Use this as a sequencing tool. Crop pages go deeper. If you’re on a cold valley floor, shift tender plant-outs 1–2 weeks later and keep fleece handy like a paranoid professional.
January
Prune apples/pears (dormant). Order scion wood & seed. Force paper plans. Stare at soil; do not dig when saturated.
February
Finish dormant prune. Start onions/alliums indoors if ambitious. Spray dormant oil on fruit if pests warrant. Dream of drainage.
March
Direct-sow spinach, peas, carrots when soil workable. Plant bare-root fruit. Start tomatoes indoors mid-to-late month.
April
Harden cool crops. Watch frost. Plant potatoes, more greens. Harden herbs. Tomatoes still mostly indoors unless protected.
May
Average last-frost window—still verify. Transplant tomatoes under protection early; open ground mid-late month. Herbs out. Hop bines rising.
June
Train tomatoes & hops. Mulch. Side-dress. Thin carrots. Succession sow green onions & parsley. Irrigate if June gloom lies about moisture.
July
Peak water management. Harvest herbs before full bloom for oils. Watch blight humidity. Summer-prune fruit lightly if needed.
August
Tomato ripeness theater. Hop harvest windows (cultivar/maturity dependent). Deep water trees. Start fall spinach indoors/out.
September
Apple/pear harvest by cultivar. Pull spent tomatoes if disease. Plant fall greens. Ease fertilizer on perennials.
October
First frosts possible. Clean beds. Mulch. Protect rosemary/bay. Plant garlic. Take cuttings if you live dangerously.
November
Rain season returns hard. Check drainage. Wrap young trunks against rodents if needed. Compost leaves like a responsible adult.
December
Tools, notes, soil tests. Minimal outdoor heroics. Read crop guides. Mock next year’s overambitious seed order (then place it anyway).
Failure mode
If your calendar ignores soil temperature and only worships the average last frost date, you’re dating a statistic, not a garden.