My garden file box used to be a very private spot until Cathy started to take pictures of it!
My first file box was a shoebox. I would throw in clippings from magazines, seed orders, lists of plants to try, plant labels etc. It was never organized but I always (usually) knew what was inside.
Then one Christmas I received a green cardboard photo box as a re-usable gift wrap. I can’t remember what the gift inside was but I used that box for years! I took it shopping, to the garden, to the greenhouse, on vacation, everywhere, and filled it with useful information. It held 3×5 inch cards and alphabetical tab cards as well, so most of my “finds” had to be condensed or clipped down to the most important information.
I was on my way to being organized! That photo box lasted for many years but sadly, it had to be replaced.
Now I have a clean, new file box - a little larger than the original, but with the same cards. I have cleared out some of the old to make way for new “stuff” and changed my index system. Because I use only alphabet tabs, I needed to make a list for the front that tells me where to look for items.
A - annuals (lists for beds and planters), artemesia, allysum, agastache, anise
B - beds (flower), bulbs, butterfly garden, bonsai, building a new garden, borage, bergamot, basil
C - companion planting, compost, cuttings, cactus, combinations of plants to try, cucumber, catnip
D - drying flowers and herbs, dill, dahlia, dianthus
E - e-mails/addresses
F - fertilizer, flowers (cut), frost, foxglove, fennel
G - greenhouse info, garden plans (vegetable), guarantees (shrubs etc.), grasses, geranium, garlic
H - herbs and uses, houseplants, health, heliotrope, hollyhock
I - IDEAS - crafts, gifts, wreathes, scarecrows etc.
J - jobs (monthly)
K - kids
L - lawns, lovage, lettuce, larkspur, lavender
M - mulch, marigold, myrtle, marjoram, mint
N - native plants
O - organic stuff (recipes for pest control, cleaning etc.) “green” tips
P - planters, ponds, peppers, poppy, primula, parsley, pansy, petunia
Q - quotes/thoughts “to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow”
R - reduce, reuse, recycle, rue, Russian sage, roses
S - seed orders, saving seeds, soil mixes, some to try, salvia, scabiosa, sedum, sweet peas
T - trees (and shrubs, vines), trips to take, tomatoes, thyme, tansy
U - uh-oh…doesn’t fit anywhere else
V - organizing, veronica, viola
W -what worked, what didn’t, what to do next year
XYZ - landscaping ideas/house and yard pictures
There you have it! My file box has become an indispensable collection of stuff that I need or might need. And one small container is a lot better than bits and pieces everywhere.
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