Garden Notebook: A place to take notes is essential. It can be a sketch book, 3 ring binder, accordion file, or an electronic version or a spread sheet. What ever system feels comfortable and is easy to use. Keep track of plants or products you want to try out, note planting dates, note problems and successes. Also keep track of what you plant each year and any disease problems encountered.
Plans: You don't need anything elaborate, a simple sketch on notebook paper will work. Keep a copy of previous seasons plans to refer back to. Here is a link to a workbook of spread sheets with a grid designed for each size of plot in the Campbell Community Garden. Each square of the grid represents one square foot (not necessarily to scale on the page, they are designed to fit on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper) Look for your plot size at the bottom of the work book and click on the appropriate tab.
Plot Layout: One doesn't need to plant in traditional rows. Here are a few ideas on how to layout a larger plot. The green represents planting area and the yellow represents mulched paths. The planting area should be no more than 4 feet deep so you can reach into the bed from all sides with out stepping onto the nice soil. Paths should be at least 2 feet wide to allow room for a little spill over of lush plantings
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| 10 by 20 foot garden |
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10 foot by 10 foot garden
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| 10 by 20 foot garden |
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| A 4 foot wide bed doesn't need an interior path, this example shows planning blocks of plants that are in the same family, planning ahead can make yearly crop rotation easy. |
