[nutterly_uts]

Hi everyone, hopefully this is the right place 

I had a search but I couldn't find a fred like this already so I hope I'm not being daft 

I have been thinking and had the bright (or not so bright?!) idea that I'd like to make myself a year planner of what I need to do throughout the year long before I get to the point of needing to do it.

Currently I don't have a veg plot, I don't have any animals and I don't have any plans to change that in the immediate future, but this will help me decide what I can take on, and I hope it'll help others too 

But I'm hoping to make one that has things like Nov 5th - "Put Ram in" , then April 1st "Lambs due" (and then x number of days before and after it too) and then something like 2 weeks before April 1st "vaccinate in lamb ewes" and things like that - when to vax stock, when to worm them, ideal times/spaces to do things etc

I am going to sit down tomorrow and work out what veg I'd like to grow so I can make notes like "Sow Calabrese in April to Sept" written all across the bottom of those months, and then "Harvest Calabrese" written all across the bottom of July to Dec.

Can you please post things you think would be useful to put on a planner to guide in a typical year. I know that some things aren't going to happen on a specific date, but for the purposes of what I want, specific isn't needed - its very much a general thing [eg with Veg]

Happy to have fruit, veg, cattle, pig, chicken, sheep, you name it or even info on ideal times to be making jams or hams - if it doesn't help me, it might help someone else!
Thank you

[devonlady]

I believe someone posted a topic on this subject not so long ago? Was it Womble, Clodhopper, JohnandHelen?? Some clever, organised mind anyway
I couldn't organise the proverbial PUIAB. I do try though but invariably forget to look at my files (backs of old envelopes, redundant Christmas cards etc.) Plans made in moments of optimism/boredom/hope or faith.
No use to you though but someone will point you in the right direction.

[JTFarms]

I don't see any sense in organizing things when there is nothing to be organized about

[Rosemary]

I have an annual plan and a monthly plan. Compensates for a poor memory. I can email them to you if it would help :-)

[Fleecewife]

For the way my head works, I find that kind of chart useful only when I'm writing it.  Many of the seed companies and veg growing books have similar things and I find them of no use to me.  But that's just me, and it sounds as if yours will help you.
In a similar vein, I have tried arranging my seed packets in order of use, which in theory should help me to remember at least which month I sow things.  The whole system breaks down for me after about April 

What I do do, is to keep a garden record, in a spiral bound book, which continues from year to year.  I make entries only when I've done something, and leave space to refer back.  So for example, I might sow my tomatoes on a certain day one year, then come harvest I can compare how they cropped that year with previous years, and slowly build up a plan of what works here (which is often not the same as the experts say).  This is on top of brief diary entries.
In spite of all this, I still tend to do things when the inspiration hits me.
All the sheep and poultry stuff is in my head anyway, so I don't have a forward planner for that.  I tend to write endless lists but lose them, but they do help keep the info in my head simply by having written them down.

I shall be interested to see how your plan works   

[Jukes Mum]

I have an annual plan and a monthly plan. Compensates for a poor memory. I can email them to you if it would help :-)

Rosemary- I would love a copy of this too if you don't mind?

[nutterly_uts]

Rosemary that would be ace thank you

I know it sounds daft to plan what I don't have, but for me its the best way to organise my head and then organise what I want to start into. There would be little point in me committing myself to something that makes (eg) April a month where I can just not catch up with myself, then several months of very little extra stuff to do which is a real risk if I don't plan it out

I Just thought if people also posted their flock worming schedules, or their lambing dates, or the dates they aim to send any piglets off (and if homebred and bought in) it might help someone else if its not useful to me

[suziequeue]

I have such a year planner and find it very useful. It's by the back door where we take our wellies off so there is plenty of opportunity to see it. I also have markers pens stuck to it so that If I have an idea or come in from doing something then I can record it on the planner. I don't think it really compensates for keeping a good diary though. I have always hankered after having an A4 page a day diary and dividing each page into three columns - one for each year - so that then I can see when we did things in previous years and what works. Growing veg is a huge learning experience which I adore but I do worry that some lessons I forget

[nutterly_uts]

I have ordered a year planner, a week planner AND a page-a-day diary ..

Can you tell my NY resolution was to be more organised?!

[benandjerry]

We do a week planner headed up  essential to do and desirable to do. The idea is that all the essential stuff gets done and desirable rolls up the list to become essential.  It works for us.

[Fleecewife]

We do a week planner headed up  essential to do and desirable to do. The idea is that all the essential stuff gets done and desirable rolls up the list to become essential.  It works for us.

That's what I call a list    I write lots of them, tick off about half the urgent things, then lose the list.  That means I can write another one, and I love lists 

I think one of the reasons I don't plan rigidly is because all the stuff I do including growing veg, is so weather dependant, so I like to be flexible.  I like to have jobs in my head which are suitable for sunny, dry weather, rain, snow, freezing, long days, short days...you know the picture.
Sowing seeds, planting out, weeding and how much of it will need to be done, cropping, storing, all those things are a bit up in the air.
Also, emergencies come up.  Then it's good to know what's essential, such as locking in the hens, and what can be put off until the emergency is dealt with.  I keep it in my head, but I can see that a written chart could be helpful.

[Rosemary]

I think as you get more experienced, the lists and plans become less important but if I didn't have them, I'd forget to do things. The list also ensures that I do the things I don't want to do