SPRING vegetable garden guide

a super practical crop-centered growing guide

Happy spring!

It’s time to get planting. But if you need help knowing what to plant, when to plant it, and all the nuances of how to plant each crop, I’ve got you covered.

Today’s Spring Vegetable Garden Guide is basically a download of all the growing information and lessons stored in my head after 15+ years of growing vegetables, and it’s jam-packed with practical, crop-specific information that will help you have a thriving garden this spring.

This Spring Vegetable Garden Guide will teach you:

1. Which crops are best to plant in the spring (and whether they should be direct seeded or transplanted)

2. When to plant each crop (based on the last frost date in your area)

3. Ideal spacing for each plant

4. My favorite varieties for each crop (including links to purchase seeds for the specific varieties... not sponsored!)

5. Additional pro tips that I’ve gained from over a decade of gardening and farming

   

A few important notes about the guide:

• This guide is very crop specific! If you’re still working on getting your garden established, start with my 4-Part Guide to Start a Garden, and then come back to this post when you are ready to dig into the nuances of each spring crop.

• Knowing *when* to plant your spring veggies revolves around your estimated last spring frost date. If you don’t know the last frost date in your area, here’s a handy frost date calculator, customized by your zip code.

• Regarding plant spacing and # of rows per bed – in this guide, I share spacing recommendations based on a standard 30” bed (which is a common width for in-ground garden beds). If your beds are a different width and you need help figuring out spacing / ideal number of rows for certain crops, just leave a comment and I’ll respond quickly with the best spacing for your beds!

• Okay, one last important thing. The detailed, crop-specific growing information contained in this guide comes from over 15 years of experience gardening and farming, and I believe this knowledge has real value. So for that reason, the majority of this post is only available to paid subscribers. My hope is that if you find this information to be useful, that you will consider supporting my work as a paid subscriber.

PS – If you have a financial hardship and would benefit from a comped subscription for 1 year, I’m happy to help, no questions asked. Just send an email to michelle@farmbelly.com and we will work it out.

---

Alright, let’s dig into the Spring Vegetable Garden Guide!

Keep reading for a comprehensive, crop-by-crop (organized alphabetically) run-down of ALL the details you need to grow an abundant spring garden.

Also! If you’re more of a spreadsheet person, I’ve also compiled this information on a spreadsheet, which paid subscribers can find linked at the end of this post.

ARUGULA

• Direct seed vs transplant: Direct seed

• When to plant: Direct seed outside 4 weeks before last spring frost

• # rows (per 30” bed): 4

• In-row spacing: Broadcast (ie generously sprinkle) seeds by hand (or if using Jang seeder, use Y-24 roller with sprockets set at 9-14)

• Favorite variety: Astro

• Pro tip: For continuous harvests, seed a new succession every 2 weeks until mid May (arugula doesn’t grow well in the heat of the summer). Arugula is typically ready to harvest about 5 weeks after planting.

BEETS

• Direct seed vs transplant: Direct seed OR transplant seedlings (both will work, though beets don’t love to be transplanted, so direct seeding is recommended)

• When to plant: Direct seed outside 4-6 weeks before last spring frost, or transplant seedlings outside 3-4 weeks before last spring frost

• # rows (per 30” bed): 4

• In-row spacing: Directly plant seeds 2” apart, transplant seedlings 3-4” apart

• Favorite variety: Red Ace

• Pro tip: To aid with germination, soak beet seeds for 4-6 hours before direct seeding. Don’t forget that beet tops are edible and delicious! (Beets are in the same family as swiss chard, so treat the greens like you would chard).

BROCCOLI

• Direct seed vs transplant: Transplant seedling

• When to plant: Transplant seedling outside 4-6 weeks before last spring frost

• # rows (per 30” bed): 2

• In-row spacing: 12”-18” apart

• Favorite varieties: Green Magic and Gypsy

• Pro tip: After harvesting the central broccoli crown, there will often be lots of broccoli side-shoots that you can continue to harvest (cook them like broccolini).

CABBAGE

• Direct seed vs transplant: Transplant seedling

• When to plant: Transplant seedling outside 4-6 weeks before last spring frost

• # rows (per 30” bed): 2

• In-row spacing: 18”-24” apart

• Favorite varieties: Farao (classic green cabbage) and Minuet (“mini” Napa cabbage)

• Pro tip: Cabbage takes a long time (and a lot of space) to grow, so if you have very limited space in your garden, I don’t recommend growing cabbage. That said, the Minuet variety is very compact, so if you love cabbage, Minuet is a great candidate for growing cabbage on a small scale.

CARROTS