It may be winter outside, but it isn’t too early to be thinking about your spring garden! The frosty temperature and occasional snow can make the coming season feel far off. It also can feel a bit intimidating when you feel like you’ve just gotten a handle on growing a few summer vegetables. Good news! We have a free printable step-by-step beginner spring vegetable garden guide to help you start the next growing season on the right foot.
If this is your first time considering a spring garden, we’ve got a step-by-step guide for 3 easy-to-grow cool weather vegetables so you can try your hand at spring gardening. If you’re up for a bit more of a challenge? We have some suggestions to take your spring gardening skills to the next level. You can find the free printable 4-week garden plan at the end of this post. We hope it helps you to stay on track for your first time planting a cool weather spring garden.
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Why a spring vegetable garden?
Many people just grow a summer vegetable garden and wait until their last frost date to begin planting. But if your goal is to eat more local food or become more self-sufficient, learning how to grow before and after summer is a useful skill to have! Even a small spring vegetable garden is great to eat fresh produce before the summer garden produces its first tomato. Also planting spring, summer, and fall means you can grow a lot more food in a lot less space, so it’s perfect for the backyard gardener to maximize yield. Extra benefits to a spring garden? Less bugs and sweat! It’s hard not to love growing in the spring when the weather is beginning to warm up and you want to be outside anyways.
Be kind to yourself. Start Simple!
Set yourself up for success by starting simply your first year. Prevent overwhelm by limiting how many new crops you try to grow at once. It’s not easy even for a seasoned gardener to keep everything organized while trying to manage starting summer vegetable seeds AND getting the spring vegetable garden in simultaneously. Below you’ll find our recommendations for the easy’s spring crops to grow when just starting out.
Spring Garden Considerations
Two things you’ll need to keep in mind when planning your spring garden is your local frost date and the amount of daylight you have. Spring vegetables can handle cooler temperatures, but not a full on freeze. For example, lettuce can handle temperatures down to 28 degrees, but any colder and they will need some sort of cover. Starting seeds indoors to transplant outside later is a great way to jump start your spring garden while waiting on the weather to warm up.
Beginner Spring Vegetable Garden Plan
First things first, check your local frost date, then https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates count back 4 weeks. Now you know when you need to start prepping for your spring vegetable garden. For example, our last frost date is April 1st this year, so we start gearing up at the beginning of March for our spring garden. Week 1 of our beginner spring garden plan corresponds to that 4th week back on your calendar based on your local last frost date.
Supplies
- Lettuce seeds
- Snow pea seeds
- Radish seeds
- Seed-starting soil
- Seed tray, pots, or improvised starter trays
- Fluorescent grow lights (or find a sunny window sill)
Week 1 – Gather your supplies & start your lettuce seeds
Gather your seed starting supplies and get ready to plant your lettuce seeds. You’ll want to ultimately plant 5-6 plants per mouth to-be-fed for leaf lettuce (plant more if doing head lettuce). We’d recommend starting a few more seeds, just in case they don’t germinate 100%. Lettuce seeds are tiny, so plant about ¼ inch deep in each hole. (Find more seed starting tips here)
Next level: Mastered lettuce already? Try adding kale, spinach, arugula, or mizuna to grow your own custom salad blend.
Week 2 – Direct sow peas
Direct sow your snow peas right outside 1-inch deep and 2-3-inch apart as soon as the soil is about 45F consistently (you can simply use the thermometer from the kitchen to check!) If planting multiple rows, space them 18-24 inches apart. Peas will need a little something to climb. This can be anything from a fancy trellis to some t-posts wrapped with twine. Or like we saw at Monticello, trimmings from their trees just poked into the ground.
Next level: If you’re up for an adventure, try a unique veggie like kohlrabi. Or add some broccoli or cauliflower transplants.
Week 3 – Direct sow radishes
Direct sow your radish seed right outdoors. With a stick or your finger, create a mini-trench approximately ½ to 1 inch deep. Sprinkle seeds about an inch apart in the row. If you accidentally plant too close, you can thin later. If you want several harvests of radishes, plant a short row every other week to have a longer consistent harvest.
Next level: Try some other root crops like beets, turnips, carrots, or unique varieties of radishes. All of these can handle a little bit of nip in the air.
Week 4 – Harden and transplant lettuce
Harden off your lettuce (and any other greens you may have started in week 1) for a few days so that they can acclimate to the weather and natural sunlight. Take them outside for a few hours the first day and then gradually increase the time they spend outdoors. After hardened off, transplant into the garden.
Spacing for lettuce depends on the varieties you chose. If cut-and-come-again leaf lettuce, plant about 4-5 inches apart, if romaine of small butterhead about 6-8 inches apart, and if head lettuce, space the plants about 12 inches apart. (Want more lettuce growing tips? Check out Farmer Nathan’s tips here)
Next level: Learn more about frost protection and seasonal extension of the garden.
You’ve done it! You now have a spring vegetable garden set up for success. Keep on top of the weeds and consider a fish emulsion fertilizer (internal link) to feed those young plants. Look forward to some homegrown veggies on your plate as the seasons change and before those green beans even sprout! Don’t forget your beginner spring vegetable garden printable. Snag your copy below!