What to start 4 weeks before frost (this week)

Starting seeds in peat pods and Aerogarden

Sunday, March 1, 2026

For indoor seed starting, it is time to start the ones that love the hot weather.  You can also continue to succession sow lettuce for continuous harvest into summer.  For outdoors, you can still plant the cool season lovers.  

For our zone 7 garden, here are the ones you can sow indoors now: 

Herbs 

*Basil

*Cilantro

*Culantro

*Dill

*Feverfew

*Navajo Tea

*Butterfly Form Papalo (tastes like cilantro but loves hot weather)

*Red Shiso

Veggies/Fruits

*Amaranth

*Artichoke

*Arugula

*Basil

*Bok Choy

*Broccoli Raab

*Chinese Cabbage

*Cucumber

*Cultivated Dandelions

*Fennel

*Huckleberry

*Lambsquarter

*Leeks

*Lettuce

*Melons

*Mustard

*Okra

*Orach

*Peppers

*Pumpkins

*Radicchio

*Red Malabar Spinach

*Sorrel

*Soybean

*Summer and Winter Squash

*Tomatoes

*Watermelons

Flowers and Ornamentals

*Amaranthus

*Aster

*Blue Fescue

*Cosmos

*Fountain Grass

*Hummingbird Vine

*Hyacinth Bean

*Love in a Mist

*Luffa

*Lupine

*Marigold

*Morning Glory

*Nasturtium

*Platinum Blue

*California and Corn Poppies

*Zinnias

Few of the veggies and herbs listed are cool season producers.  For more on cool season gardening, see A spring edible garden. At this point, we are adding more of the staples of the summer garden like tomatoes, basil, melons and squash.  For more on summer gardening, see  All about the summer edible garden 

For indoor seed starting how-to and tips:  Indoor seed starting how to and tips

For making your own seed starting pots:  Make your own peat pots 

If you are transplanting seedlings from indoors to outdoors, be sure to harden them to the conditions they will be transplanted to.  If in a greenhouse, cold frame or hot bed, you can take outdoors when temperatures are warm or maybe an unheated garage if the temps are close to the covered location you will be placing them.  "Hardening off" seedlings 

Here are the crops you can sow outdoors this week.

Seeds to sow outdoors

Here is a list of the cool season crops you can sow seeds this week in the outdoor garden 4 weeks or less from the last forecasted frost.

Arugula

Beets

Bok choy

Broccoli

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Chard

Chervil

Chives

Collards

Corn Salad

Cultivated dandelions

Endive

Fava beans

Garlic

Kale

Kohlrabi

Leeks

Lettuce

Mache

Mustard greens

Onions

Pac choi

Parsley

Parsnips

Peas

Potatoes

Radicchio

Radishes

Rhubarb

Shallots

Sorrel

Spinach

Turnips

Snow pea seedlings started outdoors in February

March 2026 Garden Planner

March garden with lettuce and spinach

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Spring is about 4 weeks behind last year from previous years.  We've just started having normal temperatures.  Daffodils and crocus only have buds on them.  Daylilies and iris flowers greenery is barely breaking ground.  

If you have not already, it is time to test your soil, get your garden beds ready for planting, finalize the plan for your spring garden and get planting! 

Soil Testing and Bed Preparation

Now is the time to clean up your beds and determine what your soil needs to feed and support your plants through the coming growing seasons.  Remove all the dead plant material still left from last season.  If you had any disease problem, do not compost.  I always leave anything with seed heads through the winter for the birds to eat then remove what remains this time of year.  This year, I am going to scatter flower seed heads on the unmovable bank to see if I can get self-seeders going there.  

You can take a soil sample to your local county co-op extension office to have it tested or buy a do it yourself kit at any big box store or local nursery.  You can do a more extensive soil test by sending your soil sample off to a lab.  Here is a link to my blog on soil nutrition:  The next step in garden production and your nutrit...  Well-fed plants grow better and are more nutritious for you, too.  A win-win.

