MorningChores.com published a free homestead journal on their blog this week, and I couldn’t be happier! Since I feel like this is my first year really taking on multiple aspects of actual homesteading, I was looking for a journal to record it all in! Their blog does a really good job describing it, so I’ll just highlight my favorite parts. 

 

My Favorite Homestead Journal Sections

 

Egg Count

The egg count section will help me keep track of flock productivity. Because I will be adding more homestead chores, I’m going to outsource the simple ones to my oldest son. At six years old, he can grab the eggs before school and write down how many he gets each morning. Not only can he do it, he will be HAPPY to do it. He started kindergarten in September 2017, and he has really improved his writing. We are going to bump our flock number up to 12 lovely ladies this year, so we should be pulling in a lot of eggs!

 

Garden Planning and Yields

The garden planner and garden yield sections will see a lot of use from me this year. Baby Bowles will arrive in April, so I’m planning for a fall produce garden instead of starting in the spring. The only thing I would add to the garden planner section is maybe a garden bed indicator to help with crop rotation for the annual produce anyone chooses to grow. Tomatoes drain the soil of vital nutrients, so when you plant them in the same spot every year, it can stress the soil. I plan on incorporating a beneficial crop rotation to help replenish the soil (in addition to composting of course!)

 

Project List

The project list section lines up perfectly with my 2018 Homestead Plan blog post! I’m going to copy everything I wrote last week and put it all there. Who hates when someone else has to handle the chores, and they miss something? My mom and brothers came for a visit, and they would have loved to have the animal care routine section to reference while my husband and I spent the night out for our anniversary (side note: they did a great job). As I establish my routines, I’m looking forward to documenting them here.

 

How I’m Going to Keep My Journal

I have already ordered the binder I want to keep my homestead journal in. I’m one of those people who likes to write with a pen and paper. A binder appeals to me more than a bound journal, since you can’t add pages to a bound journal, right? So what if I need more pages, or want to add section I create (like a crop rotation section!). I found this three-ring binder on Amazon (<—alert, an affiliate link!), and I do wish it was more exciting on the outside.

 

However, a calculator fits in the pocket, along with a couple of pens or pencils, so you will have everything you need on hand to fill out all of the sections in the homestead journal! There is an important numbers section in Morning Chores’ homestead journal, but you also have pockets for business cards for the vet, feed store, breeders, etc. You can zip it up, and carry it around by the handle too! People gave the binder great reviews, so I’m pretty confident in my purchase! I’ll update this blog post with a picture once I get it and put my new homestead journal inside!

 

What sort of recording system do you use for your garden or homestead? Do you keep it on the computer or in a notebook? Have you found a better homestead journal? Share your methods in the comments below. You never know, you might inspire someone!