Planting Calendar

A useful planting calendar is local. It starts with your usual last spring frost and first fall frost, then places each crop around those dates. A calendar from another state is an example, not an instruction for your garden.

Read a crop timeline in three parts

1. Start indoors, when the crop benefits from an early start.
2. Sow or plant outside, when the crop and local conditions are ready.
3. Begin harvesting, using maturity days as an estimate.

Cool-season crops use the edges

Many leafy greens and root crops can grow during cooler parts of spring and fall. Some can appear twice on a calendar, once near each edge of the frost-free season. Use the crop's own frost tolerance because cool-season is a helpful group, not one rule for every plant.

Warm-season crops need warm conditions

Tender crops such as tomatoes, basil, peppers, cucumbers, and squash usually belong after spring frost danger and after the soil has warmed. Planting too early can slow growth even when the calendar says spring has begun.

Soil temperature can matter more than the date

Some direct-sown warm-season seeds germinate poorly in cool, wet soil. Check the crop guide for its soil-temperature needs instead of using one temperature for every seed.

Read maturity days carefully

Days to maturity may begin at sowing or at transplanting. The number is an estimate. Variety, light, weather, soil, pests, and care can move the real harvest earlier or later.

Plan backward for fall

To plan a fall crop, count backward from the expected frost date using its maturity estimate, then leave extra time for harvest and slower cool-weather growth. Do not treat the last possible date as a safe promise.

Spread out quick harvests

Some quick crops can be sown again in small amounts. This can spread the harvest instead of producing one large batch. The right gap depends on the crop and local season, so use its guide rather than one universal interval.

Explore the crop timelines

• 

  Easy

  Radish

  A quick, cool-season root crop that is ready in weeks when soil stays loose and moist.

  • Full sun
  • 25 to 35 days
  • Grows in a pot
  • 2 to 4 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Green Beans

  A warm-season crop picked while the pods are crisp and the seeds inside are still small.

  • Full sun
  • 50 to 60 days
  • Grows in a pot
  • 3 to 4 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Zucchini

  A fast, warm-season summer squash picked while the skin and seeds are still tender.

  • Full sun
  • 50 to 65 days
  • 24 to 36 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Lettuce

  A fast, cool weather leaf crop that you can pick from for weeks. It is at its best in spring and autumn, and turns bitter in a hot, dry spell.

  • Part sun
  • 50 to 70 days
  • 1 gal pot or bigger
  • 5 to 12 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Peas

  A cool-season vine grown for sweet seeds or tender edible pods.

  • Full sun
  • 55 to 70 days
  • Grows in a pot
  • 1 to 3 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Basil

  A tender summer herb that grows fast, hates cold nights, and gives more the more often you cut it.

  • Full sun
  • 50 to 75 days
  • 2 gal pot or bigger
  • 6 to 12 in apart

Add your location on Eating Garden to turn these relative crop windows into an optional month-by-month calendar where local climate evidence is available.

Sources

• When to Plant Vegetables (University of Maryland Extension)
• Vegetable Garden Calendar (University of Georgia Cooperative Extension)