Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster

Tucson, Arizona Garden Planting Calendar

This calendar is a rough planting guide for food plants in the Tucson, Arizona area. It is compiled from Desert Harvest, Tucson Organic Gardeners’ Composter newsletter, Native Seeds/SEARCH planting chart, and conversations with Tucson gardeners. Please experiment and let us know if you have any improvements. Let’s grow this list and our knowledge as we grow our gardens - and then share the abundance!

JANUARY

sow beets, lettuce, carrots, parsley, peas, radishes, spinach, turnips, onions, potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, Chinese cabbage, Chinese celery, cilantro, collards, leeks, mustard greens, Swiss chard

plant bare root plants

FEBRUARY

plant beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, Chinese celery, cilantro, collard, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard green, onion sets, pea, radish, spinach, Swiss chard, turnip, Jerusalem artichoke

plant bush beans, cucumbers, squash, dill, chard, and sweet corn late in the month

mulch potatoes and onions

MARCH - March 15 is traditionally the last day of frost. If the native velvet mesquite trees are leafing out that too is a good sign that we will now be frost free until fall

last sowing of carrots, beets, and heat tolerant leaf lettuce

set out transplants of tomatoes and peppers

plant basil, squash, sweet corn, lima beans, snap beans, cantaloupes, watermelon

after danger of frost you can plant lima beans, black-eyed peas, cane sorgum, chilies, chiltepine, cotton, gourds, indigo, panic grass, teosinte, tobacco, tomatillos

mulch trees, shrubs, and vegetables (will retain moisture and lessen stress on plants as temperatures warm up

plant such annuals as marigolds to add color and deter pests from garden

you may want to sow tall plants such as sunflowers and amaranth on the west side of your plot to screen other plants from the hot afternoon sun.

if planting corn consider the traditional three sisters arrangement of corn, beans, and squash or melons together. The corn creates a trellis and shade. The beans fix nitrogen in the soil and grow up the corn. The squash or melons take advantage of the shade and nitrogen while creating a living-mulch over the ground to protect the soil.

APRIL

plant okra, asparagus, beans, cherry tomatoes, sunflowers, amaranth, cucumber, eggplant, melons, lima beans, black-eyed peas, cane sorgum, chilies, chiltepine, cotton, gourds, indigo, panic grass, teosinte, tobacco, tomatillos, muskmelon

still not too late to plant pumpkins, cantalopes, squash

plant summer bulbs - caladium, anna, dahlia, glads, iris

warm to hot season greens such as amaranth, purslane, lambsquarters, Malabar spinach, and Yakina Savoy lettuce can be sown now and grown through summer â€“ all will appreciate afternoon shade from a tall trellis, native mesquite tree, or sunflowers to the west.

MAY

plant heat tolerant veggies - lima beans, egglplants, peanuts, peppers, sweet potatoes

JUNE

cover tomatoes with shade cloth or perhaps you have grown some shade

sow fall tomatoes indoors

make sure you have covered the soil with mulch to retain moisture and reduce plant stress

JULY

with the monsoon rains plant tepary beans, devil’s claw, corn

start tomatoes, peppers, eggplants inside

if you want, some folks now prune their tomato plants by 2/3

hand pollinate squash and melon flowers in the early morning or increase pollinator habitat and they’ll do the work for you

AUGUST

again you can sow sweet corn

set out tomato, pepper plants mid month

direct seed cucumbers and bush beans late in the month

set out transplants of broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower

SEPTEMBER

plant most greens such as spinach, lettuce, chard, collards, kale, mustard greens, etc.

plant garlic, carrots, onions, parsley, peas, cilantro, radishes, sweet peas, beets, broccoli, cabbage, Chinese cabbage and celery, turnips, garbanzos, lentils, desert chia, rutabaga, artichoke, and nasturtiums

start thinking about neighborhood street and shade tree planting programs - contact Trees for Tucson 791-3109 and see www.DesertHarvesters.org for tree lists and tree order forms.

OCTOBER

plant carrots, beets, broccoli, spinach, garbanzos, lentils, desert chia, cilantro, peas, parsnip, salsify

sow native wildflowers

NOVEMBER

plant peas, fava beans, beets, carrots, lettuce, spinach, mustard, turnips, chard, horseradish, rhubarb

set out seedlings of celery, cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts

plant hardy herbs - cilantro,

plant hollyhocks, calendula, alyssum, bachelor buttons, freesias

DECEMBER

late in month, start tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants indoors