If you don’t want to go to the trouble of testing, a sure way to enrich your soil is to use a balanced organic fertilizer and compost.  I add organic material every spring with fertilizer and any amendments needed, a layer of compost, then top with hardwood mulch in the garden beds, building the soil’s fertility and its ability to hold water.  This is also when I use amendments to adjust pH if needed.  The soil test I did in the fall of 2023 showed my soil had a pH of 7.8 which is more alkaline than herbs and vegetables do well at so I added sulfur 2 springs ago to bring it down.  I did another soil test last year and it had come down slightly.  Optimal range is 6.5-7.0, so slightly acidic.

A local CSA farmer and organic gardener told me years ago that it is important to not let your fertilizer just lay on top of the ground as many of the nutrients will be lost, especially nitrogen.  My spring routine to build the soil is always to put down an organic fertilizer like Espoma or ReVita Pro, then a layer of compost and top with mulch.  Nitrogen oxidizes easily with the air so be sure to cover your fertilizer with soil, compost or mulch every time you fertilize.  You can make your own balanced fertilizer, too, which is pretty inexpensive.  Make your own all natural, complete fertilizer

If this is your first time gardening, it is super easy to buy plants and put in pots or plant in your established flower beds with your flowers.  I do 100% of my edible gardening in pots and my flower beds.    Easy kitchen garden  How to know what to grow  Surprising veggies that can be grown in pots  If you are really nervous, the easiest garden to start with are herbs.  They love to be neglected!  Just plant them and watch them grow.  My first edible garden was herbs.  Most herbs are perennials so you plant them once and they come back every year.  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Finalize your garden plan

Before your start planting, take pen to paper and finalize your spring garden plan.  Every fall, I capture what went well for the growing season, what I want to learn more about over the winter, and a plan for the coming season.  You will forget if you don't write it down!  A garden journal is a great tool for gardening.

Keep a garden diary 

Reflections on the 2025 garden and the 2026 garden plan

How to develop an edible garden plan

My 2026 Decorative and Edible Garden Plan

The big box stores have out their seed and plant racks so they should have transplants soon.  In our area, they seem to arrive in mid-March.  Seeds are already stocked every place I've been.  Transplants are a good and easy way to look for what will grow well in your area.  The types that like cold weather that will be out soon are cabbage, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, leeks, onion sets, potato sets, blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry bare root plants, along with potted fruit trees.  Spring edible garden

Mid March garden

I have already started lettuce seeds in the portable greenhouses in bare spots.  I have quite a few greens that overwintered under cover.  I'll buy a few lettuce and spinach plants to plant with them.  Keeping them covered during cold spells will keep them warmer and encourage growth so we get fresh salads as soon as possible.  They will do just fine in the garden bed too.  I just love spring salads!

Some varieties I enjoy growing in the spring garden:  

Oakleaf Lettuce-ready to harvest in 45 days  Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Wild Garden Kales-ready to harvest in 30 days Grow one of the super greens this year-kale

Mesclun Valentine Lettuce mix (red tinted lettuce and greens)-ready to harvest in 30-55 days

Marvel of Four Seasons Butterhead Lettuce (I love the sweet taste of butterheads)-ready to harvest in 55 days Everything you need to know about growing lettuce
Red Sails Lettuce (a ruffled red and green, stays sweet even after bolting)-ready to harvest in 45 days

Space Hybrid Spinach-ready to harvest in 38 days  Grow spinach-a super nutritious, easy green

Gourmet Blend Lettuce (Prizeleaf, Royal Oak Leaf, Salad Bowl, Ashley)-ready to harvest in 45 days

Sugar snap peas-ready to harvest in 70 days Time to plant peas!

