Seasonal planting order checklist

Most small yards fail from planting everything the first warm weekend. Use this order instead. Adjust dates to your last/first frost — the sequence matters more than the calendar day.

Before any seed goes in

• Know last spring frost and first fall frost for your ZIP (Extension or NOAA)
• Mark sun hours on the actual beds (6+ hours for fruiting crops)
• Soil roughly ready: weeds cleared, compost mixed, water path planned
• Decide: cool-season beds vs warm-season beds (do not mix timelines in one tiny bed)

Cool season first (spring)

• Peas / spinach / radish / lettuce / kale — as soon as soil can be worked
• Broccoli / cabbage transplants after hard freezes ease
• Leave space for later warm crops; do not fill every inch with spring greens if you want tomatoes later

Warm season (after frost risk)

• Direct sow beans / squash / corn only when nights stay warm enough for your variety
• Transplant tomatoes / peppers / eggplant after frost — not “because the nursery has them”
• Mulch once soil is warm; earlier mulch can keep soil cold

Mid-season resets

• Pull finished cool crops; reseed salad greens in shade of taller plants if heat allows
• Succession sow beans / lettuce on a 2–3 week stagger if you eat them weekly

Fall / winter shoulder

• Count back from first frost for fall broccoli / garlic / overwinter onions
• Cold-frame or row cover plan before the first hard freeze (see cold-frame calendar)
• Empty beds: cover crop or mulch — bare soil loses structure and moisture

Deeper season-extension notes: Greenhouse / cold frames. Honest filter: Vs Free / Extension.

If you want planting order as one piece of water → beds → season extension → storage, a structured systems guide can help after frost dates and bed layout are real:

Plant in order. Skip the “everything in one weekend” trap.