Stationery Six on Saturday – April 28th

I’m back with a slightly off-piste Six this week, as I’ve started a ‘little’ project which isn’t yet ready to feature on this blog! So, welcome to my  Stationery Six on Saturday… that’s my pick of 6 stationery items for the allotment, not stationary as in a Six on Saturday which is standing still!

  1. I mentioned this earlier in the week, but my main stationery item for the allotment this year has to be my allotment journal.

    Every year I think “next year I will make a note of what we planted when” and always fail to achieve it… but this year, I’m hoping the journal will encourage me to get writing, and give myself a decent record for future years!
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  2. Obviously, to go with the journal, you need a pen. When I write with a biro, I tend to end up with a scribbled mess, but along with my favourite fountain pens I mentioned on Monday, I’m also partial to a simple gel pen. Even better if it’s a fine black, or even micro black for a perfect almost spider-like thin line.

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  3. An allotment journal is all well and good, but it’s a bit bulky to take to the allotment with me. What I needed was a small notebook which didn’t matter if it got caught in the rain, or ended up covered in mud. Cue the waterproof notebook I was given as a Christmas present a couple of years ago – that’s come in incredibly handy so far.

    I copied some notes from a gardening book on the new plants we’d tried, so I had a basic guide of how long it should take to germinate, and any extra care and attention the plants would need. Having that in my jacket pocket on the allotment is definitely better than trying to remember it all! It’s also come in handy for noting down a measured sketch of parts of the plot.
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  4. Of course a waterproof notebook wouldn’t be any good if the ink runs! A waterproof permanent pen is essential, but bonus points if it comes in a pack with other colours too.

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  5. All these fancy pens are very useful, but sometimes you just need something that doesn’t matter if it breaks, or accidentally gets buried under the soil on the allotment. A cheap pencil is always handy, but just remember to keep that point sharpened.

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  6. But what happens when you make a note and realise you’ve copied it out wrong and need to correct it? Yep, you’ve guessed it, my 6th stationery item is an eraser.

    And before you say, yes I know the eraser is bigger than the pencil!

I’ll be back with a “normal” Six on Saturday next week, but don’t forget to check out National Stationery Week and of course the Propagator’s Six on Saturday – there’s plenty more blogs to check out in his comments section!

15 thoughts on “Stationery Six on Saturday – April 28th”

  1. I used to keep gardening diaries but when reading back on older ones realised how many plants were no longer there!

    1. I can imagine that’s a bit of a disadvantage when the diaries are all full of notes for plants that ‘disappeared’ over time!

  2. I went to a study day at Great Dixter earlier this year where Fergus Garrett talked about the importance of note-keeping in the garden. Looks like you are on track.

  3. Organised or not, having the notes in your pocket is a really good idea. My notes are on scraps of paper flying all around the house & nowhere near the area to be planted. Great six.

    1. I’ve done the ‘notes piled up in various places’ way of being ‘organised’ before – I’m still finding some scraps of paper with random notes scrawled on now! The worst thing is when I’d written write things down in a form of short hand, thinking “I’ll remember what that means” then haven’t a clue what I’m referring to when I look back at it ages later.

    1. hehe I did wonder if anyone thought it should be “stationary”!
      I did try a clicky pencil like that before, but mine broke and all the ‘lead’ pieces fell out of it, so I figured I was better off with a standard pencil.

    1. Being able to scribble down a note while you’re in the garden, rather than having to wait until you’re back indoors with non-muddy hands, definitely encourages me to make more notes, although I still admit there’s some things I should be noting down (like how certain plants are fairing), that I haven’t done!

    1. I decided I didn’t have the patience to try making notes on my phone – that on screen keyboard is a little too small for accurate notes (especially when the auto-correct doesn’t understand plant names!)

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