Outdoor transplant calendar

Garden bed and pots ready for planting!

Sunday, March 24, 2019

If starting your garden from seeds is not your thing, you can get baby veggie, herb and fruit plants that are ready to be planted directly into the garden or pot.  Big box stores, hardware stores, local nurseries, flea markets and farmers markets all have plants.  This makes it easy to get your garden going in the spring.  You can find many heirloom fruits and veggies nowadays.  

There are a few veggies that I have not seen as plants such as radishes, beets, carrots, turnips, corn, peas and beans.  Root crops don't like to be disturbed so you don't find these as transplants.  Corn, peas, and beans sprout so easily from seed that there isn't a big market for transplants.   

You can plant either in a garden bed or pot.  I really liked growing our greens like lettuce, spinach, chard, and sorrel in a pot I leave close to the back door, making it super convenient to get greens for salads.  Peppers and eggplant seem to do especially well in pots.

I would prepare the beds first with fertilizer and mulch before planting.  You can do a soil test yourself or send off for one if you want to create a fertilizer specific to your needs.   See this post for details The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals  If this is over the top for you, just use a good organic fertilizer at the recommended rate, an inch of compost, and cover with mulch.  You want to make sure your fertilizer is covered or you will lose a good portion of the nitrogen to the atmosphere.  I love gardening in mulch for many reasons that you can read about here:  Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds

If planting in pots, be sure that you have prepared your potting soil to support robust growth of your transplants.  Last year's potting soil will be spent and need amendments.  Re-energize your potting soil!

For succession planting when purchasing transplants, get different varieties of the same veggie with different days to harvest.  When one is played out, the next variety will be ready to eat.  Want continuous harvests? Succession planting!

Here is the by month planting calendar for a Zone 6 or 7 garden.  There are so many early and late varieties available that you should consult the plant label on the safest outdoor planting times (listed as the weeks before or after your last frost date Frost date look up).

February (as soon as soil can be worked)

Asparagus (will not harvest for 2-3 years)

Fruit trees and bushes

Garlic

Grapes

Shallots

March

Arugula

Asparagus (will not harvest for 2-3 years)

Broccoli

Cabbage

Chamomile

Chives

Collards

Cress

Fruit bushes

Kale

Kohlrabi

Leek

Lettuce (look for a variety to have longer harvest)

Mache (corn salad)

Mustard

Onion

Potatoes

Rhubarb

Spinach (look for a variety to have longer harvest)

Strawberries

April

Artichoke

Bee balm (monarda)

Borage

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Catnip

Cauliflower

Celeriac

Celery

Chard

Cilantro

Cucumber

Dill

Endive

Fennel

Fruit bushes

Horseradish

Lavender

Lemon balm

Lettuce

Lovage

Mizuna

Mustard

Onions

Parsley

Potatoes

Radicchio

Spinach

Strawberries

Summer squash (like zucchini)

Tarragon

Thyme

Valerian

May

Basil

Bay

Eggplant

Fig tree

Lemon verbena

Marjoram

Melons (cantaloupe, watermelons)

Mint

Okra

Onions

Oregano

Peppers

Potatoes

Rosemary

Sage

Malabar & New Zealand spinach

Stevia

Sweet potato

Winter squash (like pumpkins and butternut squash)

Tomatoes

June

Collards
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Okra
Summer Squash (like Zucchini)
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
Watermelons

July
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Collards
Tomatoes

August
Kale
Lettuce
Mustard
Spinach

September
Kale
Lettuce
Winter Onions
Spinach

October
Asparagus
Garlic
White Onions

November
Asparagus
Garlic
Winter Onions

Most of the planting in July and later is for fall and winter harvesting.  There are exceptions like tomatoes and summer squash.  These are planted so that you continue to get a robust harvest well into fall.  For more on fall and winter edible garden planting see  Time to plant for fall and winter harvests!   Plant a last minute edible fall/winter garden
For other tips on warming the soil and keeping warm season crops protected for early planting, see Extend the season with protection for plants