Growing calendar at a glance
Approximate timings for most of England and Wales. Scotland and northern England: push back by 2–3 weeks. South West and Ireland: slightly earlier.
Month by month — what to focus on
The UK growing year — month by month in detail
Every month in the UK kitchen garden has its own character. Here is what to expect, what to prioritise, and what not to miss — from January through to December.
January: Planning and the first sowings under cover
January is not a resting month for serious growers — it is a preparation month. The most important thing you can do in January is order your seeds before popular varieties sell out. Write down what you grew last year, what worked, and what you want to do differently. Plan your bed rotations on paper before the season begins.
On the growing side, January is the right time to sow tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, and chillies under cover if you have a heated propagator or a warm windowsill. These crops need a long growing season and benefit from an early start indoors. Broad beans can also be sown under cover in January, or direct into the ground in milder parts of the UK if the soil is not frozen or waterlogged.
Check stored crops — potatoes, onions, squash — and remove anything that is rotting before it spreads. Clean and oil tools. If the soil is not frozen and not too wet, you can dig over empty beds and work in compost.
February: Sowing season begins in earnest
February marks the real start of the sowing season for most UK growers. Soil temperatures are still low outdoors, but under cover there is plenty you can get started. Continue sowing tomatoes, peppers, and aubergines if you have not already. Peas and broad beans can be sown in pots or modules for transplanting later — this gives them a head start and avoids slug damage to direct sowings.
Onion seeds sown in February will produce large, reliable bulbs by late summer. Leeks can also be sown now in modules on a heated bench or warm windowsill, ready to transplant in late spring. Early lettuce and salad leaves can be started under cover for first harvests in April.
Outdoors, chit your seed potatoes by standing them rose-end up in egg boxes in a light, frost-free place. This encourages short, sturdy shoots before planting and gives you an earlier harvest. February is also the time to apply a slow-release fertiliser or compost to beds you plan to plant into in April and May.
March: The ground wakes up — outdoor sowing begins
March is the month the growing season properly shifts. Soil temperatures begin to rise, daylight hours lengthen noticeably, and the range of what you can sow outdoors expands week by week. It is also the month most growers feel the pull to rush — and the most common time to sow too early into cold, wet soil.
Direct sowings of carrots, parsnips, and beetroot can begin outdoors in March, but only once the soil temperature has reached at least 7°C. A soil thermometer is worth having; alternatively, wait until you see weed seedlings emerging — a reliable sign the soil is warm enough. Peas can be sown direct or in lengths of guttering for easy transplanting.
Under cover, courgettes and cucumbers can be sown in pots now for planting out in May. Brassicas — cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower — can be sown in modules and grown on until the soil is ready for them. Apply lime to beds intended for brassicas if the pH is below 6.5, as club root thrives in acidic conditions.
April: Peak sowing month — the garden fills up fast
April is the busiest sowing month of the year. The risk of hard frost is fading in most of the UK (though not gone entirely — always check your local forecast), and the range of crops you can sow or plant is at its widest.
Maincrop potatoes go in during April, ideally into well-prepared, manured ground. French beans and runner beans can be sown under cover in pots for planting out in late May. Sweetcorn is best started in pots in April rather than direct sown, as it needs warm soil to germinate reliably. Squash and pumpkins can also go into pots now.
Continue successional sowings of carrots, lettuce, radishes, and salad leaves every two to three weeks — this is what keeps harvests coming through summer and autumn rather than producing one glut and then nothing. Transplant brassica seedlings into their final positions if they are large enough and the ground is ready. Net immediately after planting to protect against pigeons.
May: Planting out season — the garden takes shape
May is when the garden starts to look like a garden. Most of the crops sown under cover in March and April are now ready to go outside. The key discipline in May is hardening off properly — plants that have been raised indoors or under glass need a week or two of gradual exposure to outdoor conditions before they go into the ground permanently. Put them outside during the day and bring them in at night, or use a cold frame.
Tomatoes should not go outside until after your last expected frost date, which for most of England and Wales is mid-May, but can be as late as early June in the north and Scotland. Courgettes, squash, and cucumbers follow the same rule. Runner beans and French beans can go out from late May in most areas.
Continue sowing carrots, beetroot, and salad crops outdoors. Thin out any early sowings that have germinated densely. Keep on top of weeds while they are small — a hoe used regularly in May saves hours of hand-weeding in July.
June: First harvests arrive — and you keep sowing
June is when the effort of spring begins to pay off. Early peas are ready for picking from late June — pick them regularly to keep the plants producing. Broad beans will be at their best in June, and early potatoes can be lifted as soon as the flowers have opened. Lettuce, radishes, spring onions, and salad leaves will be cropping steadily.
Do not stop sowing in June. Carrots sown now will be ready in September and October. French beans, beetroot, and salad leaves all benefit from a June sowing for autumn cropping. A second sowing of courgettes in early June can extend your harvest deep into autumn.
