Vegetable Sowing Calendar: When to Sow What, Month by Month
A sowing calendar tells you the weeks when each vegetable stands the best chance of germinating and maturing within your season. The windows below suit a temperate climate around USDA zone 7 (much of temperate Europe), with the last frost near mid-spring. Treat them as a starting point and shift the dates to fit your own garden.
How to read a sowing window
Each crop has a start and end month, the span when sowing usually succeeds. Sow early in the window for the longest season, or late to stagger your harvest or dodge a heat-sensitive stage.
Two other numbers matter: days to harvest (roughly how long from sowing to the first pick) and spacing (how far apart to thin or transplant). Add days to harvest to your sowing date to estimate when you will be eating.
Sowing indoors vs direct sowing
Sowing indoors means starting seed under cover, on a windowsill, in a heated propagator or a greenhouse, weeks before it is warm enough outside, then transplanting the young plants once frost has passed. It suits heat-lovers with a long season like tomato, pepper, aubergine and basil, and gives brassicas a head start.
Direct sowing means placing seed straight into the ground where it will grow. It is best for crops that dislike root disturbance or grow fast, such as carrot, radish, beetroot, peas, beans and most leafy greens. There is no transplant shock, but you must wait for the soil to warm.
When to sow common vegetables
The table below assumes a temperate garden near zone 7 with the last spring frost around mid-April. The months are the sowing window, not the harvest. Count forward by the days-to-harvest figure to place each crop on your own calendar.
| Crop | Sow | Method | Harvest in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato | Apr–Jun | Indoors, transplant | ~70 days |
| Sweet pepper | May–Jun | Indoors, transplant | ~75 days |
| Chili pepper | May–Jun | Indoors, transplant | ~80 days |
| Eggplant | May–Jun | Indoors, transplant | ~85 days |
| Cucumber | May–Jul | Direct sow | ~55 days |
| Zucchini | May–Jul | Direct sow | ~50 days |
| Winter squash | May–Jun | Direct sow | ~100 days |
| Lettuce | Mar–May | Direct sow | ~45 days |
| Spinach | Feb–Apr | Direct sow | ~40 days |
| Arugula | Feb–May | Direct sow | ~30 days |
| Radish | Feb–May | Direct sow | ~25 days |
| Carrot | Mar–Aug | Direct sow | ~70 days |
| Beetroot | Mar–May | Direct sow | ~55 days |
| Onion | Mar–Apr | Direct sow | ~110 days |
| Leek | Jan–Feb | Indoors, transplant | ~110 days |
| Garlic | Oct–Nov | Direct sow (cloves) | ~240 days |
| Pea | Mar–Apr | Direct sow | ~60 days |
| Bush bean | Apr–Jul | Direct sow | ~55 days |
| Broccoli | Feb–Mar | Indoors, transplant | ~65 days |
| Cauliflower | Feb–Mar | Indoors, transplant | ~70 days |
| Cabbage | Feb–Mar | Indoors, transplant | ~80 days |
| Kale | Feb–Apr | Indoors, transplant | ~55 days |
| Chard | Mar–Jul | Direct sow | ~55 days |
| Basil | Apr–Jun | Indoors, transplant | ~60 days |
| Potato | Mar–May | Direct sow (tubers) | ~90 days |
| Parsley | Mar–May | Direct sow | ~75 days |
Succession sowing for a continuous harvest
Instead of sowing a whole row at once, sow a short length every two to three weeks. Fast crops like lettuce, radish, arugula, spinach and bush beans reward this with a steady supply instead of a single glut.
Follow an early crop with a later one in the same bed: a spring sowing of peas or radish can be followed by beans or a summer lettuce. Keep sowing tender greens until late summer for an autumn harvest.
Adjust the calendar to your climate
Your local last-frost date is the anchor. If your frost clears earlier than mid-spring, bring the windows forward; in a colder zone or at altitude, push them back by two to four weeks.
Watch soil temperature, not just the calendar: most seeds need soil above 7–10°C, and heat-lovers need 15–18°C. A cold frame, fleece or cloche buys you two or three extra weeks at each end of the season.