crude yet operable windmill, an unlikely contraption and small miracle that eventually powered four lights, complete with homemade switches and a circuit breaker made from nails and wire. A second machine turned a water pump that could battle the drought and famine that loomed with every season.


Keep on growing and remember: Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.

SULAE