Winter (Jan–Feb): Plan on paper. Price everything. Order seeds. This is the cheapest month of homesteading, spend it thinking.
March: Start seeds indoors. Price your well, your septic, your big infrastructure now, contractors book up.
April: Get beds in the ground. Cold-hardy stuff first: peas, spinach, onions. In Michigan the ground’s still half-frozen and lying to you. Wait for it.
May: Plant warm-season crops after last frost. If you’re getting chickens, get the brooder set up now.
June–July: Weed, water, mulch. This is the grind months. Everything wants to eat your garden except you.
August: Start preserving. Can, dehydrate, freeze, whatever you’ve got. Also: start your fall garden.
September: Harvest storage crops. Take notes on what worked. Order garlic to plant.
October: Put the garden to bed. Mulch everything. Drain hoses. Winterize.
November–December: Rest. Read. Plan next year. Fix what broke.
Your timeline will slip. Mine will too. The land doesn’t care about your calendar, it cares about the weather.
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