Novel research question

For some general background information, I'm hoping to find something more or less like a "Farmer's Almanac" covering a region vaguely equivalent to the intersection of France/Switzerland/Italy (yes, I know, very different micro-climates) and relevant to crops and agricultural concerns of ca. 1800. The types of information I'm looking for are things like typical seasonal weather patterns, typical flowering/fruiting schedules for various plants, etc. Nothing has to be exactly "correct" (since one can always argue for micro-climate variation in my invented country), but this Californian needs a bit of a reality check on the timing of various pieces of background.

I've tried some online keyword searches and haven't yet come up with anything that has enough detail to be useful.

(Why yes, I'm spending Christmas morning working on my writing project. Breakfast has been consumed; pies are in the oven; the potatoes have been peeled and sliced, both white and sweet; and we're in that stage where everyone's pretending to be indifferent to the presents under the tree in order to draw out the suspense.)

Experimental recipe: Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

I sort of riffed this off several on-line recipes, but it isn't quite like any of them.

Part A:
Pare sweet potatoes and slice thinly.
Dot a baking pan with butter.

Part B:
Add a layer of sweet potatoes.
Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice mix.
Drizzle with maple syrup
Dot with butter.

Repeat B until all the potatoes are used.
Add a sufficiency of evaporated milk (or cream).
Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake at 350 until potatoes are tender.
Uncover and continue baking until the liquid is absorbed/evaporated and the top is slightly browned.
(Total baking time uncertain, possibly 1 hour.)

It came out rather nicely, if I do say so myself.