School Gardens: What to Plant for School Year Harvest
Printer Friendly VersionSeeds to plant in spring or fall that will yield crops before school lets out in June. For climate zones with mild winters and long summers - USDA zones 7, 8, 9
Vegetables:
Bush Beans
Beets, all (spring and fall)
Broccoli and Broccoli Raab (spring and fall)
Cabbage (spring and fall)
Carrots, all (spring and fall)
Chard, all (spring and fall)
Cucumbers – start plants in greenhouse or direct sow in areas where nights stay above 50 by mid-March
Greens, all (spring and fall)
Kale (spring and fall)
Lettuce, all (spring and fall)
Onions, scallions, all ((spring and fall)
Pak Choi (spring and fall)
Peas, all (spring and fall)
Pumpkins, but only if there is someone who can water over the summer, these could be planted in spring and harvested in fall
Radishes, all (spring and fall)
Spinach, all (spring and fall)
Squashes, all except Delicata/Butternut - start plants in greenhouse or direct sow in areas where nights stay above 50 by mid-March
Herbs:
Arugula, all (spring and fall)
Basil, all (spring)
Borage (spring and fall)
Cat Treats (spring and fall)
Chervil (spring and fall)
Chives (spring)
Cilantro (spring and fall)
Dill (spring and fall)
Parsley, all (spring and fall)
Flowers:
Agrostemma (spring and fall)
Alyssum (spring)
Bishops Lace (spring and fall)
Calendula (spring and fall)
Cerinthe (spring and fall)
Clarkia (spring and fall)
Cornflower (spring and fall)
Cosmos, all - start plants in greenhouse or direct sow where nights stay above 50 by mid-March
Forget-me-nots (spring and fall)
Hyacinth Bean Vine - start plants in greenhouse or direct sow in areas where nights stay above 50 by mid-March
Larkspur, all (spring and fall)
Marigold - start plants in greenhouse or direct sow where nights stay above 50 by mid-March
Nasturtiums, dwarf, all (spring)
Nigella, all (spring and fall)
Phlox (spring)
Seed varieties for Spring Planting in School Gardens that will yield crops before school lets out in June in Cold Winter Areas USDA Zones 4, 5 and 6
Vegetables:
Plant in early May, when the soil is warm enough for good germination. Cover the lettuce if a heavy frost is predicted after the seedlings germinate:
Radishes
Mustards
Lettuce
Spinach
For beets and chard, he soil has to be a slight bit warmer than the greens and mustards. Schools with greenhouses can start the lettuce, spinach, mustards, chard and beets and transplant them out when the soil is a little warmer in mid to late May and still get a nice crop before school ends in late June:
Beets
Chard
Peas can be planted in mid April, but if the soil stay cools they may not produce mature peas until late June.
Peas
The only Flowers and Herbs that will bloom outdoors before June are those that over winter or reseed themselves, so would have to be fall seeded.
