Clean Up and Preparation, Saturday, Jan. 11. Pull spent plants; chop into compost. Add leaves to compost piles; turn compost piles. Spray dormant oil on fruit trees. Do selective pruning of fruit trees. 12 noon until done.
Manure and Till, Saturday, Jan. 25. Major preparation date. Final harvest of garlic, cabbage. Spread manure, blood meal, and bone meal on all beds; work into beds. Fruit trees: prune dead or crossing branches. Spray more dormant oil if needed. 12 noon until done.
Early Spring Planting, Saturday, Feb. 1. Major planting date. Plant carrots, onions, potato sets, cabbage (plants), cilantro, parsley. 12 noon until done.
Mid-Spring Planting, Saturday, Mar. 21. Major planting date. Plant watermelons, tomatoes, and peppers (transplants), and interplant borage, garlic, marigolds, and nasturtiums to ward off pests. Fruit trees: use fertilizer sticks. Cage tomatoes and peppers as soon as planted. Weed and mulch crops planted in February. Mulch walkways. 9 am until done.
Spring Tending and Planting, Saturday, Apr. 4. Plant cantaloupe, and replant where needed. Weed and mulch generally, and around our newly established tomatoes, squashes, and peppers, as well as replenish mulch in walkways. Seed marigolds where missing. 9 am until done.
Late Spring Planting and Tending, Saturday, May 16. Plant cucumber, squash, and sweet potatoes. Weed and mulch as needed. Turn compost piles to aerate; water compost. 9 am until done.
Early Summer Planting, Saturday, June 6. Plant tomatillos, succession tomatoes, and peppers, cage them. Plant succession watermelon, cucumber and cantaloupe. Turn compost piles to aerate; water the piles and add leaves. Weed and mulch generally. 8 am until done.
Tomato Pruning, Saturday, July 25. Gather tomato fruits. Prune back vines planted in March to promote second growth of new stems and blossoms for fall production. Weed and mulch generally. 8 am until done.
Last Summer Tending, Saturday, Aug. 15. Plant winter squash. Weed and mulch generally. Turn compost piles; water compost. 8 am until done.
Early Fall Tending, Saturday, Sept. 12. Plant winter squash. Remove spent crops; apply manure and/or finished compost. Replant where needed. Weed and mulch generally. 8 am until done.
Late Fall Planting, Saturday, Oct. 10. Plant cabbage transplants. Turn compost bins and add leaves. Weed and mulch generally. 9 am until done.
December: Bring bags of leaves to use as compost and mulch. Place along fence line.
Every Week: Gathering and Tending. Gather ripe produce; do spot weeding. Also, spent produce, leaves and other organic materials must be added to compost piles; chop materials. Turn compost piles to aerate and water the piles. Spot water crops, if needed. Thursdays, some Saturdays-Schedule with Becca Clarke, 817-454-0731.
