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These dates are distilled from decades of trial and error in my gardens, where my results have highlighted best timings for best results.

I have included links to the lessons of my online course, From Seed to Harvest. Buying a lesson all about the vegetable you wish to grow will give you the in-depth knowledge you need to sow, care for and harvest your vegetables.

You can sow these vegetables at different times and they will grow, but the outcomes will be different, such as lower yield, more pest and disease, perhaps a tendency to flower rather than leaf. Hence for example I do not recommend sowing salad rocket and mizuna in the spring because it's their flowering season, although many gardeners do and are happy with the smaller yield and insect-damaged leaves, compared with healthier leaves and more weeks, even months of picking, from August sowings.

Dates are based on the climate of Somerset in south west UK, USDA zone 8-9, last frost mid May and first frost mid October. They refer to sowing seeds, not planting plants.

For a beautiful reminder of when to sow vegetables, all year long, see my Wall Calendar for 2021. It sowing dates continue until autumn so it's a good purchase even in summer, with lovely photos of my garden here, and it has no dig advice too.

Harvest festival veg September no dig — September harvests, of vegetables all sown at their best, and different times

Salad leaves summer, different mix to winter — The salad leaf harvest changes with every month, according to recent sowings

Southern Hemisphere Sowing Guide

Prompted by the consistent demand, we have found time to modify my sowing timeline so that it works for the southern hemisphere! We have also added a few photographs from the 2021 Calendar. The sowing dates are grouped in blocks of 10 days, so three blocks per month: early. middle and late.

Sowing and planting

These two words are often used interchangeably, which causes confusion. On this page at least, sow refers to seeds, from celery to tomato to garlic, even potato. Plant refers to setting out a plant with leaves. Sometimes also one says to plant garlic and potatoes!

How big your plant is when you set it in the ground is your call.
I recommend planting small ones of average 4 weeks since sowing, except for tomatoes, aubergines etc.
Always plant before the roots have used all available compost and before you see leaves going yellow or purple (lack of nitrogen mostly).
Older plants take more time to establish so you lose cropping time in the end.
Use fleece/row covers in spring to help young plants establish.
Fleece reduces light by 15-30% but in spring this does not matter, because there is a surplus of light, and fleece converts some of the surplus to otherwise-absent warmth. Result: net gain.

Under cover and outside/outdoors

Seeds require more warmth to germinate than plants need to grow. I recommend sowing "under cover" where it's warmer: windowsill, electric propagator, greenhouse, anywhere warm.

After about two weeks as new leaves grow fast, most plants need full light as much as or more than warmth. So look to move them from windowsill to greenhouse/polytunnel/cold frame.

All sowings I recommend in February and early March, until tomatoes, are frost tolerant. So they will survive frost in a greenhouse say, as seedlings.
I put with warmth for seedlings/plants that are killed by frost AND need extra warmth to grow.

Planting "outdoors" means setting plants in the ground, as opposed to sowing seeds in a greenhouse or polytunnel. This page is about sowing and does not have planting dates – see my Diary for more on that.

A note on applying these dates in different climatic zones

Know your vegetable types, by temperature

1 Plants which grow in cold and survive frosts of say -6C / 20F, include peas, broad beans, onions, lettuce, spinach, brassicas and coriander.

2a Plants killed by frost include tomatoes and sweetcorn, but they tolerate cool conditions.

2b Vegetables needing steady warmth as well as no frost include runner/pole and French/bush beans, aubergines/eggplants and cucumbers.

In spring, sow the cold tolerant vegetables and herbs maybe a week earlier in a warmer climate than here, and categories 2a + 2b about two weeks earlier, if say last frost date is in April rather than (Homeacres) mid May.
In late summer and autumn generally, make sowings a week or two later in say zone 9 and where summers are hotter than here – our average summer day is 21C/70F, we are oceanic-temperate.

From these guidelines, you can work out best dates through keeping notes and observing.

Seeds germinating on a windowsill — Seeds sown and germinating in trays on a windowsill

Carrots sown direct into compost no dig — Seeds sown directly into drills outside – carrots, and drills are pre-watered

Charles with is calendar — Advice on top sowing dates each year is in my annual calendar, see Shop

Lettuce

The common advice of "sow every two weeks" applies only if you want lettuce hearts. For loose leaves, 4-5 sowings in the whole year* suffice, when you use my method of never cutting lettuce plants, but picking outer leaves every few days. This allows a long life to each plant, see my lettuce video for more details.
*sow under cover Feb-Mar, then 1st June, mid July (these three sowings for growing outdoors), and early September for undercover lettuce in winter.

February

Best start date is after Valentines Daywhen light is increasing fast.

Sow under cover broad beans, spinach, lettuce, peas for shoots, onion, salad onion, early varieties of cabbage, calabrese, kohlrabi, cauliflower, turnips, radish, bulb/Florence fennel, parsley, coriander, dill.

