"UHH! I don't know where to start..." START HERE!!

"UHH! I don't know where to start..." START HERE!!

“I don’t know where to start!” More specifically—"I don’t know WHEN to start!”

These are the thoughts that keep us stuck. We stutter step. And then we get that sick feeling—I bet I’m too late!

What if you DID know when to start? Let me share when and what we do!

This is our 'start chart' on when to start the seedlings you need! And the planting windows for direct seeding the ones you don’t need to start ahead of time.

Starting in that optimal window is a HUGE factor in setting up for success. Starting tomatoes 'not too early' and 'not too late'! Getting lettuce growing to beat the summer heat! Planting peas in the garden at the right time, so they enjoy the cool spring weather they love and thrive in!

East family garden at Prairie Road Organic Seed thriving in a deep mulch system.

I started working on these resources last year. I just updated it for you. You'll find our recommended planting windows for all of the varieties of seeds we offer-- with planting windows for starting seedlings, direct seeding outdoors and transplanting your seed starts.

When's Your Last Spring Frost?

First thing we gotta know is-- when is your average last frost date in the spring?  If you’re not sure, we can look it up!

Here’s a tool that’ll give you your average last frost date simply by entering your zip code. Just click this link and type in your zip code. Compare this information to your experience, if you’ve lived in your location for a while.

For our zip code this tool says we are ‘almost’ guaranteed to be frost-free after May 21st. In our experience, we believe that date is more like May 25th. These are guides but use your place-based wisdom, if you have that experience to draw on.

Flower, Herbs and Veggies

I created a table for our Flowers and Herbs and another for our Vegetables. Here are PDF downloads of the Veggie charts for those of you with an average last frost date of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th week of May.

And here's the Flower and Herb charts as a PDF download:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th week of May.

Need to Customize?

If you don’t fit any of those categories, no problem. Let’s customize the chart for your location.

I created these charts in Excel for those of you using a Windows PC and in Numbers for you Mac users. Choose your spreadsheet fav!

These are 2 for 1-- there are 2 sheets!  See the tabs at the bottom left for Excel-- 'Vegetables' and 'Flowers & Herbs'. And in Mac Numbers the tabs for the sheets are in the upper left hand corner.

The beauty of these spreadsheets is, once you know your frost date, you can easily customize these charts in just a couple of clicks. We have a companion video on YouTube that’ll walk you through customizing this spreadsheet to your location. I'll take you through it step by step.

The results-- you'll have your very own location specific start dates for all of our seeds. Gone is that worry-- "I don't know where to start!"

So glad to relieve those worries and set you up for a successful start to a NEW growing season!  We got this!

Our best to you,
Theresa

PS. As an added bonus-- all the germination info, seeding depth, and spacing data is included too!! 🙌🏻