focofofo.com / FAQ / Inventory / Opinion / Resources / Water / Calendar / Mistakes I've made / Goals / Climate change / Build your own food forest!

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

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)