Plant your garden based on the calendar for the best results.
Planting a home vegetable garden is a matter of timing. Some vegetables do best when started as soon as the soil is thawed and dry enough to work with. Others need warm soil to germinate. Another consideration when planting your vegetable garden is how long it will take the vegetables to ripen.
Early Spring Planting
Early spring, about four weeks before the last frost of the season, is the time to plant hardy plants that will germinate in cold soil and can tolerate a light frost. Some of these include peas, cabbage, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and carrots. Lettuces and radishes also do well planted early. Early spring is also the time to start less cold hardy plants indoors, such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
Spring Planting
Once the last frost has passed and the soil is dry and no longer in danger of freezing, it's time to set out seeds of plants that are less cold hardy. Beans, celery, chard, cucumbers, melons and squash, both summer and winter varieties, all do well when planted directly outdoors at this time. The seeds of plants started indoors for planting out in warmer weather will have germinated by now.
Late Spring Planting
In late spring, it's time to plant your seedlings. Now that it is four weeks past the last frost date, the soil is warm enough to support tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. You can also plant pumpkin seeds and potato starts at this time. Plant your herb garden now as well. As you are making your late spring plantings, your early spring seeds will be coming near time for harvest.
Fall and Winter Gardens
In warmer climates, the same plants that were planted in early spring and spring can have a second fall planting when the weather has cooled. Garlic is best planted in the fall in all climates. Leaf lettuces do very well into winter, as do carrots, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. You will need to bring in the last of your warm-weather crops before the first frost or you will lose them to the cold.
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