Your PNW Spring Planting Guide: What to Grow (and When) from March Through June

A hands-on, month-by-month guide to spring planting in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, Zone 8–9a.

Early spring in one of my raised beds: lettuce, beets, and garlic with drip lines in place. This is what late March looks like in a PNW kitchen garden. Not Instagram-pretty yet, but everything is right where it should be.

I've written a lot about spring planning on this blog. When to wait, why your neighbor's planting dates probably don't apply to you, how soil temperature matters more than air temperature. All of that still holds. But I realized I haven't given you the practical, crop-by-crop breakdown of what actually goes into the ground (and when) for a productive spring kitchen garden in our climate.

So here it is. This is what I grow, when I plant it, and what I've learned from getting the timing wrong more than once.

A Quick Note Before We Start

Every garden is different. Your microclimate, your soil, whether you're growing in raised beds or in the ground, south-facing or north-facing, all of that changes your timing by a week or two in either direction. What I'm sharing here is based on my experience gardening in the Seattle area, Zone 9a. If you're in a cooler pocket or up on a hill with more wind exposure, give yourself an extra week or two.

The point is: use this as a framework, not a rulebook.

Late March: Cool-Season Crops Go In

By late March, your soil should be workable. Not warm, just workable. If you grab a handful and squeeze it, it should crumble apart, not stick together like clay. If it's still clumping, wait. Planting into waterlogged soil compacts it, and that's a problem that follows you all season.

Once your soil passes that test, here's what you can direct sow:

• Peas (snap peas, snow peas, shelling peas). Get your trellis or support in place before you plant, not after. I learned this the hard way when my snap peas flopped over onto the lettuce.

• Spinach and arugula. Both love cool weather and will bolt the second it gets warm, so get them in early. I sow a short row every two weeks through mid-April to keep a steady supply.

• Radishes. They're ready in about 30 days, and they're great for filling gaps between slower crops. I tuck them in between where my tomatoes will eventually go.

• Lettuce. Direct sow or transplant starts. Mixed greens, butter lettuce, romaine, whatever you like. Just know that lettuce hates heat, so this is its prime time.

You can also plant onion sets and garlic if you didn't get them in the ground last fall. They'll still grow, just smaller. And if you have a cold frame or greenhouse, you can push things a little earlier, but honestly, late March is plenty early for most of us.

What I'm doing in my garden right now: Pulling back any remaining mulch from my raised beds, checking soil moisture, and getting my radishes, peas and spinach started. I also top off my raised beds with a few inches of compost because the soil level always drops over winter.

Radish and turnip seedlings, sown early March. Radishes are one of the fastest crops you can grow. Thirty days from seed to plate, and they're perfect for filling gaps between slower crops.

April: The Month That Tricks You

April in Seattle is unpredictable. You'll get a warm week where everything feels like summer, followed by three days of cold rain. This is the month where patience really pays off.

Keep sowing:

• More lettuce, spinach, and radishes (succession planting is your friend)

• Beets. They germinate slowly, so don't panic if nothing happens for two weeks. Soak the seeds overnight before planting; it helps.

• Carrots. Sow directly, keep the soil surface moist, and be patient. Carrots take forever to show up. I cover my carrot rows with a 4'x2' board (untreated) until they sprout, which keeps the soil from drying out and crusting over.

• Swiss chard and kale. These are workhorses. They'll produce through fall and even into winter if you let them.

  
  

Start indoors (if you haven't already):

• Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. These need 6 to 8 weeks of indoor growing before they go outside. If you haven't started them by mid-April, consider buying starts from a local nursery instead. Honestly, there's no shame in buying starts. I've had some of my best tomato seasons from nursery transplants.

• Squash, cucumbers, and melons. Start these indoors about 3 to 4 weeks before your last frost date, which in Seattle is typically mid to late May.

What I'm doing in my garden in April: I'm checking my soil thermometer. For most warm-season crops, you want soil temperatures above 60°F before transplanting. I'm also hardening off any seedlings I started indoors by putting them outside for a few hours each day, gradually increasing the time. It's tedious, but if you skip this step, your plants will be shocked and they'll just sit there doing nothing for weeks.

Tomato starts on the left, squash seedlings on the right, hardening off in the greenhouse. If you haven't started yours by mid-April, skip the stress and buy starts from a local nursery. No shame in that.

