What to plant in April: zone 5a
Zone 5a averages its last spring frost around May 10 and its first fall frost around October 1. Everything below is timed from those two dates, so it stays useful whether you're planting for summer or for a fall harvest.
Garden care
- Wake the bedsaround Apr 5
Turn in compost, cut down cover crops, and let the soil warm two weeks before the first sowing.
- Harden off early transplantsaround Apr 12
Two weeks of increasing outdoor time keeps cold-hardy seedlings from stalling when they go out.
Direct sow
- Peaaround Apr 5
Soil is ready -5 weeks before last frost.
- Lettucearound Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Spinacharound Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Radisharound Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Turniparound Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Arugulaaround Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Mizunaaround Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Tatsoiaround Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Mustard Greensaround Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Broccoli Raabaround Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Shallotaround Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Endivearound Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Escarolearound Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Orach (Mountain Spinach)around Apr 12
Soil is ready -4 weeks before last frost.
- Carrotaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Kalearound Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Beetaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Onionaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Broccoliaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Chivesaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Kohlrabiaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Bok Choyaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Scallion (Green Onion)around Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Parsniparound Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Salsifyaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Lentilaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Sorrelaround Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Flax (Seed)around Apr 19
Soil is ready -3 weeks before last frost.
- Potatoaround Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
- Cilantroaround Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
- Parsleyaround Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
- Swiss Chardaround Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
- Collardsaround Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
- Burdock (Gobo)around Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
- Watercressaround Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
- Bulb Fennel (Florence Fennel)around Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
- Chamomile (German)around Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
- Carawayaround Apr 26
Soil is ready -2 weeks before last frost.
Start indoors
- Collardsaround Apr 5
5 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). The most forgiving green in the garden. Harvest bottom leaves upward and it produces for months. Leaves picked after a frost are noticeably sweeter.
- Napa Cabbagearound Apr 5
5 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Grow it as a fall crop where possible: napa bolts in spring heat but forms a tight, sweet head in cooling fall days.
- Lettucearound Apr 12
4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Succession sow every 2 weeks. Harvest outer leaves for a cut-and-come-again supply.
- Swiss Chardaround Apr 12
4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Cut outer stalks 2 in above the crown and the plant keeps producing from spring into hard frost. One planting can feed a household all season.
- Okraaround Apr 12
4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Okra wants hot soil, 70F+, or seed rots. Pick pods at 3-4 in every other day: one pod left to toughen tells the plant to stop producing.
- Bok Choyaround Apr 12
4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Bolts fast once days lengthen past 14 hours. Grow it as an early spring or fall crop, not a summer one.
- Peanutaround Apr 12
4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Flowers self-pollinate then push a stalk (peg) into the soil to form the pod underground: keep soil loose around the base.
- Endivearound Apr 12
4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Blanch heads by tying outer leaves shut 2 weeks before harvest to mellow the natural bitterness.
- Escarolearound Apr 12
4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Broader and milder than curly endive; a light frost sweetens the outer leaves before harvest.
- New Zealand Spinacharound Apr 12
4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Soak seed 24 hours before sowing to soften the hard seed coat; it thrives in summer heat that bolts true spinach.
- Bulb Fennel (Florence Fennel)around Apr 12
4 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Bolts fast in heat or from a check in growth; keep it evenly watered and harvest the bulb once it's baseball-sized, before it flowers.
- Cucumberaround Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Trellis vertically to double yield in the same footprint and cut mildew.
- Zucchiniaround Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). One plant feeds a family. Pick at 6-8 in for the sweetest fruit.
- Winter squasharound Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Cure 10 days in a warm dry spot after harvest. The skin toughens and storage doubles.
- Watermelonaround Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Ripe = tendril nearest the fruit is brown and the ground spot has turned buttery yellow.
- Cantaloupe / Melonaround Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Ripe fruit slips off the vine with a gentle tug. The smell alone tells you.
- Pumpkinaround Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Count back 100 days from your first frost to time a Halloween harvest. Cure cut pumpkins in the sun for 10 days and leave 3 in of stem so they store for months.
- Honeydew Melonaround Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Unlike cantaloupe, honeydew doesn't slip from the vine when ripe; judge by a faint sweet smell and a slight give at the blossom end.
- Butternut Squasharound Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). One of the best keepers: cure in the sun 10 days, then store at 55F and it holds for 3-6 months.
- Acorn Squasharound Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Ripe rind resists a fingernail poke and the ground spot has turned orange; harvest before frost damages the skin.
- Spaghetti Squasharound Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Rind should be uniformly pale yellow, not white or green, before harvest; underripe fruit shreds mushy instead of stringy.
- Hubbard Squasharound Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Needs the most space of any winter squash; give it a full corner of the garden or let it run into the lawn edge.
- Kabocha Squasharound Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Cure 1-2 weeks after harvest; the starchy flesh actually sweetens in storage over the following month.
- Delicata Squasharound Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). The skin is thin enough to eat, so skip the long cure other winter squash need; use it within a month or two of harvest.
- Patty Pan Squasharound Apr 19
3 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-10). Pick at 2-3 in across, like a baby zucchini: past golf-ball size the skin toughens fast.
Transplant out
- Asparagusaround Apr 12
Goes out 4 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Horseradisharound Apr 12
Goes out 4 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Kalearound Apr 19
Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Broccoliaround Apr 19
Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Chivesaround Apr 19
Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Strawberryaround Apr 19
Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Kohlrabiaround Apr 19
Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Bok Choyaround Apr 19
Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Scallion (Green Onion)around Apr 19
Goes out 3 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Lettucearound Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Onionaround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Parsleyaround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Mintaround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Cabbagearound Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Caulifloweraround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Swiss Chardaround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Collardsaround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Leekaround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Napa Cabbagearound Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Romanescoaround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Endivearound Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Escarolearound Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Radicchioaround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Sorrelaround Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Bulb Fennel (Florence Fennel)around Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
- Chamomile (German)around Apr 26
Goes out 2 weeks before last frost. It takes the cold.
Turn this into your own calendar
Want this calendar emailed to you?
Get the full 12-month version for your ZIP area. Every sowing, transplant, and harvest window, with reminders you can add to your calendar.