All kinds of broccoli or cauliflower-ready to harvest in 50-80 days (leaves are great in salads) Broccoli and cauliflower growing tips

Cabbage-ready to harvest in 68 days.  Cabbage is nutritious and easy to grow

Carrots-ready to harvest in 50-75 days  Grow crunchy, colorful carrots practically year round

Parsley-70 days to harvest  

Potatoes-ready to begin harvest in 70 days  Time to plant potatoes, even if you only have a patio

The above can be companion planted with radishes, beets, chives, garlic, and onions.  Since they are shallow rooted, they grow well with root crops.  Get the most from your space-plant intensively!

When I plant, I plant with a handful of worm compost and char and water in with fish emulsion.  If planting seeds, germination should take anywhere from 4-15 days, depending on how warm the soil is.  I am out in the garden looking for little green shoots daily!  Decorative container gardening for edibles

Important tip-if planting seeds in a mulched bed, be sure to cover the seed with only soil; most seedlings are too weak to push through mulch.  Mulching your beds keeps the weeds from sprouting, too.  Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds 

Potato box

Zone 6/7 Spring Garden Roadmap

Planting seedlings outdoors:

Now (or as soon as the soil can be worked)-fruit trees and vines, nut trees, asparagus, garlic, leeks, onions, peas

Mid-March-cabbage, kale, lettuce, mustards, spinach

Beginning of April-broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, more lettuce, lemon balm, parsley

Mid-April-corn, marigolds, rosemary, sage, thyme

First of May-basil, chives, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes

Mid-May-cantaloupe, eggplant, okra, squash, watermelon

Starting your seeds outdoors**:

Now (or as soon as the soil can be worked): peas, spinach, lettuce, radish, mustards

Mid-March: all the above plus arugula, bok choy, cabbage, carrot, collards, leeks, mache, onion. rhubarb, cultivated dandelions

End March:  all the above plus fava beans, beets, broccoli, carrot, Chinese cabbage, cress, kale, kohlrabi, leek, mizuna, parsley, parsnip, early potatoes, turnip

**One watch out is planting seeds too soon.  Seeds have to have a certain soil temperature to sprout.  Plant too soon and the seed will rot and not sprout.  Here are some soil temp guidelines.  Temps to plant seeds outdoors  Be sure to harden off your seedlings before planting outdoors if started inside  "Hardening off" seedlings

Starting your seeds indoors for summer planting:

Now-lemon balm, parsley, sage, thyme, lettuce, cress, chard, basil, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, okra, marigolds, eggplant

End of March-cantaloupe, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes

A summer edible garden

January is indoor seed starting time! Here is a seed starting calendar........

Indoor seed starting tips

These dates are just guidelines.  You can start your seedlings later and plant your transplants later as well.  Be sure to read the seed packet for what you are starting.  They make all kinds of varieties that are cold hardy and can be planted sooner than what I outlined above.  If you get a cold snap, there are things you can do to protect your early crops.  Extend the season with protection for plants

Happy gardening!

It's good to know what grows well in each of the 4 seasons

 

February 22, 2026

Some like it cool, some like it hot!  

You can optimize the veggies you grow by knowing what season is best for the type of vegetables you love eating.  Cool seasons like spring and fall are prime time for different veggies and fruits than hot summers and you need to get the cold hardiest crops for winter gardening.

Here are just a sample of the types of crops that thrive in each of the seasons.  Read seed packets to see what season the flower, vegetable or fruit you are planting grows best in and when to start them from seed both indoors and outdoors.  How to read seed packets for seed starting and planting your garden

Vegetables that are good to plant for spring harvests

Asparagus (these take a great deal of space)

Greens-spinach, chicories, radicchio, tatsoi, mustard, arugula, kale, sprouting broccoli

Lettuce-sow every 2 weeks so you have lettuce spring, summer, fall, into winter

Peas, fava beans

Cilantro, parsley

Carrots, radishes, beets, turnips

Garlic, onions, potatoes

For cool season crops, they typically bolt (send up a flower stalk) and go to seed when the temperatures start hitting the 80's.  When this happens, cops like lettuce and kale become bitter.  There are greens you can grow in summer that stay sweet all through the summer heat like New Zealand spinach, Red Malabar spinach, a few heat tolerant lettuces, orach, amaranths, sprouting broccoli and others.

