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Joe’s Journal, Winter Edition: A Year-Round Seed Starting Schedule

I have found that creating a system of organization for seed starting helps not only with timely sowing, but with time management. First start with listing the plants that you wish to grow. Greens generally like cooler growing temperatures: these are ideal for spring and fall sowing. Fruit bearing crops generally prefer warm temps and a long growing season. This latter group ought to be started indoors, well before the last frost date. Once you’ve organized what you want to grow, you can create a schedule for yourself. What follows is the list of veg and flowering plants that we are growing on our farming plots.

Additional information you will need to know:

  • Average last frost date
  • Average first frost date
  • Number of days to harvest for your crop

You can easily get this information online. For example, in our area (western North Carolina) there is only a 10% chance of overnight temperatures of 36 F by May 14th, so I’ll wait until then to put out tender crops. However, cool season crops can be planted in spring as soon as the ground can be worked. In our area, we can plant as early as April 18th. We have an 80% chance of having 32 F by October 30th.

Having this information, can help you plan and increase the probability of successful harvests. For example, our warm weather growing season, based on these data, is 175 days long. Our cool weather growing season is 203 days long.

To maximize planting success, we stagger our spring sowing dates every two weeks. This not only protects your crop, but also minimizes your workload!

The number of days to harvest for a cross-section of crops we’re planning:

  • Swiss Chard: 28-42 days
  • Mesclun Greens: 30-40 days
  • Sugar Snap Peas: 42-56 days
  • Beets, Cylindra: 55-65 days
  • Tomato, Black Strawberry: 60 days
  • Runner Beans, Blauhilde: 65 days
  • Bush beans, Anellino di Trento: 60-75 days
  • Sugar Rush Peach Pepper: 60-80 days
  • Carrots, Black Nebula: 75-80 days
  • Tomato, Indigo Blue Chocolate: 80 days
  • Cherokee Purple Tomatoes: 80-90 days
  • Candy Roaster Squash: 100 days
  • Connecticut Field Pumpkin: 110 days

Consider growing short season crops (that are harvested in 60-80 days), both spring and fall. Sow cool season crops spring or fall. No matter where you live, you can grow year-round, indoors. When days grow shorter and cooler, consider shifting your grow to indoor hydroponics. If you incorporate indoor growing, you can potentially harvest crops year-round (more on that in a future post)!

Cool weather crops to plant spring or fall

Except for the root forming crops (beets, carrots, radishes), these crops lend themselves to indoor hydroponic culture.  Some members of the Apiaceae (Umbels) such as parsley and carrots benefit from pre-soaking for 24 hours prior to sowing. Cole crops (broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage) are magnets to caterpillars including the imported cabbage -worm and cabbage looper. When growing out-of-doors, treat young plants with a protective application of BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) or Azadirachtin.

Broccoli Rabe
Broccoli, Chinese
Broccoli, Early Purple Sprouting
Broccoli, Sprouting
Escarole Bionda Cuore Pieno
European Mesclun
Kale Dazzling Blue
Beets, Cylindra
Lettuce, Tennis Ball
Carrot, Black Nebula
Carrot, Koral
Carrot, Kyoto Red
Carrot, Pusa Asita Black
Carrot, St. Valery
Radish Japanese Wasabi
Rhubarb Chard
Swiss Chard, Five Color
Snap Peas

Warm Weather Crops to Start Indoors

Start these crops as early as February or March, depending on when you plan on setting your plants out. This group of plants benefit from bottom heat and even moisture. Placing a plate glass or clear plastic over the planted seed will increase germination success. Keep an eye out for tomato or tobacco hornworms, which can strip your plants clean of foliage just when they are getting well established. Make applications of BT or Azadirachtin to solanaceous crops (tomatoes, peppers, pepino melon, potatoes, and eggplants).