Tomatoes need regular feeding from June onwards once the first truss of flowers has set. Use a high-potassium liquid feed weekly. Pinch out side shoots on cordon (indeterminate) varieties to keep energy focused on fruit production. Water consistently — irregular watering is the main cause of blossom end rot and fruit splitting.
July: Peak summer — harvesting daily, feeding constantly
July is the most abundant and demanding month in the kitchen garden. Courgettes need checking every day — they go from finger-sized to marrow-sized in 48 hours in warm weather. Beans need picking every two to three days to keep the plants producing. Tomatoes will be ripening from mid-July onwards in a good summer. Potatoes, beetroot, carrots, and salad crops all need harvesting as they mature.
Watering becomes critical in July. Established plants in the ground generally manage better than container-grown crops, which may need watering twice a day in hot weather. Water deeply and infrequently rather than little and often — this encourages roots to go down rather than staying near the surface.
Watch for blight on tomatoes and potatoes in warm, humid conditions. The classic symptom is dark, water-soaked patches on leaves that spread rapidly. Remove affected leaves immediately and improve airflow. If blight takes hold, lift potato tubers promptly to save what you can.
August: Thinking about autumn while summer peaks
August sits in an interesting position in the UK growing calendar — you are harvesting summer crops at their best while simultaneously needing to sow for autumn and winter. The window for getting winter crops in is shorter than most growers expect.
Kale, spinach, winter salads, spring onions, and overwintering lettuce all need to be sown in August to produce a worthwhile crop. Japanese onions and garlic can be sown in late August for early spring harvests. These sowings are easy to overlook when the summer harvests are keeping you busy — but missing them means a gap in cropping from November through to March.
Continue harvesting beans, courgettes, tomatoes, and cucumbers regularly. Remove any plants that have stopped producing to free up space and reduce the risk of disease overwintering in the soil. Save seeds from your best performers — tomatoes, beans, and squash all save well.
September: Clearing, storing, and preparing for winter
September is a transitional month. The main summer crops are winding down, winter crops are growing, and the focus shifts from harvesting to clearing and preparing. Squash and pumpkins should be harvested before the first frost and stored in a cool, dry place — they will keep for months if the skin has cured properly in the sun.
Garlic and overwintering onion sets can go in from mid-September in most of the UK, into well-drained, fertile soil. Plant garlic cloves pointy side up, about 15cm apart. Compost cleared beds immediately so the organic matter has time to break down before spring.
Green tomatoes still on plants at the end of September can be ripened indoors — bring entire trusses inside and leave them in a warm room. Do not refrigerate tomatoes. Any remaining runner beans can be left to dry on the plant for use as dried beans through winter.
October: Root vegetables, leeks, and the last of the season
October is root vegetable month. Carrots, parsnips, beetroot, and celeriac are all at their best now, and many can be left in the ground and harvested as needed through autumn and into early winter. Parsnips actually improve after the first frost, which converts their starches to sugars. Leeks are in full swing from October and will stand in the ground until February or March.
Clear brassica stumps and roots from beds where club root has been a problem, and dispose of them in the bin rather than the compost heap. Dig over beds that are now empty and incorporate a generous layer of compost or well-rotted manure. Covering empty beds with a layer of mulch or a green manure crop prevents nutrients from leaching over winter.
Any tender plants — half-hardy herbs, remaining courgette and squash plants — should be removed before the first hard frost. Collect fallen leaves and start a leaf mould pile; it makes excellent mulch by next autumn.
November: The season closes — broad beans and garlic hold on
By November, most of the main growing season is over, but the plot is not empty. Leeks, kale, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, and overwintering salads are all cropping or establishing. Broad beans sown in October or November will have germinated and are growing slowly — they will overwinter as small plants and get a head start on spring.
November is the best month to carry out structural work on your plot — building or repairing raised beds, adding paths, improving drainage. The ground is workable but not yet frozen, and you have more time than you will in spring. Divide and replant overcrowded perennial clumps of herbs like chives.
Review the season honestly. What did well? What failed, and why? Note what you ran out of and what you could not keep up with. These observations are worth more than any book recommendation when planning next year.
December: Rest, review, and plan the year ahead
December is the quietest month in the kitchen garden, and it is worth treating it as such. Harvesting continues — leeks, kale, Brussels sprouts, and parsnips can all be picked through December and into the new year. Hardy winter salads under cover or in a cold greenhouse will be producing slowly.
The main work of December is planning. Go through your seed collection, note what needs replacing, and put together your order for the year ahead. Think about what you want to grow differently. If you want to try new crops, research their requirements now rather than in March when you are already busy. Write down your rotation plan so beds are allocated before you start sowing.
Protect any overwintering crops that may be at risk from hard frost — leeks and kale are hardy, but a row of fleece over more vulnerable crops like overwintering salads will help. Clean and store tools properly; a few minutes now prevents rust and blunt edges next spring.
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