Seeding and Planting Timeline
My brother recently requested that I let him know whenever I was planting something so that he didn’t plant too late this year. Last year I was an eager beaver planting earlier than most, which lead to my tomatoes coming in a month before most of my friends and my squash gave me a nice early crop before being ravaged by pests. Other plants were too early, and I either had to replant or just never enjoyed any yield from them. So I started revising my planting dates to prepare for Spring.
This spring and summer I will be growing onions, peas, lettuce variety, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, a pepper variety, pole beans, and okra. Ten seems like a good place to start. I will leave the melons and corn to the farmer’s market this year unless I happen to get ambitious while nursing a newborn – doubtful. Raleigh’s last frost date is May 11 (last killing frost is April 1 – 11 according to NCSU CES), so only frost tolerant plants should be put outside before this date. I take risks on my tomatoes and plant extras. Tomatoes can stand to get a little cold, and although they may temporarily droop, will still produce good yields.
| Late January | Outdoors: onion sets (these can be planted through mid-February) |
| Mid February | Indoors: tomatoes, peppers Outdoors: spinach, romaine, peas (every two weeks following until end of April) |
| Late Feb – Early March | Indoors: squash, zucchini Outdoors: potatoes |
| Late March – Early April | Outdoors: tomato transplants (protect from frost on cold nights or wait until mid-April) |
| Mid April | Outdoors: squash and zucchini transplants, corn |
| Late April – Early May | Outdoors: pepper transplants |
| Late May | Outdoors: beans (every two weeks following) |
| Mid June | Outdoors: okra |
North Carolina chart for Average Last Spring Freeze Date (1949-1998)
3 Comments
The Conservationist
thanks for this! so helpful – was about to look this stuff up anyways!
Paige Puckett
You're welcome. Just remember that I am on the early side. One of the advantages of starting from seed is that I don't pay a fortune for seedlings and can keep trying until they take.
The Conservationist
I'm actually planning to start extras from seed, then sell for cheap to my friends to make my money back and maybe a little extra. I have a few planning to buy from me, thank goodness!