People sometimes ask how I got started doing the Gardener’s Journal and Source Book

In 1987 our son David was studying computer science at university when he became ill with schizophrenia. Five years later he finally decided to take medication. Using his computer skills he made a week-at-a-glance desktop day-timer to keep track of his appointments with his psychiatrist. He made some extra copies to see if others would also find it useful.

I looked at his week-at-a-glance format with the eighth blank space. Putting weekly suggestions of what to do in the garden in that space would help me to keep on track, I thought. After several years of coping with his illness and finally getting him on medication and stabilized, I was ready for the healing therapy of gardening.

At the back of his day-timer, I also included a section on gardens to visit and how to reach them. During his illness a good friend would often phone me and suggest a visit to a particular garden. Sometimes finding out the directions took from our precious time to visit. Then because I didn't even know where the nearest garden centres were, I decided to add them, and then other references. And so the Source Book grew.

The first year we made 50 photocopies, most of which we gave away. People seemed to like our book, so the next year we got serious. David refined the design of the journal and tutored me in the software that we use to make the Source Book. I made a cover using clip art. Two women friends from my 20 years in La Leche League (an organization of mothers who help other mothers to breastfeed their babies) helped out. One provided her publishing company's ISBN number and the other edited the manuscript.

The next year we had 500 copies printed at a commercial press. A couple of newspapers gave us free publicity, and our gardening book caught on. I showed it to a book buyer for a small chain, who decided to carry it because, as she said, there’s nothing else like it on the market. Garden centres and book stores began buying it and we printed more. To date, 2009,  we have sold over 15,000 copies, not terribly many, but enough to keep us in business and to provide a new edition every year for a steady stream of customers.

Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Please email us at gardenbook@rogers.com