Grow A Square-Foot Vegetable Garden With This Year-Long Planting Plan: Even if you don’t have much room, a square-foot vegetable garden is a useful and quick way to grow your own food. You can get the most out of your garden and enjoy fresh food all year by dividing it into small, manageable parts. To help you get the most out of your garden all year, here is a growing plan broken down by season.
Grow A Square-Foot Vegetable Garden With This Year-Long Planting Plan
Spring (March – May)
Since spring is a time of renewal, it’s a great time to start your yard. Pay attention to cool-season crops that can handle the changing weather in early spring.
- March: Plant leafy veggies like kale, spinach, and lettuce to start. These plants grow quickly and do best when it’s cooler outside. You can also plant radishes and carrots, which don’t need much room and work well in square-foot gardens.
- April: Plant peas, broccoli, and onions as the weather gets warmer. Peas will grow upright, which makes the most of your space. Broccoli and beets are both hardy plants that can grow in cool spring weather and be picked early.
- May: Plant flowers like parsley, cilantro, and chives at the end of spring. You can grow these herbs in small areas, and they can help make your food taste better. You can also plant beans and cucumbers in May. Beans, especially bush types, will grow close together and give you a lot of beans in the summer.
Summer (June – August)
Summer has longer days and warmer weather, which is great for veggies that like it hot. What better time than now to plant crops that will give you a big harvest?
- June: Put in zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes. These well-known summer crops do well in hot weather and grow quickly. You can save room in your square-foot garden by growing tomatoes and peppers vertically with supports. However, zucchini plants will need their own square.
- July: Plant foods that grow quickly, like corn and bush beans, in the middle of summer. These plants will fill up any empty spots in your yard very quickly. You can also plant more carrots and beets for a late-summer harvest that will give you fresh veggies as the season ends.
- August: Plant cool-weather veggies like kale, spinach, and lettuce again to get ready for fall. As the weather cools down over the next few weeks, these will grow well, and they’re great for planting after your summer crops have died.
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Fall (September – November)
As the weather gets cooler, you should eat veggies that can handle the cold.
- September: Plant cold-weather roots like onions, radishes, and turnips. If you plant these veggies in the fall, you’ll get a big harvest before the first frost. Radishes grow very quickly, making them great for quick fall crops.
- October: Keep planting spinach, chard, kale, and other leafy greens. These plants can handle cold weather and will keep growing until late fall. You can also plant garlic in October. It will grow slowly over the winter and be ready to pick next summer.
- November: Add soil and mulch to your garden to get it ready for winter. Even if you live in a warmer area, you can still grow winter vegetables like Brussels sprouts and cabbage. These plants do best when it is cooler.
Winter (December – February)
You might think that winter is not a good time to garden, but if you plan ahead, you can keep your garden busy.
December: To keep cold-hardy plants safe from frost, put kale, spinach, and winter lettuces in cold frames or under row covers. You can also grow herbs like thyme and rosemary, which can handle cold weather with some help.
- January: It’s not a good month to plant much, but it is a great month to plan your spring garden and start seeds indoors. Now is the time to look back at how well your garden did this year and make changes for next year.
- February: For crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cabbage, start seeds early indoors. So they’re ready to move into your yard when spring comes, this will give them a head start.
If you follow this planting plan all year, your square-foot vegetable garden will stay productive all year, giving you a steady supply of fresh, homegrown veggies. This method lets you grow a wide range of plants in even the smallest areas, no matter how experienced or new to gardening you are. Have fun planting!