Vegetable sowing and planting calendar, month by month
A useful calendar is more than twelve lists. It separates protected sowing, direct sowing and planting out, then adjusts each window for climate, soil and crop.
By Marmanda5 min read
A vegetable-garden calendar should never be a sequence of boxes to tick. “Sow tomatoes in February” can be reasonable in a heated propagator and absurd outdoors in a cold upland garden. The month is only a marker: crop, plant stage, climate and soil condition decide together.
This is a starting calendar for metropolitan France, written in English. It separates three actions that many charts mix together: sowing under cover, direct sowing and planting out an established plant.
The calendar at a glance
| Month | Under cover | Direct outdoors | Plant out |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Onion, early lettuce | Broad bean in mild areas | Garlic in free-draining soil |
| February | Tomato, aubergine and pepper with heat | Broad bean, pea, spinach by region | Garlic, shallot |
| March | Tomato, basil, celery | Carrot, radish, pea, spinach | Onion, early potato |
| April | Courgette, squash, cucumber | Beetroot, carrot, turnip, salad | Cabbage, lettuce, potato |
| May | Late protected sowings | Bean, maize and squash once warm | Tomato, courgette and cucumber after frost |
| June | Few crops need cover | Bean, carrot, beetroot, salad | Leek and late summer crops |
| July | Autumn brassicas if needed | Dwarf bean, turnip, radish, winter carrot | Leek, cabbage |
| August | Winter lettuce | Lamb's lettuce, spinach, radish, turnip | Strawberry, cabbage |
| September | Lettuce under cover | Lamb's lettuce, spinach, radish, green manure | Strawberry, overwintering onion |
| October | Spinach and lamb's lettuce with protection | Broad bean and pea in mild areas | Garlic, shallot, overwintering onion |
| November | Very little without equipment | Broad bean in mild regions | Garlic, dormant fruit and soft fruit |
| December | Plan the next season | Broad bean only in suitable conditions | Garlic when ground is unfrozen and not waterlogged |
This table gives direction, not automatic permission. Advice for a mild coast will not transfer unchanged to an inland or upland site, and heavy cold soil can shift a date more than latitude does.
January to March: raise plants without trapping them indoors
The first quarter belongs to protected sowings and crops that tolerate a cool start. Aubergines and peppers need warmth to germinate and a long season. Tomatoes should start later; sowing too early often produces drawn plants that must be held in pots for weeks.
Outside, broad beans, peas, spinach and early radishes tolerate cool ground, but not saturated beds. Ask whether the soil crumbles rather than sticks to the tool. Working or sowing waterlogged soil compacts it for months.
April to June: soil temperature takes over
April fills modules and rows, but May is the month of false starts. One warm afternoon does not mean warm soil or frost-free nights. Beans, squash, cucumber, maize and basil need steadier warmth than carrots, salads or peas.
Tomato planting depends on the likely last frost and on whether plants can be protected temporarily. Decide their plant spacing at the same time: a calendar that ignores available space only creates an overlong shopping list.
June is not too late. Successional sowings of beans, salads, carrots and beetroot prevent one large glut. The calendar becomes a rhythm: small batches at intervals instead of a whole packet on one day.
July to September: prepare autumn and winter harvests
In midsummer the problem is no longer cold but the water needed for germination. Moisten the soil deeply, protect the surface from drying and sow in the cool part of the day.
July and August start autumn crops: turnips, radishes, storage carrots and brassicas, followed by lamb's lettuce and spinach. By September, light becomes the scarce resource. A late sowing may germinate normally and barely grow before February. See what to plant in September and the detailed guide to growing lamb's lettuce.
October to December: plant, cover and prepare
From October, planting is often more realistic than sowing. Garlic, some shallots and overwintering onions use autumn to root, provided the soil drains. Autumn broad beans and peas remain regional choices.
Our guide to what to plant in October explains the month's choices. With garlic, drainage, healthy cloves and planting depth matter more than an exact date: see how to plant garlic in autumn.
Empty beds need not be bare. Mulch or green manure protects the surface; the right choice depends on the next crop and on how the cover will be terminated in spring.
How to adjust the calendar to your garden
Four questions correct most calendar mistakes:
- Is the sowing protected or outside? A cold greenhouse barely changes a freezing night; indoor heat changes germination but not the available light.
- Is the soil workable and warm enough? Heavy soil warms more slowly than sandy ground or a raised bed.
- When is the last plausible frost? A tender plant does not live by monthly averages; one night is enough.
- When do you want to harvest? Packet days-to-maturity assume good conditions and lengthen when light or heat is missing.
Turn the calendar into a plan
A calendar answers “when”. It does not answer “where” or “how many”. Before buying plants, draw the available surface and give each crop a quantity, a spacing and an occupancy period. Our beginner's vegetable-garden plan connects those decisions.
That is the transition Marmanda makes: from your garden and preferences to a placed, dated and quantified crop plan. Windows are explained with their sources and limitations; when the evidence cannot support a reliable decision, the tool does not replace it with an invented date.