Spring Vegetable Gardening
Plan ahead to maximize your cool-loving vegetables and get a jump start on your warm season crops
I haven’t admitted this out loud yet, but I’ve actually lost sleep thinking about my spring seed orders and plant starting. You’re a gardener after my own heart if that doesn’t sound crazy to you! After a long, dreary winter, it’s almost time for the garden to start waking up, and I’m so excited to get started (so much so that I can’t fall asleep at night!). I’m sharing with you my general tips for spring seed starting and planting, including suggestions for some of the most popular garden crops! And if you’re looking for a ready-to-go guide then look no further than this FREE spring planting chart I’ve created for you!
Want all of the spring dates in a handy chart? Check out this FREE spring planting chart with guides for when to start seeds and transplant out your spring crops!
Estimated Last Frost
The first piece of information you’ll need to get started for your spring garden is your estimated last frost date. If you’re not sure what yours is there are several sites to check online - I like to use Old Farmers Almanac here.
Once you know your estimated last frost date it’s time to count backwards to find when to start your seeds or to plant out. Ready to get started? Let’s take a look at some of the most common crops!
Beans
Beans may not be one of the earliest spring crops to start, but they sure are reliable! Beans are very strong germinators, and grow well started by seed directly in the garden about 2 weeks after your last frost, when soil is at least 60F.
There are both vining and bush varieties of beans. Vining varieties will produce throughout the season, while bush varieties produce the majority of their harvest in a large flush. If you’re planning to preserve the harvest consider growing bush varieties so you get a large amount all at once, able to freeze or can the bounty.
Carrots
I shared a more detailed post on growing carrots here, but a BIG takeaway is that carrots do best by direct sowing. I didn’t know that when I first started growing carrots and I was heartbroken to lose every single seedling when I tried to transplant them! So learn from my mistake and start your carrots directly in the garden about 4-6 weeks before your estimated last frost.
To keep the carrot harvest going you can also succession plant carrots, sowing seed every 1-2 weeks, so that you get a steady supply. Just keep in mind that carrots don’t like warm temperatures and will become fibrous and bitter when temperatures start to increase above 70F. So if you have a variety that will take 60 days to reach maturity, but you only have about 1 month of cooler temperatures before temperatures really start to increase, you might want to save yourself the trouble and hold off on that last planting.
Corn
Extend your corn harvest in spring and summer by getting a jump start on planting. Just like bush beans and carrots, corn is a great crop to succession plant - start your first planting by direct seeding in the garden about 2 weeks after your last frost, continuing to plant every 2 weeks or so for a continued harvest throughout the season.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers usually are very strong germinators and can be grown from seed directly sown in the garden. But they don’t like cooler temperatures which means you would have to wait until 2-3 weeks after your last frost to get them started. To get around this and get a jump start on the season consider starting them inside instead! Just be careful not to disturb the roots too much when transplanting. If you decide to go this route I’d recommend starting them indoors about 2-3 weeks before your estimated last frost, then transplant out once soil temperatures have warmed up, usually about 2-3 weeks after your last frost.
Lettuce
Lettuce is a fantastic crop to grow in the cool seasons of spring. It can be started either directly in the garden or started indoors and transplanted out later. Like many other plants, starting indoors and transplanting out can give you a few weeks of a head start on your harvest, so start indoors as early as 4-6 weeks before your last frost, and transplant out 1-2 weeks before the last frost, just as temperatures are beginning to increase but it’s still cool. If you prefer to direct sow in your garden then plant seeds 1-2 weeks before your last frost. Like carrots this is a great crop to succession plant every 1-2 weeks to extend your harvest.
Onions (in northern zones)
If you’re in the northern areas of the United States onions are another crop you can plant in spring. If you’re starting onions from seed, start indoors about 6-8 weeks before your estimated last frost. You can then transplant out (or plant out your onion sets if you decided to purchase those instead of starting from seed) about 2-3 weeks after your last frost.
If you’re in the southern US I’d recommend fall-planted onions, rather than spring, because of the requirements on temperature and sunlight that onions have. (I seriously nerded out on onions and wrote a super detailed blog post all about them - check it out here if you want more information!).
Peas
Peas are an amazing cool season crop, and do wonderfully in spring. Start your pea plants directly from seed in the garden as early as 4-6 weeks before your last frost. They prefer cool temperatures, germinating best with soil temperatures around 45F and will grow well with temperatures less than 70F. As temperatures warm up you’ll see production decline though, usually at temperatures above 80F.
Peppers
Peppers seem to take forever to reach harvest (or maybe I’m just too impatient and excited for peppers!) so they are the perfect crop to start early! Start peppers indoors 8-10 weeks before your last frost, and plant out when temperatures in the garden are warm, about 2-4 weeks after last frost.
Squash
Similar to cucumbers, squash are a crop that can be directly sown in the garden when temperatures are warming, but you can also start them indoors to get a jump start on the season. If you decide to start indoors, get your seed started about 2-4 weeks before your estimated last frost, and transplant out about 2-4 weeks after your last frost. Just like cucumbers though you’ll want to take care not to disturb the plant roots when transplanting.
Tomatoes
Similar to peppers, tomatoes seem to take forever to reach a size ready for the garden. So get a head start on the growing season and start your seeds indoors, as early as 8-10 weeks before your last frost. Transplant out when temperatures are warming and soil temperatures are at least 60F, about 2-3 weeks after your estimated last frost.
Ready to get your garden started? Follow these planting timing suggestions to get a head start on your season!
Looking for more help? Check out this FREE resource to plan your spring seed starting and transplant dates!
