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Garden Calendar
This is a log of events and observations useful for understanding the garden and anticipating future events.
2024
- January 1: planted garlic (way too late, we'll see what happens). june update: it's alive and well!
- January 1: planted ordono pepper seeds in containers (they sprouted tons of unknown seeds; see March 3 update)
- March 3: prepared 89 cups with potting soil for seed starts
- March 3: began rooting 6 mulberry cuttings (3 sweet lavender, 3 collier) in garage with bottom heat. August 21 update: not a single root grew.
- March 20: cut down lovely but sketchy y-crotch honeylocust to make room for more fruit trees etc.
- April 24: planted 3 nanking cherries, 1 liberty apple, 1 william's pride apple, 1 contender peach
- April 25: direct seeded chimayo melon, pink dandelion, okite amaranth
- April 29: direct seeded common sorrel
- May 1: planted 3 western serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) plants
- May 2: planted 3 shasta daisy and 3 blue flax plants
- May 3: planted 5 strawberry plants
- May 4: planted 5 more strawberries and added pink dandelion seed and french breakfast radish seed while there. also added these seeds around yesterday's strawberry plantings.
- May 5: planted 5 medium sea kale rootlets in the ground and 10 small sea kale rootlets in cups
- May 6: planted 12 bocking 14 comfrey rootlets
- May 7: current alltime net-surplus of electricity: 51.0 kWh
- May 12: planted some spearmint from Nancy and Robert, thanks!
- May 14: started 7 mrs. burns' famous lemon basil seeds in cups
- May 15: co-planted and marked in 6 spots: black beauty zucchini, purple coneflower, and turkish rocket. planted in other spots: purple coneflower
- May 16: co-planted and marked in 5 spots: black beauty zucchini, purple coneflower, and turkish rocket
- May 19: planted catnip from Nancy and Robert, thanks!
- July (IIRC): neighbor's nanking cherries are ripe
- August 7-10 (guessing): toka plums are ripening
- Mid August: most of the toka plums have been eaten by birds
- Late August/Early September: mount royal and rosy gage plums are ripe
2023
- March 7: cut down large never-productive wild apricot tree that shaded some solar panels, opening space for new, shorter fruit trees
- April 13: planted 1 chinese sweet pit apricot, 1 tlor-tsiran apricot, 1 superior asian hybrid plum, 1 contender peach, 1 male seaberry, 1 sirola seaberry
- April 14: planted 1 male seaberry, 1 titan seaberry
- April 22: planted more green onion in raised garden bed
- April 27: planted 5 silver buffaloberry plants
- April 28: planted 3 New Mexico Locust plants
- April 28: planted 3 New Mexico Privet, Desert Olive plants
- April 29: planted 3 pink beauty potentilla, 1 yellow twig dogwood, 1 red twig osier dogwood plants
- May 1: finished compost #6 in tight corner near mystery grapes
- May 1: planted 1 male seaberry and 1 female seaberry
- May 3: planted some punta banda tomatoes in the mature-compost raised garden bed
- May 6: started compost #7, very long bin in NW corner
- May 8: planted 1 non-flowering garden sorrel (rumex acetosa)
- May 8: planted 4 sea kale (crambe maritima) root cuttings
- May 10: planted 12 bocking 14 comfrey rootlets
- May 10: planted a packet of chimayo melon seeds
- May 10: planted a packet of rancho marques squash seeds
- May 20: disabled hot water to bathroom sink #2
- May 26: planted 1 jostaberry, 1 garlic, and some turkish rocket seeds
- June 24: current alltime rooftop solar record of 58.76 kWh
- June 24: unplugged water heater
- June 28: plugged water heater back in (wife needed it)
- Late June: honeycrisp apple from Fort Collins Nursery has fireblight
- July 4: disabled hot water to kitchen sink
- August: black currants are ripening throughout the month
- Mid October: harvested pears from trees 1 and 2; delicious 1 week later
2022
- January 15: re-finish compost #2
- February 28: first ever harvest of sunroot
- March 1: planted a bunch of sunroot
- March 1: re-finish compost #3
- March 10: finish compost #4
- March 21: pruned toka plum tree, trying to root cuttings. Feb would be better next time
- April 6-7: direct planted ~100 Senna seeds, none germinated
- April 11: finally started 7 organic sweet potatoes for making slips
- April 27: planted 2x horseradish and some sunflower
- May 14: inaugurated 1st raised garden bed with homemade compost from compost #1; planted green onion
- May 15: fully seeded raised garden bed #1 with many types of seed
- May 26: planted some old potatoes in the yard, no serious expectations
- June 15-20: golden currants are ripening
- June 20: golden currents are eaten by birds
- June 26: planted bamboo
- July 10: removed contender peach that just wasn't working out. attempted to root every single piece of cut wood (it's probably a great variety for NoCo)
- July 17: harvested garlic slightly too late. poor growth in the yard; soil too compacted
- Late July: planted 2nd bamboo
- Mid-late August: toka plums begin ripening
- Mid-late August: mystery OG grapes begin ripening
- Late August: planted 4 sem ash spirea plants from neighbor (thanks Steve!)
