when to start what: vegetable-seed calculators

WONDER WHAT TO SOW WHEN to get homegrown transplants ready for the vegetable garden? I’ve gathered links to some foolproof online seed-starting calculators and charts, and also summarized my very simple “lumping” method, where I group all my seeds into three groups rather than try to remember every last detail of what happens when. The scoop:charts and calculatorsNew! A Way to Garden’s own vegetable, flower and herb-seed calculator University of Vermont Extension planting chart All Things Plants’ Calculator Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Seed Chart (Note: It counts back from a frost-free date around the end of May.) Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ Calculator my ‘lumping’ method of when to sow

BY LUMPING THE CROPS I SOW INDOORS in spring into three simple groups with similar time needs, I streamline my seed-starting. You’ll need to memorize only one fact to use my “lumped-together” countdown formula, and that’s your local date of average final frost (mine isn’t until close to June).

The brassicas, like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kohlrabi, all have the same requirements: a month to six weeks indoors under lights before they go outside, which is safe about a month before final frost. This group therefore gets its start between March 15 and April 1 in my household. (Note with Brussels sprouts: many resources say sow them later, like May 1 or so, so they stand well into frost, when they achieve their best flavor. Today there are varieties requiring as few as 82ish days to maturity and as many as 100-plus, so take into consideration which you’re growing when you plan when to sow.)

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants make up my second group, each getting six to eight weeks under lights before

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