The nursery shelves are full and the soil is finally warm. Here's how to make smart decisions — not just busy ones — so your garden actually pays off by summer.
Start With Your Zone
Your USDA hardiness zone determines everything. Don't skip this step.
Zones 3–4Carrots, lettuce, spinach, peas, radishes, kale. Use row covers for early plantings.
Zones 5–6All of the above, plus tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant — but only after your last frost date.
Zones 7–8Beans, cucumbers, corn, squash, okra, basil. Transplant tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant rather than direct seeding.
Zones 9–10Melons, squash, amaranth, peanuts, basil, peppers. Heat-lovers only — frost danger is long gone.
Zones 11–12Okra, sweet potato slips, cowpeas, herbs, eggplant. Transplant for best results; cool-season crops are wrapping up.
Grow What You'll Actually Eat
The most skipped step in garden planning: look at the meals your household makes on repeat before buying a single plant. Stir-fry nights? Grow peppers and snap beans. Salads three times a week? Lettuce and radishes. Homemade pasta sauce? Tomatoes and basil are your anchors.
Grow what you'll eat, not what photographs well.
Five Crops That Punch Above Their Weight
If you're short on space or still finding your footing, these deliver the highest return for the effort:
Lettuce & salad greensCut-and-come-again varieties harvest repeatedly for weeks from a single plant.
ZucchiniOne or two plants feeds a family all summer. Genuinely prolific.
Bush beansFast-maturing and productive. Plant a second round six weeks later in the same spot.
RadishesReady in 25 days. Perfect gap-fillers between slower crops.
BasilThrives in a single container, produces all season, and pairs with almost everything.
Two Things to Check Before You Plant Anything
Your actual last frost date. Not the regional average — your specific local date. One cold night wipes out warm-season transplants instantly. Your local cooperative extension service has the most reliable figures.
Your soil temperature. Warm-season crops sown in cold soil rot before they sprout. A soil thermometer costs under $15. Beans and cucumbers need at least 60°F; peppers and melons prefer 70°F or above.
The garden rewards preparation more than effort. A half hour of planning in May is worth three months of frustration in July.
