If you’re new to growing vegetables or just need a refresher, here’s a basic vegetable planting calendar to get you started. We’ve also included a few herbs that are often grown similarly to vegetables. The dates are approximate — and based on USDA Plant Hardiness zone 5 — and will vary depending on your location, the weather, and the time you have available. Keeping your own planting records, with notes on how these seeding dates worked (or didn’t work) for you, will help you develop a planting calendar that is specific to your site and growing habits.
If you aren’t able to grow your own seedlings, you can buy them at farmers’ markets, food co-ops, local greenhouses and farm stores in the spring and follow the transplanting dates below. Visit mofga.org/mofga-seedling-map for an interactive map detailing where to purchase MOFGA-certified seedlings.
Visit our fact sheets page for more information on the basics of organic vegetable gardening, making your own seed starting mix and more.
| March 1 | Start indoors: celery, celeriac, parsley (3/1 to 3/15); scallions, onions, leeks, shallots (2/20 to 3/15) |
| March 14 | Start indoors: head lettuce, bulb fennel, chicories (including escarole, dandelion greens and radicchio) |
| March 21 | Start indoors: peppers (3/1 to 3/21), eggplant (3/21 to 4/1) |
| April 1 | Start indoors: bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, Swiss chard |
| April 14 | Start indoors: tomatoes, tomatillos, husk cherries, basil Start outdoors: beets, carrots, cilantro, dill, leaf and head lettuce, parsnips (4/15 to 5/15), peas, arugula, radishes, salad turnips, shallots (4/15 to 5/30), spinach, bunching onions for summer harvest (4/15 to 5/1), onions from seeds or sets Transplant out: head lettuce, fennel, chicory, onion, shallot and scallion seedlings |
| May 1 | Start indoors: melons, cucumbers, squashes (zucchini, summer and winter squashes, pumpkins) Start outdoors: beets, carrots, leaf and head lettuce, peas, arugula, radishes, salad turnips, spinach, Swiss chard (5/1 to 5/31) Transplant out: bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, Swiss chard (5/1 to 5/15, when 4 to 5 weeks old), leeks (5/1 to 5/15) |
| May 14 | Start indoors: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower for fall crop Start outdoors: beets, leaf and head lettuce, cilantro, dill, peas, arugula, radishes, salad turnips, spinach |
| June 1 | Start outdoors: bush green beans, bush dry beans, pole beans, beets, Chinese cabbage (5/30 to 7/30), carrots, corn, leaf and head lettuce, peas, potatoes, arugula, radishes, salad turnips, spinach Transplant out: celery, celeriac, parsley (6/1 to 6/15); tomatoes, tomatillos, husk cherries, peppers, 3/21 sowing of eggplant, basil, sweet potato slips (6/1 to 6/15) Transplant or direct seed out: melons, cucumbers, squashes (zucchini, summer and winter squashes, pumpkins) |
| June 14 | Start outdoors: beets, corn, leaf and head lettuce, cilantro, dill, peas, arugula, radishes, spinach, salad turnips Transplant out: cannabis, 4/1 sowing of eggplant, 5/15 sowing of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower |
| June 21 | Start outdoors: bush green beans, carrots |
| July 1 | Start outdoors: beets, corn (short-season varieties), kale, leaf and head lettuce, peas, arugula, radishes, spinach, salad turnips, storage turnips (7/1 to 8/1) |
| July 14 | Start outdoors: bush green beans, beets, carrots, rutabaga, leaf and head lettuce, cilantro, dill, peas, arugula, radishes, daikon and other winter radishes (7/15 to 8/15), spinach, salad turnips, hardy bunching onions for fall and spring harvest (7/15 to 8/15) |
| August 1 | Start outdoors: beets, leaf and head lettuce, peas, arugula, radishes, spinach, salad turnips |
| August 14 | Start outdoors: leaf and head lettuce, cilantro, dill, arugula, radishes, spinach, salad turnips |
| September 1 | Start outdoors: leaf lettuce, arugula, radishes, shallots for spring green onions, spinach |
| October 15 | Start outdoors: garlic |
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