I'm Breaking Down and Writing Down

And here it is:  the journal.  Yep, we need one, like you wouldn't believe.

My wife picked me up a big ol' notebook.  I'm breaking the journal up into a few sections:  watering, fertilizing and planting for now.  I think I may start a section just for vegetables when we get to that point.

I've discussed previously that I have the attention span/memory of a cucumber.  That has been solidified by the experiences of the past year.  I have a tendency to forget the last time I watered the potted plants (the "watering" section) and when I last fertilized (the "fertilize" section).  I always think I watered yesterday and fertilized the previous weekend.  Then, the plants get droopy and I realize I fertilized last in February...2008.  So, I'll be tracking each of those in the appropriate section.

The third section, planting, is where I'll be tracking a few things.  First, obviously, is what has been planted.  What goes with that is that most dreaded of four letter words, the "Plan"

Over the past year, we have gone to the nursery, we have shopped, we have purchased plants, we have even put them in the ground.  But, we're finding that once you get to the nursery, it's overwhelming.  We end up doing one of two things, either buying nothing, saying we are going to go home and create a plan we never do, or we have a bizarre mixture of plants that we're not really sure what watering, light or feeding requirements they have.  So, we're going to pick plants prior to going and stick to the plan.  More on that this week.

Also, I'm going to create a yearly calendar, which I'll try and figure out how to put on the sidebar or a separate page of this site with my limited technical abilities.  I always seem to be a couple months ahead or behind in whatever I'm planning on doing, such as pruning, splitting perennials or reseeding the lawn.  That should at least give me an idea of what to plan for in the coming months.

In the meantime, I'm going to go grab myself a pint, as our beloved Tottenham Hotspur were absolutely demolished this morning by Fulham in the 4th round of the FA Cup, 4-0.  We are still sitting fifth, though, in the league and I think we can still qualify for Champion's League (4th or better).  Twenty four hours left in the transfer window, and no talk of a central defender or realistic option at striker.  We'll see how that goes.