With warmth aubergine, pepper, chilli – sow these by the end of March

Sow outside garlic if not already

Peas sown windowsill need more light — Peas sown and grown on a windowsill, now need more light

Hotbed sowings late winter — Hotbed of fresh horse manure provides warmth for new sowings, this is end February

aubergines late suimmer from February sowing — February-sown aubergines in September

March

Sow under cover as for February plus peas for pods and beetroot.

Then celery and celeriac from mid-month.

With warmth tomatoes – sow around mid-month for under cover cropping, melon at month's end.

Sow outside garlic if not already, broad beans, and after mid-month sow lettuce, spinach, peas, onion seeds and sets, salad onion, early brassicas, parsley, coriander, dill, parsnips; and first early potatoes late March.

April

Sow under coveras for March (except its getting late for celeriac, sow asap), leeks, leaf beet, beetroot (all varieties), basil, chard and Brussels sprouts after mid-month, tomatoes for outdoor growing.With warmth and around or after mid-month, cucumber, courgette, squash, pumpkin, sweetcorn

Sow outside all potatoes, broad beans, lettuce, spinach, peas, salad onion, early and autumn brassicas, radish, leeks, leaf beet, carrots, parsley.

In cool climates, all outdoor sowings and plantings will benefit from the warmth provided by covers such as horticultural fleece.

multisown beetroot Charles Dowding — Multisown beetroot module in April, ready to plant

8 day old basil seedlings sown April — April sown basil after 8 days, bottom warmth

Leeks sown April, spring onions September — April sown leeks and also spring onions September, both multisown

Gorgeous zinnias sown April — Zinnias grow well from indoor sowings late April

May

Sow under cover leeks, Brussels sprouts and winter squash in early May. At any time in the month, sow courgette, French and climbing beans, leaf beet, beetroot, chard, lettuce, kale, cabbage for autumn, salad onion, basil.

Swede at the end of May.

Sow outside same as under cover, also maincrop potatoes by early May, carrots, and parsnips with seedbed kept moist until germinated.

After mid-month and at the end of May or early June in cold springs, sow cucumber, courgette, squash, pumpkin, sweetcorn.

June

Sow under cover beetroot, swede, lettuce, leaf beet, chard, kale, cabbage for winter, purple sprouting broccoli, cauliflower for both autumn & spring, calabrese for autumn harvests, cucumber, basil.

After solstice sow endive, chicory, kohlrabi and Florence fennel.

Sow outside same as under cover, also carrots, plus cucumber before mid-June.

June sowings of beetroot etc — June-sown beetroot, swedes, spring onion and lettuce

New planting of lettuce for summer harvests — Planting in late June of three week old lettuce seedlings

Charles with June sown carrots — Charles in September with carrots sown June, comparing dig left and no dig right

Swedes grow well from sowing 1st June — Swede in autumn from a June sowing

July

Sow under cover by the end of the first week, kohlrabi, beetroot and savoy cabbage. Before mid-month sow lettuce, leaf beet, chard, endive, chicory.

After mid month sow bulb/Florence fennel, chervil, coriander, land cress, wild rocket, and Chinese cabbage.

At month's end in cool areas, spinach, mustards, pak choi, salad rocket, turnips.

Sow outside same as under cover, and carrots until mid-July.

August

Sow under cover claytonia, oriental leaves, salad rocket, turnips multisown and true spinach.

August is fantastic for sowing salad rocket, oriental leaves and spinach.

Before mid-August, sow chervil, coriander, dill, parsley and land cress, for autumn and winter cropping outside.

After mid-August, sow salads to grow outside through winter. Also spring onions and spring cabbage, for harvests in spring.

Sow outside same as under cover but approximately a week earlier.

Module sowings August Charles Dowding — August sowings of salad rocket, mustards and spinach

new salad plantings in August no dig — Charles with these seedlings planted on 21st August

Autumn spinach from August sowing — Spinach early October at 58 days, picked once already

September

In the first week, sow under cover f or outdoor planting to crop in autumn/winter, lambs lettuce, mizuna, salad rocket

In early to mid-September, sow under cover all salads for planting under cover , which include spinach, chard, mustards, and kale. These can also grow large for cooking.

Sow outside is the same seeds as under cover but a week earlier, with last salad sowings by 10th September outside.

October

Sow outside garlic – in fact you can sow it from the autumn equinox. You can also sow onion sets to stand as small onions through winter, but they may harbour mildew and then infect spring sown onions in May. Fortunately, spring onions sown in August of the White Lisbon type, do not carry mildew over winter.

new plantings of chervil, spring onion no dig — October's new plantings of chervil & spring onion, garlic bed is top right

For planting under cover in October, mustards — Mustards and rocket October, mosules for planting under cover

Lovely mustards, rocket in October, sown August — Salad rocket and mustard Red Carpet in October, healthy leaves from August sowing

Last sowings

Depending where you live, sow broad beans to overwinter as small plants from late October to early November. Sowing in December is possible too, both under cover and outside, likewise for garlic.