The Biotime Log by Maddy Harland

I was sent an electronic version of this book to review, which is a little unfortunate because this is more of a tool than a simple book.  That said, I give this book 9 out of 10 acorns as a super useful tool.

I have a similar tool put out by Lee Valley Garden Supply, which is, I think, a bit larger, more regimented and less artistic.  I've found it to be a marvelous tool for getting to know the piece of land you are occupying.  I love it so much I gave it twice to the same person by mistake!  So I can speak from experience that keeping this sort of log is a great idea.

This is a place to record natural phenomena, like first frost and first ripe fig.  (Although you can use it to record many other things.)  It gains value over the years, as you compare one year to the next.  It moves your observations into the fourth dimension: time.  This particular log book has the whole year set out on nearly blank pages, two dates to each page, and lovely illustrations every so often.  The essays at the beginning are lovely, emphasizing the importance of observation as a permaculture principle and noting how the act of keeping track of natural phenomena is good for more than just our gardens.

Thinking about this makes me wonder about a crowd sourced version online.  It would have to be sorted geographically, but I imagine that observations from other people in Portland Oregon could be useful for me.  Sadly, I'm not a programmer, so the dream of an interactive map/calendar/log will be put out into the universe for someone else to complete if we are lucky.  If you plan or hope to stay in the same place for years I highly recommend keeping a biotime log, and this lovely version may be just the thing!