How to Know when to Start Planting Your Vegetable Garden

Spring is in the air. After a long hard winter, it is about the time to start planting your new vegetable garden. But when exactly should you start?

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• internet

1. First you need to locate exactly what climate zone you are in if you aren't already aware. Every location has been divided up into climate zones.
   
   These zones group areas together based on the weather. The things they have in common are the hottest temp., the coldest temp., last frost and first frost. That is the last day in spring that it is likely to frost (which kills many vegetable plants) and the first day in fall that it is likely to frost.

2. Find a reliable website such as http://www.backyardgardener.com/bulb/climatezone.html that lists climate zones and locate yours. They are divided into simple numbers. When you find out your zone, make sure to know the first and last frost days.

3. You will typically not want to plant until after the first frost date. That is unless the item you are planting says that it is frost resistant or is an early item. A lot of the seed packages come with zone instructions that give guidance on when to plant.

4. You can also start seeds early indoors (see my other articles) and then transplant them outdoors. This is really helpful if you live in a shorter growing zone.
   
   For example, if you plant tomatoes from seeds, you would have to wait until the day to plant and start from scratch there, or already have them growing indoors, ready to transplant when that last day of frost approaches.

Tips & Warnings

• This, of course, is not set in stone. These are averages, but it is entirely possible for it to frost after the last frost date. There is no way to predict the weather 100% but these dates have been watched and tested by the officials.
• It may be tempting to plant before the last frost date, especially if the weather has been warm, but you do run the risk of frost that will kill your new plants.

[SeventhSibling]

on 4/9/2009 Knowing when the last frost is past is important to know. Great advice article.