A spring edible garden

Keep salads going all summer long

 

Summer vegetable garden 

Heat tolerant greens-chard, sorrel, salad burnet

Pole and bush beans, shelling beans

Fennel, dill, basil, leeks

Corn, Okra, Melons

Summer squash (like zucchini, Trombetta, crookneck)

Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Sweet & Chili Peppers

Cucumber
Strawberries

Most summer lovers will produce until the first fall frost.  

The summer edible garden

Vegetables for the fall garden

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, 

Peas, Brussels sprouts

Winter squash (like acorn, patty pan or pumpkin)

Sweet potatoes (these take a very long time to mature)

Radicchio, Escarole, Frisee and Round 2 of Greens

In the fall, you are back to the cool season loving crops.  The trick to a bountiful fall and winter garden is starting your seeds in August and September so they are at full size come November when daylight drops below 10 hours.

Fall edible garden

Late fall/winter garden

Cold hardy greens-arugula, kale, spinach, lettuce, sorrel, spinach

Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage

Fava beans

Carrots, turnips

Onions, chives

For a winter garden, you will choose the most cold hardy vegetables.  You sow the seeds at the same time as your fall garden.  You can use cover to extend the season.

The winter edible garden

Extend the season with protection for plants

For each season, you will plant a month or two earlier than the season you want to harvest if growing from seed.  Check seed packets to see how many days from planting to harvesting.  Back up the date to plant so it is ready to begin harvesting at the right time.  For fall and winter gardens, add 2 weeks to the maturity date (or days to harvest) as it is cooling down and sunlight is getting less going into fall.

If you are buying transplants, you plant when the season is just right for the veggie!

Seeds to start 6 weeks before frost (now)

Starting seeds in peat pods and Aerogarden

Saturday, February 21, 2026

There are several varieties of herbs, veggies and flowers that can be started this week indoors.  Many are the same that you could have started last week.  Planting another round will extend the harvest.  I like to start every 2 weeks for succession planting for things like spinach and lettuce.  The other option is planting different varieties of the same vegetable or fruit that have different days to harvest.  We are getting more of the summer lovers and less of the cool season crops.  Shortly, it will be time to start seeds outdoors for cool season lovers.  

For our zone 7 garden, here are the ones you can sow indoors now: 

Herbs 

*Borage

*Chives

*Feverfew

*Lavender

*Lovage

*Oregano

*Parsley

*Red Shiso

*Rosemary

*Sage

*Salad burnett

*Spearmint

*Stevia

*Thyme

*Valerian

*Woad

Veggies/Fruits

*Alpine Strawberries

*Amaranth

*Artichoke

*Asparagus

*Basil

*Broccoli

*Cardoon

*Cauliflower

*Eggplant

*French Dandelion

*French Sorrel

*Huckleberry

*Kohlrabi

*Spinach

*Cabbage

*Lettuce

*Okra

*Parsnip

*Peppers

*Red Malabar Spinach

*Russian Tarragon

*Tamarillo

Flowers and Ornamentals

*Allyssium

*Blazing Star

*Blue Fescue

*Castor bean

*Celosia

*Coleus

*Cosmos

*Daisy

*Delphinium

*English Wallflower

*Forget-Me-Not

*Fountain Grass

*Heliotrope

*Hibiscus

*Hollyhock

*Love-in-a-Mist

*Lupine

*Verbena

*Datura

*Salvia

*Marigold

*Milkweed

*Morning Glory

*Pepper, Ornamental

*Petunia

*Phlox

*Statice

*Sweet Pea

*Sweet William

*Torch Lily

*Verbascum Mullein

*Zinnia

*Black-eyed Susan

*Safflower

*Snow-on-the-Mountain

*Nigella

*Painted Tongue

*Pincushion flower

We have less spring crops on the list as it is time for the warmer loving crops to get started.  For more on cool season gardening, see A spring edible garden. At this point, we are adding more of the staples of the summer garden like tomatoes, basil, peppers and eggplant.  For more on summer gardening, see  All about the summer edible garden 

