Every spring I get a flood of emails from people asking when they can start planting their gardens, and my answer is always the same: “As soon as the ground can be worked.” No, seriously, that’s my answer!
The fact of the matter is you can plant some vegetable as early as January, and plenty others in March. Of course what you plant will be determined by what you like to eat, so simply choose from the following list and have at it!
Here are some of the most common vegetables that folks plant in their gardens along with their earliest planting times:
- Beets – Late January or early February
- Kale – January
- Carrots – As soon as the ground can be worked
- Broccoli – March
- Lettuce – As soon as the ground can be worked
- Tomatoes– March (but cover them up when frost is expected)
- Cabbage – March
- Peas – March
- Onions – March
- Turnips – ANY time you want – literally!
- Beans– Mid-April (after you’re certain that your area has had its last frost)
- Potatoes – 2 weeks before you expect the last hard freeze of the year
- Corn – Late March to early April
Of course the dates listed above are general guidelines which should be adjusted just a bit according to your latitude. If you live in the southern half of the United States you can plant a little earlier. If you live up north you should probably wait a couple of weeks or longer. A good rule of thumb is that virtually any vegetable can be planted in your garden after the last frost of the season has come and gone. Your local county extension agent can give you an approximate date for your area.
About the author: Mitchell Greene is an avid gardener who began growing vegetables at the tender age of 8!
Credits: Photo courtesy of Nick Ares.