Garden by the Season
What to plant and what to do, season by season, wherever you garden.
The garden runs on a calendar, and the calendar runs on frost. Instead of telling you to plant in a certain month, we time everything from your own first and last frost dates, so this works in Maine, Texas or anywhere in between.
We garden in East Tennessee, so our posts include what worked for us. Find your dates below and adjust from there.
Winter: plan, order seed and sow for the cold
From your first hard freeze until about six weeks before your last frost. Sketch the beds, order seed, and winter sow the seeds that need a cold spell to sprout.
Spring Garden Planning Guide
Spring garden planning comes down to a few decisions you make in winter: where you will plant, your zone and last frost date, what you want to grow, a…
Seeds That Love the Cold (and Why Winter Sowing Works)
Winter can feel like a waiting season in the garden, but it’s actually one of the most important times to begin. For some seeds, winter sowing is easy!…
Forgot to Plant Poppy Seeds? Try This Cold Stratification Ice Cube Trick
Every year, poppy seeds end up tucked into a drawer, a basket, or a garden tote… and suddenly spring is knocking. The weather is warming, the soil is …
Winter Garden Prep: Killing Grass Without Killing the Soil
Let’s talk Winter Garden Prep! This doesn’t look like a flower bed yet. It’s just a patch of grass. But by next summer, it will be full of zinnias: ta…
The Rainy Day Garden Guide: 10 Things to Do When You Can’t Garden but Still Want To
When it is too wet to work the beds, the garden still has plenty for you to do. Clean and sharpen your tools, sort your seeds, sketch next season’s be…
Spring: start seeds and plant out
From about six to eight weeks before your last frost, start seeds indoors. Cool-season crops and flowers go in before the last frost, and tomatoes, peppers, squash and zinnias wait until after it.
Snail Roll Seed Starting: How to Start Seeds Early Without Trays
A snail roll is a strip of moist potting soil rolled into a loose spiral, with seeds sown along the top edge. It starts a lot of seedlings in very lit…
DIY Greenhouse Magic: Start Your Spring Seeds with a Milk Jug
Spring is in the air, and it’s time to get those green thumbs working. Do you feel like you’re missing out because you don’t have an elaborate seed-st…
3 Tips for Raised Beds: Building Our Raised Beds for the Greenhouse
Here are 3 essential tips for building and preparing raised garden beds: 1⃣ Selecting Treated Lumber Safely: We used treated garden-safe lumber and cr…
Tips for Growing Lettuce All Season Long
Spring has sprung and with it comes the joy of harvesting the first fresh veggies of the season! Right outside my door, I’ve got a tub of lettuce, cri…
Bean Planting Tips from Sweet Bombdiggity Farms
Hello, Sweet Bombdiggity Farms family! As we dive into another planting season, I want to share one of my favorite easy-to-grow veggies with you all: …
Ranunculus 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Growing These Stunning Spring Flowers
Ranunculus might be a funny word, but they grow into some of the most beautiful spring flowers you’ll ever see. Layers of soft, ruffled petals. Long, …
Peony Planting Tips for Spring
I just love to see things grow, both plants and people! Today, we’re getting our hands dirty with peonies, planting them right from the root. I love th…
Summer: keep it growing
From your last frost through the hottest weeks. Pinch for more blooms, water deeply, ride out the heat, and plan the fall garden while it is still warm.
Keeping Your Garden Alive Through a Heat Wave
A wilted plant in the middle of a hot afternoon is not an emergency. It’s a plant doing exactly what it’s supposed to do to protect itself. The real s…
The Pinch List for Maximizing Blooms
Sweet BombDiggity Farms · Garden Guide The Pinch List Which flowers to cut back, which to deadhead, and which to leave completely alone. We’re right o…
All you need to know about Cucumbers
Discover the secrets of growing cucumbers successfully with this guide. Learn about the different types of cucumbers, from compact bush varieties to t…
Late Summer Garden Magic: 10 Simple Ways to Savor the Season
There’s something magical about this in-between season. The sun is still warm, the zinnias are still blooming, and you can feel the shift coming as fa…
Your Season Isn’t Over Yet: 15+ Quick-Grow Crops to Plant This Fall
It is not too late to plant. Radishes are ready in about 25 days, arugula in about 30, and lettuces, Asian greens, spinach and bok choy in 30 to 50, s…
Fall: plant for next year and put the garden to bed
From about eight weeks before your first fall frost until the ground freezes. Plant greens, garlic and cool weather flowers, save seed, sow cover crops and protect the soil for winter.
Fall Garden Checklist: What to Do Before the First Frost (and What Can Wait)
Ten things to do in the fall garden before the first frost, and what can wait. Every step links to a full guide, plus a printable checklist.
Cool Weather Gardening Prep and Tip Guide
Fall is not the end of the garden. Clear out spent summer plants, feed the soil with compost, and plant greens and root crops about 6 to 8 weeks befor…
A Field Guide to Cool Weather Flowers
Snapdragons, larkspur, sweet peas, pansies and violas, stock, bachelor’s buttons and calendula all grow best when it is cool. In zones 7 through 9, mo…
The Complete Garlic Guide: When to Plant, What to Grow and How to Store It
Garlic is the crop I recommend to anybody who thinks they are not a gardener. You put it in the ground in fall, you walk away, and the following summe…
Resting the Soil, Resting Ourselves: A Fall Cover Crop Guide
What a cover crop is, when to sow one in zone 7, which one to pick for your garden, and the part nobody explains: how to cut it down in spring so it f…
Gather Today, Bloom Tomorrow: A Simple Guide to Saving Seeds
There’s something magical about this time of year. The days are still warm, the garden is buzzing with life, and everywhere you look, little treasures…
Seasonal garden questions we get
How do I find my frost dates?
Search for your average first and last frost dates by zip code or town, and look up your zone on the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Outside the US, your national weather service or a local extension office will have the same dates.
Why go by frost dates instead of months?
A month means something different in every climate. Frost dates tell you when it is actually safe to plant where you live, so the same advice works whether your last frost is in March or in June.
When should I start seeds indoors?
Most seed packets list a number of weeks before your last frost. Tomatoes and peppers are usually started six to eight weeks ahead, and fast growers like zinnias and cucumbers are often sown straight into the garden after the frost.
What should I plant in the fall?
Greens and root crops about six to eight weeks before your first frost, garlic a few weeks before the ground freezes, and cool weather flowers like sweet peas, larkspur and snapdragons when the soil cools to between 50 and 65°F.
Pull up a chair.
A letter from our place to yours, every other Thursday, with what is growing and what we are planting next.