A Typical Woodland Homestead Calendar

January

This is a great month to hunker down by the woodstove and research spring homestead projects.
For hardy souls, January is also a great time to split wood, giving it ample time to dry before the next heating season.
Consider logging and skidding wood in winter. If you live in an area with frozen ground, it will prevent soil compaction and minimize disturbance to understory flora.
Head to the workshop and build rustic furniture with materials harvested from your woodlot the previous season.

Begin preparing for sugaring season by cleaning your equipment and convincing friends and neighbors to swap sugaring labor for a share of the syrup.
Cut coppice stools.
Prune fruit trees.

By early March, most folks have begun tapping maple trees. Collect and boil the sap as soon as you’re able to, since sap can spoil.
Inspect beehives for winter mortality.
March is a good time to frost seed, which encourages successful germination; good sugaring conditions (freezing nights, warm days) make ideal seeding conditions for legumes such as clover.

With leaf-out complete in most areas by late April, this is a good time to begin your woodlot inventory. You can use the new leaves (instead of just the buds) to help identify the trees in your woodlot before summer, when undergrowth becomes dense enough to make the process difficult.
Put your pigs to work in a pig-o-tiller as soon as the ground begins to dry out; pigs will be ready to harvest in November.
Plant spring fruit trees.

Birch-tapping season begins in late April/early May.
Attend Memorial Day barn and yard sales, a great way to find old tools and homesteading accoutrements.
Livestock begin browsing on nutrient-dense, early-season growth.
Harvest willow for furniture construction.

Rapid pasture growth makes this a highly productive month for mob-grazing livestock.
Enjoy eating fresh fruits and vegetables out of your woodland garden.

Host a cidermaking party on the full moon.
Attend a livestock auction; if you have winter forage, this can be a great way to acquire livestock (small and large) at reasonable prices as other homesteaders and farmers downsize for winter.
Make firewood windbreaks for around the house.

Add fuel stabilizer to all power equipment to prevent fuel from gelling over the winter.
Begin cutting and laying hedge as a living fence.
Cool days make this an ideal time of year to fire up your charcoal kiln.

Experiment with animal power and keep your dogs/horses/oxen in shape by having them pull a sled.
If local ordinances permit, this is a great time to burn brush (if there’s snow cover). If your garden soils are acidic (pH 4.6–6.0), consider placing your brush pile over your garden; the wood ash will work as a liming agent, raising pH. However, before you do this, you’ll want to check your soil pH to see if a higher pH is necessary to grow your desired crops.
Repair any broken tools; sharpen saws/axes; organize your tool shed.