- September 15: planted toka plum tree grown from feb. 2022 pruning
- September 18-20: planted 6 utah serviceberries and 10 creeping mehonias
- September 24: compost #5 is 151F
- October 3: harvested sole pear from first pear tree
- October 10: harvested sole pear from second pear tree
- Late October: planted some perennial tulips
- Early November: planted 5 osage orange, 5 hazelnut, 10 willow, 10 marge elderberry, 10 river locust, 1 american persimmon, tons of comfrey, garlic chives
- December: started compost #6 in corner near grapes, using shredded leaves as inner cover material
2021
- February 22: first day of the year the solar panels produce a net-surplus
- March 2: first day of the year to truly do successful solar cooking
- March 8: compost #2 is 121F
- Early May: removed dead black ice plum
- Early May: pix zee peach is dead, rootstock began growing tree last year
- Mid May: planted peas very late
- Mid May: planted drought-resistant melons: "chimayao" and "esperanza de oro"
- May 26: planted one wild senna (nitrogen fixing), five stinging nettle
- May 26: planted many annual beans, including drought-resistant tepary beans
- June 22: planted 2 osage orange trees
- June 25: planted sweet potato slips and beets
- July 5: planted 1 osage orange tree
- July 8: compost #2 is 120F
- July 8: started compost #3
- Mid July: wild plum is sweet
- Late July: original/unknown grapes are ripe
- September 2: compost #3 is 130F
- September 6: compost toilet is born
- Late September: honeycrisp apples are ripe
- Very late Sept: direct-seeded dryland melons begin ripening
- Late October: begin building compost #4 in huge new bin
- November 5: compost #4 is 153F
2020
- January 8: compost #1 is 98F
- February 8: compost #1 is 72F; no material added since January 8
- Early March: more wood chips delivered!
- March 7: started seeds indoors
- March 8: compost #1 is 92F
- March 8: maple tree is flowering!
- March 8: tulips are peeking through!
- End of March: honeyberries and toka plum are leafing
- April 1: intend to seed white dutch clover
- April 10: planted sundance apple and galarina apple
- April 16: we got a foot of wet heavy snow, damaging trees and bushes
- April 29: picked up trees from WGCD
- May 2: planted 4 fruit trees: sansa apple, honey sweet pear, mount royal plum, rosy gage plum
- May 15: solar panels are operational
- Mid June: honeyberries are ripening
- Mid June: planted paw paw
- Late June: juliet bush cherries are ripening
- July 1: planted paw paw
- July 8: planted himrod seedless grape
- July 8: honeyberries are ripe and sweet
- July 8: juliet bush cherries are ripe and ready to eat
- July 15: planted golden currant
- September 7: one pride of wisconsin muskmelon is ripe
- September 8: first snow, frost
- September 20: contender peaches are ripe, sweet, with perfect texture
- September 20: built first biochar cook stove
- Early October: sunroot leaves turning yellow
- October 15: started compost #2. begin 1-year period of maturing compost #1
2019
- Early May: planted meader persimmon, lapins cherry
- Late May: planted chicago hardy fig, warren pear, seckel pear, william's pride apple, liberty apple
- June: planted pennsylvania golden paw paw, shenandoah paw paw, susquehanna paw paw
- July: planted blue hokkaido honeyberry, blue moon honeyberry, blue pagoda honeyberry, dwarf aronia, pee gee hydrangea
- Early July: animals eat almost all the juliet bush cherries
- Mid July: animals eat most of the purple leaf sand cherries
- Early August: wild apples are ripe
- Early-Mid August: black ice plums are ripe
- End of August: toka plums begin ripening
- Late August: mystery grapes by shed begin to ripen
- Early September: chicago hardy figs begin ripening, tripling in volume
- Early September: mystery grapes by shed almost all eaten by critters
- Mid September: honeycrisp apples are about ripe (but they apparently sweeten further on the tree)
- Early October: squirrels start eating honeycrisp apples
- October 5: started compost #1, in 4x4x4-foot compost bin
- October 6: first frost
- Early November: planted red & tan sunroots from fedco in 4 spots
- December 15: compost #1 is still warm, 125F in center
2018
- August: planted toka plum, black ice plum, honeycrisp apple, contender peach, pix zee peach, juliet bush cherry, seascape strawberry. Also planted 3 blueberries in peat in containers; they did not survive winter.
- November: began putting in arborist wood chips (did 42 cubic yards that winter)