My February and March Spreadsheets

So February skipped by me.  Actually it drug by . . . literally, antibiotic city.  Hate sinus infections and hate even more that my old body takes way too long to recover from things.  I'm not that old but I am a 2 time cancer survivor (see my other blog about that story 'The Joy is in the Journey Home') so I don't heal as quickly as I used too.  So here is my belated Spreadsheets for those that are using them.   March First :)   Mostly because I can't figure out how to flip them.  Gonna be a long day.

March
Week		Location	Garden Event
First Week		Inside	Seeds - Bell Pepper
Second Week
Third Week		Inside	Seeds - Tomato
Fourth Week
Monthly Goal			Check Drip Irrigation System
			Spray Fruit Trees for Curl
			Divide Crowded Plants (day lilies, Agapanthus)
Fertilizing		*5-10-5	Flowers, Roses
		*8-4-4	Ground Covers, Shade Trees, Shrubs in Sunny Areas
		*0-10-10	Shrubs in Shade, Azaleas, Camellias, Gardenias
		*12-8-4	Citrus
		*12-12-12	Fruit Trees and Grapes
		*5-10-10	Vegetables
Freezing			Watch - Citrus
			Watch - Hibiscus

February
Week		Location	Garden Event
First Week		Outside	Seeds - Mint
		Outside	Seeds - Parsley
		Outside	Seeds - Garlic
		Outside	Seeds - Artichoke
Second Week
Third Week
Fourth Week
Monthly Goal			Bare Root Planting Season - Lilacs and Roses
			Cut Back - Lantana
			Remove all Garden Debris
			Remove all standing water
Fertilizing		*5-10-5	Flowers
		*0-10-10	Azaleas, Camellias, Gardenias, Citrus,
		Systemic	Roses
		*5-10-10	Vegetables
Freezing			Watch - Citrus
			Watch - Hibiscus

January and my spreadsheet

I don't know how the rest of you keep track of everything you are supposed to do in a garden.  I thought gardening is supposed to be easy, relaxing, fun and a welcome stress reliever.  Yah, not my garden.  I am so busy trying not to forget everything I am supposed to be doing I usually forget something essential that I was supposed to do last month which ends up throwing the whole season off.  So done with that.  I can't tell you. 

 

 

So since I have now officially qualified for AARP and my memory sometimes takes a dump I try to write things down.  Lists are my life.  So I started taking all the tons of information that I have been collecting over the years and put it into a spreadsheet.  One page for each month.  Wooohoo.  Success.  Or at least more success that in the past :)  So for January . . . I hope this makes sense to you all :)

January
Week		Location	Garden Event
First Week		Inside	Seeds - Alyssum
		Inside	Seeds - Basil
		Inside	Seeds - Oregano
Second Week		Outside	Seeds -  Green Onions, Onions
		Outside	Seeds - Chives
Third Week		Outside	Transplant - Pansy
		Outside	Transplant - Snapdragon
		Outside	Transplant - Dianthus
		Outside	Transplant - Carnation
Fourth Week		Outside	Seeds - Dill
Monthly Goal			Pruning - Trees except the Apricot
			Pruning - Grapes
			Pruning - Berries
			Pruning - Roses
			Prune - Wisteria
			Spray - Fruit Trees for Curl
Fertilizing		*0-10-10	Roses, Shrubs in Shade, Azaleas, Gardenias, Camellias, Fruit Trees,
			Grapes and Citrus
		*5-10-5	Flowers
		*5-10-10	Vegetables
Freezing			Watch - Citrus
			Watch - Hibiscus

 

Just thought I'd throw in here one more 'to do' or at least to keep on doing.  This is the time to keep your composting rolling (literally in my particular case since I have a barrel composter) so that it is ready for the new year.  With the chill of winter most of us would rather not think about our compost piles but they still need tending.  Love my little green ceramic composter for the kitchen.  I used to have a red one (looked like a fire hydrant) but it got busted.  This gives me a place for my kitchen scraps.

 

 

Happy Gardening!

 

 

It's the winter slump :)

You probably think I have dropped off the earth.  Nope.  Just the Winter slump.  Every winter the garden and I go into hibernation . . . sort of.  My garden has winter produce growing and other than watching it grow (totally boring) I am simply waiting out the season.  Winter is different here in the central valley of California so you can grown a completely active winter garden. I have Broccoli that is beginning to 'flower'.  Not with real flowers (that comes later) but with the green flower that we all eat.  I have cauliflower too plus beets (golden and red), potatoes, onion, mint, lettuce, spinach, kale and Swiss chard.  All up and going. 

 

 

Do we do anything during this season at all other than just watch and wait?  Gosh yes.  There is clean up from the summer still going on.  Leaves to be raked and composted.  Pulled out my Bell Pepper plants just last week and believe it or not I still have jalapenos and tomatoes on the vine.  Really.  In December.  I'm trimming back the runners on the strawberries too.  All ready for next years bursting forth :)  Spraying for leaf curl has commenced with the first spraying of copper.  You're supposed to do it right after the leaves fall off.  Still waiting on the Almond tree to give up its leaves.  The Elberta peach did it in one night.  Went to bed one night with full leaves and got up the next morning to a bare tree.  Shades of Harry Potter's whomping willow.  

 

 

 

We do get freezes here too - but they are so rare that you need to daily keep track of the weather.  Missing an alert will totally mess up your sensitive trees and plants for a long time.   Missed one last year and it took my hibiscus till the end of summer before it started looking happy again.  Cover everything with old sheets or special landscaping cloth.  Old sheets are cheaper (try 2nd hand stores for cheap ones).  Make sure you go out first thing in the AM and remove them.  You don't want them to damage the plants.   Helps if you have a way to hold them away from the plant too.  Where the sheet touches the plant will often times freeze but if that is the worst of your damage then hooray for you.  You can also use my Dad's trick and put a light bulb (lit, of course) under the sheet to create just enough heat to keep the plant from freezing. 

 

 

 

 

And you still need to be fertilizing - December is mostly Citrus and shade plants (like Azaleas and Camillas) use a 0-10-10 fertilizer and Flowers need 5-10-5 and your veggies still need stuff too 5-10-10. 

 

Of course next month the real work begins with roses that need to be pruned.  Grapes and berry plants to get hacked too.  Then all the trees need to be opened up for the light and air to get in.  Gonna be a busy January.