Planting Calendar: What to Plant Each Season
The success of an organic garden depends on respecting nature's cycles. Discover our detailed planting calendar to maximize your harvests year-round.
The importance of planting on time
In organic agro-gardening, we don't force plants to grow in artificial conditions. Instead, we choose the perfect time for each seed, letting the natural climate do the heavy lifting. Respecting the planting calendar reduces pests, saves water, and produces much tastier and nutritious vegetables.
Spring (March - May)
Spring is the busiest time in the garden. The earth warms up and the risk of frost decreases. It's time to prepare protected seedbeds and start direct sowing of hardy crops.
Direct Sowing
- Radishes and Carrots
- Spinach and Chard
- Peas and Broad Beans
- Spring Lettuces
In Seedbed (Protected)
- Tomatoes and Peppers
- Eggplants
- Zucchini and Cucumbers
- Basil
Summer (June - August)
Summer requires special attention to watering and mulching to protect the soil from the sun. It's time to harvest spring fruits and prepare fast-cycle and autumn crops. In summer, we can use more generous layers of mulching to shade the soil, reduce evaporation, and protect microbial life.
Direct Sowing
- Green Beans
- Sweet Corn
- Summer Lettuces (with shade)
- Pumpkins (early summer)
Preparation for Autumn
- Cabbages and Broccoli (in seedbed)
- Leeks
- Cauliflower
Autumn (September - November)
A second spring for many gardens. Temperatures drop and rains return. It's the ideal time for leafy and root crops that prefer cool weather.
Direct Sowing
- Garlic and Onions
- Winter Spinach
- Arugula and Lamb's Lettuce
- Winter Carrots
Transplants
- Cabbages and Broccoli
- Artichokes
- Strawberries
Winter (December - February)
Nature rests, and so do we. It's time to protect the soil, plan the next season, and grow cold-resistant species.
In winter, it's better to use thinner, airy layers, separated from the plant stems, to avoid excess moisture, rot, and providing refuge for slugs or snails.
Winter Tasks and Crops
- Sowing: Broad beans, peas, garlic (if not planted in autumn).
- Green manures: Sow mustard or vetch to nourish empty soil.
- Maintenance: Mulch using thin, airy layers separated from the plant stems.
- Planning: Design crop rotations and buy seeds for spring.
Mulching according to the season
Covering the soil is a simple and very useful practice in organic gardens. It helps protect the earth, reduce erosion, conserve moisture better, limit spontaneous weeds, and feed soil life.
Due to the humid climate, it's advisable to adjust mulching according to the season. In summer, we can use more generous layers to shade the soil, reduce evaporation, and protect microbial life. In winter, it's better to use thinner, airy layers, separated from the plant stems, to avoid excess moisture, rot, and providing refuge for slugs or snails.
Peasant tradition already used local materials such as plant remains, ferns, gorse, and livestock bedding to protect the soil and return fertility. Today we can recover that logic, but with criteria: carefully observing the material, the crop, the humidity, and the time of year.
It's also worth remembering that traditional doesn't mean using any material in any way. For example, common fern can serve as livestock bedding or cover, but should not be treated as fodder. Gorse is part of the landscape, although its seeds and expansion capacity suggest using it dry, chopped, and without mature seeds. When these materials have been used as livestock bedding and have begun decomposition, they can become a very interesting cover for the garden, provided they are applied at the right time and with the right thickness.
The idea is not to cover just for the sake of covering, but to cover the soil as nature would: protecting, feeding, and accompanying the living process of the garden.
Observe before acting.
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