FEBRUARY:
- Lettuce (look for varieties described as “slow to bolt” or “heat tolerant”)
- Bunching onions
- Cold-hardy annual/biennial herbs like dill and parsley
- Perennial herbs like oregano and thyme
- Large Brassica greens like collards and kale
MARCH:
- Tomatoes
- Basil
- Swiss chard
- Sweet potatoes (not started from seed…grow your own slips from stored or purchased sweet potato tubers)
APRIL:
- Chiles including jalapeños
- New Zealand spinach (so much easier than winter spinach)
- Marigolds
- In mid-to-late April when soil temperature is consistently above 50F at 7am (buy a soil thermometer!), directly sow peas and seed potatoes
MAY (all of these can be directly sown once the soil reaches 60F…they grow quickly):
- Cucumbers
- Small cantaloupe varieties
- Yellow squash and zucchini
- Zinnias
- Direct sow: sunflowers…they don’t transplant well
JUNE:
- Butternut squash (can also be directly sown)
- Direct sow: asparagus beans aka yardlong beans
—NO SEED STARTING IN JULY AND AUGUST, IT’S TOO DANG HOT—
SEPTEMBER:
- Lettuce (look for varieties described as “good for overwintering” or “cold hardy.”)
OCTOBER:
- Garlic (directly sown)