May: Things Get Real

May is when Seattle gardening gets exciting. Our last frost date is technically mid to late March, which catches people off guard. But frost-free doesn't mean warm. Most warm-season crops still need soil temperatures above 60°F and nighttime air above 50°F, and that usually doesn't happen until May. So this is when you can finally start putting warm-season crops outside.

Transplant outdoors:

• Tomatoes. Wait until nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50°F. I plant mine deep, burying about two-thirds of the stem, because tomatoes grow roots along any buried stem and that makes for a stronger plant.

• Peppers and eggplant. Same timing as tomatoes, but these are even more cold-sensitive. If you get a late cold snap, cover them with row cover or even an old bedsheet.

• Zucchini, summer squash, and cucumbers. These grow fast once the soil is warm. Give them space. A single zucchini plant will take over more room than you think.

Direct sow:

• Beans (bush beans and pole beans). Wait until the soil is at least 60°F. Beans planted in cold soil will rot before they germinate.

• More beets, carrots, and chard if you want a continuous harvest.

• Herbs: basil (wait until it's truly warm), cilantro, dill, parsley. Cilantro bolts fast in warm weather, so I plant it in a spot that gets afternoon shade.

  
  

What I'm doing in my garden in May: This is my busiest month. I'm transplanting, direct sowing, setting up cages and trellises for tomatoes, training peas up their supports, and keeping an eye on slugs. Slugs love the PNW and they love young transplants. I use a beer or yeast trap and hand-pick them in the evening. Not glamorous, but it works.

The PNW slug defense system: a shallow dish of cheap beer or yeast slurry sunk into the soil. Not glamorous, but it works. I check and refill these every couple of days through May and June.

June: Fill the Gaps

By June, your spring garden should be filling in. The lettuce and spinach you planted in March is probably starting to bolt as the days get longer and warmer. Pull it out and replace it with a warm-season crop.

What to plant in June:

• Succession beans and squash for a later harvest

• More herbs (basil especially loves June warmth)

• Fall brassicas. This is counterintuitive, but late June is when you start seeds for fall broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. They need the long growing season. I start them in pots and transplant them into the garden in late July or August once the spring crops come out.

This is also the time to think about what comes next. If you pull out your peas in July when they're done, what's going in that spot? That kind of thinking, planning the next crop before the current one is finished, is what keeps your garden productive all season instead of leaving empty beds.

This is what happens when a cool-season crop decides it's done: it bolts, sends up flowers, and stops producing leaves you'd want to eat. When you see this, pull it out or leave it for the birds and bees.

A Few Things That Make All of This Easier

Use a soil thermometer. They cost about $10 and they take the guessing out of planting timing. Stick it four inches into the soil first thing in the morning (when it's coolest) and you'll know whether your warm-season crops are ready to go in.

Keep a simple garden journal. It doesn't have to be fancy. I use Notion, but a notebook on your kitchen counter works fine. Write down what you planted, when you planted it, and what happened. Next year, you'll have your own personal planting calendar instead of relying on generic online charts that don't account for your specific garden.

Start small. If this is your first spring kitchen garden, don't try to plant everything on this list. Pick three or four crops you actually want to eat, plant those, and learn from the experience. You can always add more next season.

Take the Guesswork Out of PNW Planting

Want to know exactly what to sow and harvest every month, for 40+ crops tuned to our Zone 8–9a climate?

This Spring Planting Guide is a companion to the PNW Crop Planner Pro, which takes everything covered here and puts it into an interactive planting calendar. It shows you live sow and harvest status, category filters, visual month-by-month timelines, and transplant timing for 40+ crops. It updates automatically with the seasons, so there are no charts to decode, no Googling, no guessing.

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The PNW Crop Planner Pro shows you what to sow and harvest every month for 40+ crops, with visual timelines built for Zone 8 to 9a. No charts to decode, no Googling. It just tells you what to do and when.

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Already a Palatino Garden Adventures client? Your access is completely free. Just reach out and I'll get you set up.

Happy growing,

Jackie

Palatino Garden Adventures

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→ The Blueprint is the full design phase - soil assessment, crop selection, succession plan, and layout - everything covered in this post, done for your specific space. Book here.

→ Consultation sessions are a good fit if you want to work through one piece of it yourself with guidance. Either way, the spring planting window sets the deadline, and spots fill before it arrives. Book here.