This calendar is a list of the feast days, traditions, and observances I have found to be pertinent to our homesteading journey, and it is mixed with the activities of the homesteading year. (There are plenty of things that we do that I have not listed, as they are not particularly tied to the homesteading calendar.)

I begin the year in December since the Church begins the year with the start of Advent. (As Advent has a moveable start date, and can begin as early as November 27th or as late as December 1st, we’ll use December for our starting point.) I will continue to add to and edit this list as I work on the book or come across pertinent information. If there is a tradition or feast day you think would be applicable, please, let me know in the comments! Some saints or traditions may not be overtly obvious for inclusion on this list, but there is a connection that will be explored in the book I’m working on.

Please note: This calendar is meant a guide only. It has largely been shaped by things pertinent to my own family. Particular activities and dates of homesteading activities can be shifted according to your unique circumstances. There is no “correct” way to go about this!

December: Advent, 13^th-St. Lucy, Ember Days (“Lucy”- olives), 25th(- Jan. 6th) Christmas. December is a time of rest, indoor activities and crafts, wood harvest, and hunting for many homesteaders.

January: Plough Sunday (Sunday after the Epiphany, between Jan. 7-13^th), 17^th– St. Anthony the Abbot (animal blessings). In January, we set goals for new calendar year, set a budget, plan gardens, and continue hunting, indoor activities and crafts.

February: 1^st– Brigit of Ireland (patron for homesteaders, dairy, blessing of wells), 2^nd– Candlemas (blessing of candles), 6th: St. Dorothy (apple tree blessing), 9th: St. Teilo (apple trees), 14^th-blessing of grape vines with wine (St. Tryphon), Ember Days (“Lenty”- flowers), 25^th– Lourde’s Miracle (blessing of spring). February is a good time to order seeds, start seeds indoors, continue indoor activities and crafts, prune vines and trees, and order or purchase other canning supplies you may need in the summer months (canning lids, jars, canners, et.)

March: 17th- St. Patrick’s Day (maple syrup), 20th- St. Herbert of Derntwater (hermit). In March, we tap maple trees, make syrup, clean up the yard, fertilize the gardens, contact a pig breeder, order/purchase chicks, ducks, turkeys, start seeds indoors, indoor activities and crafts, and order mulch if we plan to use it. Ordering animals and mulch early can insure you are able to purchase what is needed for the homestead. Late ordering may mean you aren’t able to complete the plans or end up paying a premium to secure resources for you rplans.

April: Rogation day(s), 15^th– St. Isidore the Farmer, First spring grazing, blessing of fields, 25^th– Major Rogation Day. Depending on when you want to receive or butcher animals, ordering or purchasing chicks, ducks, turkeys, and more is often done no later than this month. We muck our chicken coop, continue indoor activities and crafts, mulch garden spaces, and do yard clean-up. Any infrastructure pertaining to animal care is either built, installed or maintained, including buildings, moveable shelters, and fencing. Brooders for poultry are cleaned and set up this month or next.

May: Rogation days (the three days prior to Ascension Thursday), Ascension Thursday (as early as May 3rd or as late as June 6th), May crowning (any time in May, sometimes done on Mothers’ Day), 1^st-St. Joseph (blessing of tools), Ember Days (Penty), 3^rd– blessing of crosses for fields, 16th-St. Honore (bakers, bread). Tilling, mulching, and planting begin or continue, we pick up pigs, forage from early perennial plants, and plant fruit or other trees.

June: Pentecost, Ember Days (wheat) 24^th– John the Baptist (bonfire on the vigil). Planting, weeding, foraging, and strawberry harvest are all done in June. We have a large bonfire to clean up brush piles, which can be done in conjunction with St. John the Baptist’s feast day. Careful planning of where the bonfire takes place (on a large property in the country) can allow you to burn where it will be most beneficial to the soil.

July: 9th- Mass for the Care of Creation (added to the liturgical calendar by Pope Francis), 14th- Kateri Tekakwitha (ecology), 22nd- Mary Magdalene (found Jesus in the Garden, perfumers, pharmacists, tanners), 26th- St. Anne (dressmakers, seamstresses, etc.) July 29th- St. Martha (cooks, housewives, laywomen and maids). July is busy with planting, weeding, harvesting early crops, doing a second planting for a fall garden, and foraging. We also enjoy the mulberry harvest.

August: 1st- Lammas Day/First Fruits (blessing of wheat, bread), 6th- Transfiguration (blessing of grapes), 15th- Our Lady of the Herbs (Assumption, Blessing of Herbs). As August rolls around, the harvest begins in earnest for us. Weeding continues, the apple and peach harvest begin, and our food preservation is in full-swing.

September: 1^st– Season of Creation (Lasts through Oct. 4th), 14^th: Holy Cross, Ember Days ( Wed, Fri, Sat, after 14th. “Crucy”- grapes), 17^th– St. Hildegard (herbs, healing, medicine, hermitage), 29^th-Michaelmas (carrots). In September, we harvest and preserve, and butcher. Depending what and how you hunt, hunting begins, and we continue to harvest apples as well as pears. We begin pressing cider this month. Many years, we have butchered during the month of September.

October: 4^th– St. Francis of Assisi (animal blessings), Month of the Rosary, 31^st: All Hallow’s Eve (squash). With the arrival of October, we finish harvesting and preserving. We till, fertilize, plant winter crops, clean out freezers, defrost them, donate what we haven’t used to family and friends or the food pantry. If we haven’t butchered our poultry already, we butcher now. October is typically cooler, which means fewer flies while we work. It’s a time for more hunting (particularly ducks and other water poultry), the apple and pear harvest continues with more cider making, we can plant trees late (this helps to avoid the stress of dry periods, as the trees have begun to go dormant), and we harvested our Job’s Tears.

November: 2^nd– All Souls Day (flowers for graves), 11^th– Martinmas (goose). In November, we finish all butchering, plant fall crops, make sausage, cure meats, do most of our hunting (deer), and muck chicken coop before the cold sets in. It’s also a time for tanning hides and harvesting wood for heating the house or for use during maple syrup season.

I will continue to add to this calendar as I discover or remember things, and I hope to figure out a better structure for the list to make it more readable. I will likely expand on some of the details in the future as well. Let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed!

In Christ,
Danielle