Vegetable Garden Planning: What to Plant Each Month

One of the most common mistakes new gardeners make isn't a growing mistake at all — it's a timing one. Planting warm-season crops too early, missing the window for a fall harvest, or leaving beds empty for months that could have grown something. Here's a framework for thinking about your planting calendar all year, wherever you are.

Why "what month is it" isn't quite the right question

Planting dates depend far more on your frost dates and climate zone than the calendar month itself — late March in one region is the start of the growing season, and in another it's still deep winter. The framework below is organized by growing stage relative to your last frost, which works regardless of where you garden.

Early spring (6–8 weeks before last frost)

This is a starting window, not a planting-outside window for most crops.

Start indoors: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant — they need a long runway before it's warm enough outside
Direct sow outside if soil is workable: peas, spinach, lettuce — all tolerate light frost
Prep beds: work compost into soil now while there's less competing to do

Mid-spring (2–4 weeks before last frost)

Direct sow: carrots, beets, radishes, onions, most leafy greens
Harden off indoor-started seedlings — a week of gradually increasing outdoor time before transplanting
Hold off on tomatoes, peppers, and other tender crops until frost risk has genuinely passed

Late spring / early summer (after last frost)

The main planting window for most home gardens.

Transplant: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil
Direct sow: beans, squash, cucumbers, corn, zucchini
Succession sow fast crops like lettuce and radish every 2–3 weeks for a rolling harvest instead of one big glut

Midsummer

Keep succession sowing quick crops as space frees up
Start fall crops indoors: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower — count back from your first fall frost date
Watch for heat stress — lettuce and spinach will bolt (flower and turn bitter) in high heat; plant these in partial shade if summers run hot

Late summer / early fall

Direct sow fast-maturing crops for a final harvest: radishes, spinach, lettuce, peas
Transplant fall brassicas started earlier in summer
Garlic goes in the ground in most regions 6–8 weeks before your ground freezes, for harvest the following summer

Fall / winter

Clean up and compost spent plants
Cover crop or mulch empty beds rather than leaving soil bare over winter
Plan next season — this is the best time to review what worked, what didn't, and adjust your layout

Building your own calendar

The framework above is universal, but the actual dates depend entirely on your specific location and last/first frost dates. Rather than tracking this manually crop by crop, GrowLocal's personalized recommendations already factor in your location and current season when suggesting what to plant — and once something's in the ground, task reminders tell you when it's time for the next step, so you're not relying on memory for timing that actually matters.

The biggest planning win isn't a perfect calendar — it's avoiding empty beds. Whenever one crop finishes, have the next one ready to go in behind it.