For indoor seed starting how-to and tips:  Indoor seed starting how to and tips

For making your own seed starting pots:  Make your own peat pots 

You can sow directly outdoors spinach, lettuce, mustard greens and peas.  These can be sown as soon as the soil can be worked.  If you have a portable cover for them, they will sprout and grow faster.  Otherwise, they will germinate when the conditions are right naturally.

If you are transplanting seedlings from indoors to outdoors, be sure to harden them to the conditions they will be transplanted to.  If in a greenhouse, cold frame or hot bed, you can take outdoors when temperatures are warm or maybe an unheated garage if the temps are close to the covered location you will be placing them.  "Hardening off" seedlings 

Now, if only spring would come!

Seeds to start indoors 7 weeks before last frost (now)

Starting seeds in peat pods and Aerogarden

Sunday, February 15, 2026

There are several varieties of herbs, veggies and flowers that can be started this week indoors.  Many are the same that you could have started last week.  Planting another round will extend the harvest.  I like to start every 2 weeks for succession planting.  The other option is planting different varieties of the same vegetable or fruit that have different days to harvest.  For our zone 7 garden, here are the ones you can sow indoors now.  

Herbs 

*Borage

*Calendula

*Chervil

*Chives

*Lavender

*Lovage

*Oregano

*Parsley

*Rosemary

*Sage

*Stevia

*Thyme

*Woad

Veggies/Fruits

*Amaranth

*Artichoke

*Asparagus

*Beets

*Broccoli

*Cardoon

*Cauliflower

*Chard

*Eggplant

*French Dandelion

*Huckleberry

*Kohlrabi

*Spinach

*Cabbage

*Lettuce

*Okra

*Parsnip

*Peppers

*Tamarillo

Flowers and Ornamentals

*Blue Fescue

*Castor bean

*Celosia

*Coleus

*Cosmos

*Verbena

*Datura

*Salvia

*Ageratum

*Aster, China

*Corn Cockle

*False Queen Anne's Lace

*Sweet Annie

*Bells of Ireland

*Calendula

*Cardoon

*Bachelor's Button

*Globe Amaranth

*Joe Pye Weed

*Kale, Ornamental

*Larkspur

*Marigold

*Monarda, Bee Balm

*Pepper, Ornamental

*Petunia

*Phlox

*Iceland Poppy

*Ptilotus

*Sanvitalia

*Statice

*Strawflower

*Sweet Pea

*Black-eyed Susan

Many of the veggies and herbs listed are cool season producers.  For more on cool season gardening, see A spring edible garden. This week several are added that are staples of the summer garden like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.  For more on summer gardening, see  All about the summer edible garden 

For indoor seed starting how-to and tips:  Indoor seed starting how to and tips

For making your own seed starting pots:  Make your own peat pots 

If you are transplanting seedlings from indoors to outdoors, be sure to harden them to the conditions they will be transplanted to.  If in a greenhouse, cold frame or hot bed, you can take outdoors when temperatures are warm or maybe an unheated garage if the temps are close to the covered location you will be placing them.  "Hardening off" seedlings 

I also sowed lettuce seeds and snow peas in my outdoor pots this week.  For the lettuce, I put them in the pots that I can cover with my portable greenhouse cover in case we get another deep freeze.  You can plant them in uncovered pots and they will sprout when the conditions are right.  Spinach and kale seeds can also be planted outdoors now.

Now, if only spring would come!