Garden Calendar
This page serves as a record of when we started, sowed, transplanted, and harvested crops in the 2008 edition of Maple Hoo Garden.
February 18th
Started onions (Riverside, Newburgh), tomatoes (San Marzano, Black Plum), and peppers (habanero, nardello) from seed. Seeds had started sprouted by February 22nd. Tomatoes popped up by February 24th. Leaving seed trays in the dining room to germinate worked well. The peppers were slower, only sprouting on or around March 1st. (Next year: start half a tray each of onion varieties.)
March 8th
Thinned tomatoes and onions.
March 16th
Should have planted lettuce and direct-sown onions.
March 30th
Transplanted tomato plants to larger peat pots. Started hardening onions in cold frame.
April 1st
Removed straw and chicken wire from garlic bed.
April 3rd
Planted potatoes (Yellow Finn, All Blue, Banana Fingerlings, Desiree). Could have planted them earlier.
April 10th
Transplanted onions to garden bed and started scallions.
April 13th
Direct seeded garden bed with lettuce (Butterking, El Capitaine, Four Seasons, Rouge D’Hiver) and radishes (French Breakfast and Plum Purple). Should have done earlier. Will do successive plantings of every two weeks.
April 20th
Transplanted peppers into large peat pots. Started sage and Poppy Joe’s and Genovese basil seeds.
April 22nd
Started Parisian pickling cucumbers, Small Sugar, Casper, and Rouge Vif D’Etampes pumpkins and placed in cold frame.
April 27th
Planted marigolds in corners of beds. Direct sowed scallions and second succession of radishes (French Breakfast and Cherry Belle). Started full tray of scallions for later planting. Planted lavender in container.
May 3rd
Planted San Marzano and Black Plum tomatoes in beds. Direct sowed cucumbers. Planted nursery-bought lavender, sage, and French tarragon in pots. Started sunberries. Direct sowed nepeta.
May 11th
Direct sowed peanuts, Casper and Rouge Vif D’Etampes pumpkins, Calypso bush beans, and 3rd planting of Cherry Belle and French Breakfast radishes. Transplanted Habaneros, Nardellos, Small Sugar pumpkins, and scallions. Mounded several potatoes.
May 15th
First tomato flower.
May 18th
Transplanted Poppy Joe’s and Genovese basils, sage, and yellow pear tomatoes (pass along plants started elsewhere).
May 26th
Mounded potatoes for the last time (the beds won’t accommodate any more soil). Thinned Calypso beans.
May 29th
Noticed the garlic scapes are coming in. All of the Black Plum tomatoes have flowers.
May 30th
Possible peanut sighting.
June 1st
Desiree potato flower bloomed. Confirmation of peanut sighting.
June 9th
Noticed first tomato (black plum). Harvested scapes.
June 11th
First Nardello blossom.
June 15th
Pulled up remaining radishes (leaving some to blot for possible seed saving). Planted brussels sprouts. Planted kaleidiscope carrots, Japanese Imperial long carrots, and Scarlet Dragon carrots. Potted hot-and-spicy oregano and marjoram. Planted tennis ball, pablo, and Granpa Admire’s lettuces (in the shade of the tomato plants).
June 14th
Direct sowed Japanese Imperial long, Kaliedescope, and Red Dragon carrots, as well as brussel sprouts.
June 21st
First Nardello pepper appeared.
June 28th
Harvested German White garlic and two Desiree potato plants. Noticed bean pods on the Calypso plants in the potato bed.
July 6th
Harvested Persian Star and Chesnok Red garlic, remaining Desiree potatoes and all All Blue potatoes. One tomato is starting turn red. Harvested 9 blueberries. Raspberry bramble has been productive for three or four weeks.
July 15th
Harvested most of the Riverside onions, four Yellow Finn potatoes, and all fingerlings. Have been taking a few almost red-tomatoes off the plants for a few days now.
July 19th
Harvested all remaining Riverside and all Newburgh onions.
July 20th
Harvested four Yellow Finn potatoes. Sowed beans, casper pumpkin, carrots, and beets.
