What Can I Grow?

One of the top questions I am asked is, “What can I grow where I live?” With True Garden shipping to all 50 states, this question is not easily answered. May in Arizona has different temperatures than May in Minnesota or Montana.

To be successful, know first, what is your grow zone. Here is a link from USDA showing all the grow zones for the entire US: USDA Grow Zone Map 

The next step is to know what is in season for your grow zone. There are cool weather plants such as spinach, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and kale. These plants grow best and produce the best quality when the average temperatures are 55* – 75F. It is important to plant cool season crops early enough in the spring so they can complete their full cycle up to harvest before the temperatures get too warm.

While some cool-season vegetables can withstand hot weather and will still grow, their quality becomes inferior. Many cool-season crops can be planted in the early spring and again in the fall,  but keep in mind that they must be planted early enough to reach maturity before the onset of cold weather that will kill most of them. 

In warm weather, leafy vegetables like salad greens and spinach rapidly produce flowers and seeds.  This is called bolting. One way to work around this is to choose bolt-resistant varieties, which are  also indicated in the seedling descriptions. Look for Summer Crisp varieties of lettuce that can withstand warmer temperatures.

Warm season crops do best if temperatures are above 70 F. Warm season vegetables include: 
tomato, pepper, eggplant, cucumber, winter squash, pumpkins, and melons. Unlike cool season vegetables, warm-season vegetables have only one growing cycle, ranging from late spring, after  the last frost date, to late summer.

While I have provided some examples of cool and warm weather crops, here are some sites that  take the guess work out of gardening. My favorite is the Almanac. You enter your zip code to get a full list of what seedlings will do best. You won’t follow the seed planting guide. You will use the  seedling or transplant dates.

Almanac Planting Calendar by Zip Code 

Here are two more sites that I recommend:

What’s in Season? Produce Calendar for All 50 States

Seedtime Free Garden Planner & so much more