Cardoon Gobbo di Nizza
Pepino Melon
Pepper Buena Mullata
Pepper Purple Jalapeno
Pepper Purple UFO
Pepper Sugar Rush Peach
Pepper, Datil
Pepper, Jimmy Nardello
Pepper, Zulu
Pepperoncino Cilielgia Piccante
Tomato, Black Strawberry
Tomato, Bonnie Best
Tomato, Cherokee Purple
Tomato, Indigo Blue Chocolate
Basil, Cardinal

Warm Weather Crops for Direct Sowing

These crops are directly sown in the garden or field.  This is the simplest and easiest way to garden. Watch for Mexican bean beetle on your bean plants, which will skeletonize the developing leaves. For bean beetles, make an application of pyrethrum. Look out for wilting on winter squash vines, indicative of squash vine borer. Treat early, after the vines put out their first true leaves. Use BT or an Azadirachtin such as AzaSol to protect squash vines.

Bean Anelino di Trento
Bean Super Marconi
Bean, Purple Yardlong
Beans Blauhilde
Cucumber China Jade
Cucumber Dar
Cucumber, Boston pickling
Pumpkin, Cinderella
Pumpkin, Connecticut Field
Squash Marina di Chioggia
Squash Potimarron
Squash, Acorn
Squash, Blue Hubbard
Squash, Candy Roaster
Squash, Golden Hubbard
Squash, Kakai
Squash, Lady Godiva
Squash, Moranga
Squash, Musquee de Provence
Squash, Peanut
Squash, Waltham Butternut
Sugar Pumpkin
Sunflower, Wildlife

Flower Seeds for Direct Sowing

Love-Lies-Bleeding
Marigold. Disco Mix
Spider Flower Mix
Sunflower Mixture
Sweet Alyssum
Tansy

Marigolds
Marigolds

Create your own gardening calendar. This will help guide your gardening tasks and help to keep your efforts on task! What follows is a sample garden calendar that you can use and modify to fit your own needs.

A Sample Gardening Calendar

Month Varietal Task Notes
January Mesclun greens

Lettuces

Arugula

Broccoli rabe

Endive

Kale

Basil

Parsley

Other herbs

Sow seeds indoors Grow hydroponically for continued harvests
February Tomatoes

Peppers

Eggplant

Sow seed indoors Apply bottom heat & maintain humidity (use clear plastic or plate glass)
March Snap Peas

Beets

Carrots

Radish

Direct Sow Trellis peas;

Pre-soak carrot seeds; sow in row with radish

April Mesclun greens

Lettuces

Arugula

Broccoli rabe

Kale

Direct sow Sow every two weeks; use a floating row cover for Cole crops or apply BT or Azadirachtin for caterpillars
May Tomatoes

Peppers

Eggplant;

Pole beans

Bush beans

Cucumbers

Plant out

 

 

 

Harden off plants prior to planting out; apply cutworm collars

 

Pole beans

Cucumbers

Direct sow Trellis pole beans, cucumbers
Amaranth

Cleome

Marigolds

Sunflowers

Tansy

Winter Squash

Direct sow Apply BT or Azadirachtin to winter squash when leaves first emerge to protect against Squash vine borer
August

 

Snap Peas

Beets

Carrots

Radish

Bush beans

Direct Sow Trellis peas;

Pre-soak carrot seeds; sow in row with radish;

Sow fall bush bean crop 60 days before first frost

Mesclun greens

Lettuces

Arugula

Broccoli rabe

Kale

Direct sow Sow every two weeks; use a floating row cover for Cole crops or apply BT or Azadirachtin for caterpillars
October

November

December

Mesclun greens

Lettuces

Arugula

Broccoli rabe

Endive

Kale

Basil

Parsley

Other herbs

Direct sow indoors Grow hydroponically for continued harvests

The calendar is designed for a continuous harvest. Of course, grow what you like! For instance, you may want to include potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic in your garden plan. The amount to grow is based on your time and available space, and what you prefer eating. Gardens are as individual as the gardener tending it: So, go for it! And above all, have fun!

Join us next week as we get into more gardening topics for 2024.

~ Signing off for now, Joe

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