Spring and Summer Vegetable Gardens

There are a lot of planting options for spring and summer vegetable gardens. When choosing what and when to plant, consider their days to maturity requirements to determine if your selections will be ready before the end of the school year, during the summer or for next year’s back to school.

Spring vegetables are cold hardy and can tolerate the most low night temperatures of March. You can get a jump on your garden by starting some of your seeds indoors. Don’t rush to plant your summer vegetables before May. The cold can kill them or stunt their future growth. See our spring and summer vegetable favorites below.

GARDEN ACTIVITIES

February / March:

Harvest long maturing fall planted vegetables.

Leave some open pollinated plants in place to develop seeds for collection.

March

Plant from spring favorites list.

Avoid long maturing warm season vegetables that will be available in nurseries but will not mature until summer break (ex. tomatoes).

May/June:

Harvest spring vegetables.

Add compost and plant summer crop from favorites list (if summer gardener & irrigation is available).

Plant pumpkins in May and corn and tomatoes in June for a back to school harvest.

SPRING FAVORITES:

Vegetable	Cooked?	Days to Maturity	Comments
Beets	Yes	55-90	Slow winter growth
Broccoli	Optional	40-110	Slow winter growth, yellow flowers taste sweet
Chard	Yes	40+	Provides multiple harvest opportunities
Kohlrabi	Optional	50-60	Green or purple sputnik-shaped "cabbage turnip"
Leeks	Yes	90+
Lettuce	No	40-90	Provides multiple harvest opportunities
Mizuna	Optional	20-40+	Japanese Mustard Green for salads or cooking
Onions	Optional	60-100+
Peas	Optional	55+	Trellis to support
Radishes	Optional	20-80
Tatsoi	Optional	21-60	Mild mustard greens flavor for salad or stir-fry

SUMMER FAVORITES:

Vegetable	Cooked?	Days to Maturity	Comments
Amaranth	Yes	90-110	Striking & large, pop seeds and make candy
Beans	Yes	50-100+	Some varieties need trellis support
Corn	Yes	60-100	Plant in min. of 4 ft. section for good pollination
Cucumbers	No	45-85	Trellis to save space
Pumpkins	Yes	80-125+	Recommend mini or small sugar (pie) pumpkins
Squash	Yes	45-100+	Some Trellis to save space
Spinach	Optional	40+
Sun Flowers	N/A	50-100	Great for seed counting, birds love them too
Tomatillos	Optional	65-100	Try in salsa
Tomatoes	Optional	55-100	Cherry tomatoes are the favorite

Additional Resources:

UC Davis Vegetable Tips

Click here to request a school garden consultation.

Contact: MMG School Gardeners