Monroe, North Carolina · Brian Green
A year in the
vegetable garden
Your month-by-month guide to common garden vegetables, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, and shallots. These approximate windows are for a typical year; adjust outdoor planting to local weather and soil conditions.
Sow = plant seeds outdoors. Transplant = set out young plants. Indoor starts are specifically noted.
| Month | What to plant & do |
|---|---|
| 01January | Plan beds and order seeds. Start broccoli and cabbage indoors for spring transplanting. Order certified seed potatoes and reserve space. |
| 02February | Sow peas, carrots, and leaf lettuce. Plant onion sets or plants. Start peppers indoors. Begin planting regular potatoes February 15, in loose, well-drained soil. |
| 03March | Sow beets, radishes, spinach, and more lettuce. Transplant broccoli, cabbage, and collards. Start tomatoes indoors early in the month. Finish planting regular potatoes by March 31; early March is a practical target. |
| 04April | Continue early cool-season planting. After frost danger passes, plant beans, cucumbers, summer squash, and tomato transplants, favoring late April. As potato plants grow, mound soil around them to keep developing tubers covered. |
| 05May | Transplant peppers and eggplant. Plant okra, sweet corn, melons, and southern peas once soil is warm. Plant sweet potato slips in warm soil. Continue hilling regular potatoes; begin harvesting mature early plantings. Harvest overwintered shallots when tops yellow and die back. |
| 06June | Sow additional beans, cucumbers, squash, and southern peas. Start fall broccoli and cabbage in seed trays late in the month. Finish planting sweet potato slips. Harvest spring potatoes and mature shallots; cure shallots in a dry, airy, sheltered spot. |
| 07July | Sow a final summer round of beans, cucumbers, and squash. Begin fall carrots. Start or buy fall vegetable transplants. Harvest remaining mature spring potatoes. |
| 08August | Transplant broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and collards. Sow beets, carrots, kale, turnips, and lettuce; keep seedbeds moist. |
| 09September | Sow spinach, radishes, lettuce, and turnips. Set out early-month broccoli and collard transplants. Order shallot bulbs intended for planting. Prepare a sunny, well-drained bed. |
| 10October | Plant garlic cloves for next summer. Protect established fall greens as freezes approach. Plant shallot bulbs outdoors for overwintering; October is a good target. |
| 11November | Finish fall garlic planting. Harvest greens and roots; cover crops during hard freezes. Finish planting shallots. Keep their bed weeded and avoid waterlogged soil. |
| 12December | Harvest protected greens. Mulch empty beds, review results, and plan next year. |