A comprehensive planning system for a food garden in Durham, North Carolina (27707, USDA Zone 7b/8a), built with Claude Code.

This repository contains detailed planning, historical weather data, and AI-powered advisors for managing a productive food garden in Durham's specific climate conditions.

Garden Type: Raised beds + containers Focus: High-volume production, climate adaptation, budget-friendly practices Cuisines: Asian, Mexican, Italian

• planning/ - Strategic planning organized by year
  • garden-setup.md - Infrastructure and physical layout
    • 3 raised beds (~79 sq ft total)
    • 10-20 containers (1 cu ft each)
    • Resources: 9 chickens, composting system, irrigation plans
    • Past successes and challenges from 2025
  • 2026/strategy.md - 2026 comprehensive growing plan
    • Month-by-month planting calendar (Feb-Nov 2026)
    • 20+ heat-tolerant varieties for Durham climate
    • Succession planting schedules
    • Bed layouts and companion planting
    • Disease prevention strategies
    • Expected yields: 600-900 lbs tomatoes, 400-800 cucumbers, etc.
  • 2026/shopping-list.md - Complete supply list
    • Seeds from Southern Exposure, Baker Creek, Johnny's
    • Irrigation supplies (WiFi smart timer, soaker hoses)
    • Soil amendments (bulk compost delivery)
    • Local Durham suppliers (Lowe's, Barnes Supply, Triangle Mulch)
    • Budget: ~$500-600

• reference/durham-weather.md - Historical weather reference
  • 30-year climate normals (1991-2020) baseline
  • Recent detailed data (2020-2025)
  • Climate change trend analysis
    • Growing season +8 days longer
    • +20% more 90°F+ days
    • +50% increase in heavy rain events
  • Extreme weather events documented
  • Food gardening implications

Four specialized Claude Code agents in .claude/agents/:

1. durham-garden-advisor - Master gardener expertise

   • Plant selection and varieties for Durham
   • Planting schedules and techniques
   • Pest management and soil amendments
   • Budget-friendly solutions

2. durham-climate-advisor - Weather and climate analysis

   • Historical weather data interpretation
   • Frost date trends and analysis
   • Heat wave and precipitation patterns
   • Climate-informed planting recommendations

3. garden-strategy-planner - Strategic planning

   • Interactive garden planning sessions
   • Crop selection and quantities
   • Season-by-season strategies
   • Learning from past experiences

4. weather-strategy-updater - Strategy updates

   • Updates garden strategy based on weather patterns
   • Adapts plans to climate conditions

NEW: Video-based diary entries! Record garden tours on your phone and AI automatically generates detailed diary entries.

Commands in .claude/commands/:

• /diary - Full interactive diary entry (original system)
• /quick-note - Fast note appended to today's entry
• /process-diary - Process video tours into diary entries
  • Transcribes your narration
  • Analyzes plants, health, problems visually
  • Reads plant tags and labels
  • Tracks growth over time
  • Fetches weather data
  • Generates structured markdown entry

Workflow:

1. Record 1-5 min video tour of garden on phone (narrate what you see)
2. Upload to diary-inbox/YYYY-MM-DD/ folder
3. Run /process-diary in Claude Code
4. Review generated entry in diary/YYYY-MM-DD.md

See docs/diary-system.md for complete guide including recording tips, automation setup, and examples. See docs/mobile-guide.md for quick mobile reference.

• CLAUDE.md - Repository guidance for Claude Code
  • Project context and priorities
  • Climate factors and constraints
  • Agent descriptions and usage

1. November-December 2025

   • Start composting chicken manure
   • Order seeds from shopping list
   • Schedule compost delivery for mid-March

2. Late February 2026

   • Start peppers, tomatillos, tomatoes indoors
   • Begin succession seed starting

3. Mid-March 2026

   • Receive bulk compost delivery
   • Amend all beds with 2-3" compost
   • Install soaker hose system

4. Mid-April 2026

   • Major transplant week (after last frost ~April 10)
   • Follow detailed calendar in planning/2026/strategy.md

• Heat-tolerant varieties for Durham's hot summers
• Frost-aware planting schedules
• Irrigation planning for summer dry spells

• Historical weather patterns inform planting timing
• Climate change trends guide variety selection
• Past performance tracked for continuous improvement

• Free resources: pine straw mulch, chicken manure
• Bulk purchasing strategies
• Seed starting vs. transplant cost analysis

• Succession plantings for continuous harvest
• Expected peak: 100+ lbs produce/week in July
• Designed for household use + neighbor sharing

Durham Hardening Zone: 7b/8a

Recent Trends (2020-2025 vs 1991-2020):

• Last spring frost: April 10 (was April 15) - 5 days earlier
• First fall frost: November 12 (was November 10) - 2 days later
• Growing season: 217 days (was 209 days) - 8 days longer
• Humid heat stress: Heat index >100°F for ~15 days in July (20-25 days in hot years)
  • Durham's 70-80% humidity prevents plant transpiration cooling
  • Pollination fails at heat index 100-105°F even when air temp is only 90-95°F
• Precipitation: Similar totals but more intense events, longer dry spells

Implication: Climate change is extending the growing season but humid heat stress is Durham's critical challenge - must use Southern humid-heat-tolerant varieties, not California "heat-tolerant" varieties.

Successes:

• Peppers (purple bell, banana, jalapeño, poblano) - excellent
• Herbs (basil, cilantro, parsley, thai basil, etc.) - thrived
• Tomatillos - performed well
• Marigolds - excellent companion plants

Challenges:

• Late start (late May vs mid-April) caused issues
• Cucurbits (melons, squash, cucumbers) failed - humid heat stress, disease, late planting
• Root cause: Planted when heat index already >100°F; likely used California-bred varieties that fail in Durham's humidity

2026 Improvements:

• Start 6 weeks earlier (mid-April transplants) for fruit set before July's humid heat
• Humid-heat-tolerant varieties bred for Southern humidity:
  • Arkansas Traveler tomatoes (bred for Arkansas humid heat)
  • Poinsett 76 cucumbers (bred for hot, humid Southeast)
  • Costata Romanesco squash (Italian, bred for Mediterranean humidity)
• Succession plantings for backup during humid heat stress periods
• Soaker hose irrigation system
• Proactive disease prevention (humidity amplifies fungal diseases)
• Accept 3-4 week production gap mid-July to early-August (heat index >100°F)

This repository is designed to work with Claude Code. The specialized agents can:

• Answer Durham-specific gardening questions
• Analyze weather patterns for planning
• Help create and update garden strategies
• Provide variety recommendations
• Troubleshoot problems

All planning documents are markdown files that can be:

• Read in any text editor or markdown viewer
• Printed for reference
• Updated as you track progress
• Shared with other gardeners

This is a personal garden planning repository, but if you're also gardening in Durham NC (or similar climate), feel free to fork and adapt for your needs.

This documentation is shared freely. Use and adapt as needed for your own garden planning.

Last Updated: November 2025 Location: Durham, NC 27707 Zone: USDA 7b/8a