Am I the only nutbag who does this?

[Carri]

I just spent a good three, three and a half hours examining my Sunset Western Garden book, cutting pictures out of magazines and taping them inside a garden journal. And of course, I wrote notes next to each picture (what variety it is, where I should plant it, etc).
I see all these great ideas inside my magazines, but I have a hard time collecting my thoughts when I'm at the nursery!! Not only that, but I can't lug a stack of Better Homes and Martha Stewart magazines... I'll break my back. And, sometimes I'll see a garden or a picture that really inspires me, but I can't find it when I go back to look for it.
Anyone else do this?

Running off to the garden center with my OCD notebook...

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Not yet, but that's a great idea! I think I'm going to steal that OCD idea for the church project. That way, we can keep notes in the book as to varieties grown, quality of germination & production, where grown, and crop rotation.

Have fun shopping!

 

[Tutter]

Carri, I just have file holders that I label and put clippings in.

One, for example, might say 'house', and it's for ideas I thought were cool for decorating. So, yes, in my way, I guess I do.

 

[Buff Shallots]

Since I hate saving magazines, I just rip out the articles I might want to refer to someday and put them in a three-ring binder with sections (Roses, Kitchen Gardens, Garden Design, Climbing Plants, veggies, etc.) The habit came in handy on this forum when someone wrote in with a question about fennel, and I happened to have an article from 1996 about it, so I mailed it to her.

 

[patandchickens]

I just make mental notes of plants I might think about growing someday, I find that's generally enough (at least, enough to get me through a nursery, and then I can look things up when I get home if I really need to).

I do, though, have a misshapen pile of various scraps of paper, which tend to topple and get lost from time to time, of notes as to combinations of perennials I've seen that look nice, rose varieties (specifically - too darn many roses in the world!!) that I am contemplating if I ever get around to planting roses, and -- here is the really important part -- notes about what needs to be done differently in the garden next year.

The latter category is things like "move Anaphalis somewhere else so I don't have to watch the painted lady caterpillars eating it down to the bones"; "move Penst. 'Elfin Pink' to left front, move white iris where it was, get something tall and white to replace iris"; "reduce Lamb's Ears next spring".

Every late winter / early spring, I gather up as many of the notes as I can extract from behind the bookshelf, under the sofa and inside of kids' toys, and make a To Do list, of which I am lucky to accomplish half but that's better than nothing ;P

Pat

 

[simple life]

I do have the same system. I keep a notebook and a folder. The folder holds torn out magazine pages of things I like and I keep an inventory in my notebook of what I have and when and where I planted it so I can keep tabs on how well it did in each site.
I also have my wish list of what I want to plant and where.
Its easy to get off track when you walk into a nursery and see so many new things, sometimes I buy things that weren't on my list and other things go on my wish list.

 

[smom1976]

ahhh that would be soooo much easier..

I have about 20 Better home and garden, 6 gardening .. and a few more scrapbooking..(my love that has been neglected from the chickens and garden)

that is an awsome idea...

going to do it!

 

[Beekissed]

I only WISH I were that organized! I just keep all these mags in piles and can't remember where I saw this or that article....will have to implement your wonderful way of planning for the future!

 

[simple life]

You will definitely appreciate being able to find things you are looking for. I use to have stacks of magazines or catalogs that I saved because I liked something in there. But then I couldn't remember what was in which .
So I went through all of them and tore out what I was interested in and put it in the folder. Now every time I get a new magazine and I see something, I tear it right out and file it. Then I can toss all the clutter.
I found that even though I had saved all that stuff it was so unorganized and overwhelming that it never really did me any good anyway.
Now I can open up the folder and plan my garden around an idea in one of the pictures and actually follow through. I record everything in the notebook which helps me to see if something did well or not so I don't make the same mistake twice.
I can actually follow through on the projects I see now since I can access the info more easily.
You have to be in the mood to sit down and go through the big stack and organize it all though.Maybe a rainy day when you are stuck indoors.
Also, sometimes its a good idea to take pictures of your gardens and put that in the folder too.
It will jog your memory for the following year or to help you see how things have progressed over the years.

 

[Beekissed]

All excellent ideas!!! I will definitely do that this winter! However, there is at least one mag that has soooooo many good ideas in each issue that I have to save the magazine...Countryside! I am thinking of organizing them and doing a cross-reference post card filing system, when I get the time. It would save so much time...although I DO enjoy looking for the articles and getting lost in the old issues! If anyone is wanting to know about self-sufficiency, money-saving ideas, livestock, gardening, solar or wind power, etc. that is the mag to buy. I wait for it impatiently and the kids know not to bother me much the day that it comes!