As we near the end of winter here in the northern hemisphere, you may be wondering exactly when you should start your garden seeds. Starting garden seeds indoors, in a warm and safe environment, is the most common beginning to your seasonal garden.
If you are still unsure about what to plant, consider what vegetables and greens you would enjoy eating and sharing through the summertime and into the fall. Do you love fresh lettuce and cucumber? Tomatoes with freshly picked basil, drizzled with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar? How about delicious roasted butternut squash? You can totally grow these! Don’t wait! Go grab those garden seeds!
Okay, I have my seeds. Now what?
Indoor seed sowing dates, as well as when we transplant outside, are based entirely off of when the last frost is likely to be for your area. These both also vary by plant variety as well. So, let’s take the guesswork out of it and make use of some great tools.
Pinpoint your precise climate
When I searched for specific information on the last expected frost for my area, I came across a great tool. If you go to this website and merely enter your zip code, it will tell you percentages of likelihood for freezing temperatures and more. Now, since frost can occur even above 32 degrees, you will have to decide whether you want to use the most conservative date a last frost might happen, or gamble just a little and push it. I, for one, might plant indoors based on an average, but I may consider just keeping my seedlings inside a tad longer if the forecast seems cold that last week or two of the transplanting window. For instance, in my area the last freeze date could be as late as April 7, but 36 degrees could still happen, statistically, until April 22. If I am considering putting my baby plants out in the garden, I might just keep an eye on the forecast around April 7, looking ahead to be sure a cold spell isn’t expected. But let’s get back to the seeds we haven’t planted yet.
When to sow what
Making use of another great tool, this site allows you to plug in the date from the above site that you have chosen as your projected “last frost” date. The result here is a great chart that lists seed sowing dates for MANY common garden vegetables and flowers. Fabulous! Here’s an example of the first part of the list using my date of April 7 as the last frost date.
Notice, for instance, that if I plan to grow beets, I should sow them indoors 4-6 weeks before transplanting, but the transplant (or “set out”) date is two weeks before that last frost date for beets. It even tells me that this would be between February 11 and February 25! Super cool. Now, if I don’t make it in time for that, I would sow my seeds anyway, as long as I’m just fudging it just a little. Now, as for my cucumbers, I have several more weeks for those. Looking at this chart, I am told to sow indoors 3-4 weeks before moving outside, but that transplanting should not take place until one or two weeks after the last frost. But this great little tool takes the guesswork out of it! Don’t you love it?
What if I miss these dates?
Honestly, it might depend on the specific crop. Some of the cold-loving crops are a little more important to sow early and get outside early in the season so as to avoid having them struggle through the heat of the summer. However, if you have shade, partial shade, cooler evenings, etc., it might give you a bit more wiggle room as well.
Common crops to look out for
Some common home garden varieties that have early indoor sowing dates are:
- beets
- broccoli
- cabbage
- cauliflower
- celery
- eggplant
- kale
- leeks
- lettuce
- mustard
- parsley
- peas
- Swiss chard
- tomatoes
- peppers
However, with many common crops (beets, carrots, herbs, greens, beans and more), succession planting is a great way to go! Succession planting is a way to make the most of your garden by spreading out the harvesting times. For instance, rather than having 20 plants of the same kind, all ready for harvest at once, sowing times could be spread out at two week intervals, planting 4 or 5 plants at a time. Planting successively extends the harvesting of fresh produce from that crop by a month or more. This way you can enjoy (and share) fresh food with your family or friends over many weeks or months, rather than being inundated by one type of produce all at once. Learning more about other forms of succession planting is a great idea as well.
Having said all of this…
…and considering the success of spreading out sowing by many weeks when planting successively, I would say that missing the ideal planting dates can be taken with a grain of salt, so-to-speak. I would take the dates in the handy chart above as best-practice suggestions. Why? Because I always go back to the premise that planting something is better than planting nothing. And truthfully, seeds want to be planted! Plants want to grow. They want to provide you with food and beauty! It’s in their nature.
Comment below and let us know what seeds you are starting!
Happy sowing!
