Determining Your Best Planting Date (Part 2)

Now that you have figured out your Frost Free Date* what do you do with it?  I will let you in on a little secret....I found a simple chart where you just type in your Frost Free Date and everything else is figured out for you!!!  It tells you when to plant your vegetables.  No headaches and it saves you time. Here is the sample below with my planting dates for this year.

*NOTE: (If you don't know your Frost Free Date refer to my previous post here Determing Your Best Planting Date (In Spring) Part 1 )

This will be my third year using this chart and I love how it simplifies everything for me.  I didn't create this so I can't take any credit for it.  I found it on Pinterest and the rest is history!  Here is the chart on my Pinterest board called: Starting Plants Indoors from Seed. The Lazy Gardeners Seed Starting Chart Its from the website You Grow Girl.  You can download your own file for free and start using it right away.

Here are some of the great benefits of using this chart:

1. Simple: Just enter in your frost free date and your planting dates are automatically entered on the chart.  No need for you to do any calculations!
 
2. Staring Seeds Indoors: It tells you an early sow date or late sow date to start your seed indoors (if you choose to start your own and not buy transplants).

3. Direct Sow Outdoors: This is listed for plants that you just start from seed outside.  (These plants don't transplant well if you try to start them indoors from seed).

4. Choices of Planting Dates: You can choose either an early or late planting date.  Go with what works with your schedule.  If you miss the early then go with the late date.



5. Safe to Set Out: It includes a column on when its safe to set your plants out based on the frost free date.

6. Growth Period: It lists approximately how many weeks it takes for that plant until you are able to harvest.

7. Twenty Five Vegetables and Three Herbs are included.  Most of the the vegetables you would typically grow in a garden are listed here. However, every year I get some seeds for vegetables that are not on this chart.  If that also happens to you just simply read the back of your seed packet to see how many weeks before the frost free date you are to start your seeds.  Then you can make a note of that at the bottom of your chart.

This chart really simplifies things for us!  This year we are starting the following plants indoors from seed: 

FEBRUARY 2014

Planted Rosemary & Impatient seeds Feb 24th

Parsley: Feb 16th (late)
Rosemary & Impatients: 
Feb 24th

MARCH 2014
Lettuce: March 3rd
Peppers, Coleus & Petunias: March 10th
Tomatoes: March 17th
Basil: March 24th

APRIL 2014
Okra: April 7th

We have already started the Parsley, Rosemary and Impatients from indoors from seed.  This week the Parsley should be sprouting!

For more details on how to start your own plants indoors from seed:   
Indoor Seed Starting (Part 1)
Indoor Seed Starting (Part 2)