This post was most recently updated on January 26th, 2021
Growing plants from seed is not only rewarding, but it will save you plenty of money. Seeds are significantly cheaper than buying vegetable plants, which in turn are much cheaper than buying actual vegetables. This seed sowing timetable will let you know what to plant and when for your area.
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If you want to start a productive, self-sufficient vegetable garden, you should learn how to sow seeds. Where you live will alter when you plant seeds and how long they will take until harvest.
This Seed Sowing Timetable Guide is written for the south of New Zealand, approximately US Zone 8/9.
Seed Sowing Timetable:
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE ZONE 8/9/10 PDF Seed sowing/harvesting timetable.
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE ZONE 8/9/10 US seed sowing/ harvesting guide
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How much should I plant?
Working out how much of which plants you will need to feed your family depends on several factors:
- What foods your family actually eats. There is no point in growing food that no one will eat!
- What grows in your area.
- Whether you plan on canning/preserving/trading any.
You will need to follow a seed sowing timetable that is suitable for your area. I live in a US Zone 8 / US Zone 9 – as we are so coastal it is a bit different to a US Zone, but it is similar enough to work here.
Up north of NZ is more like a US Zone 10 so they have a longer growing season and warmer overall temperature, so they can follow the above sowing schedule, but can sow things earlier and later than we can get away with here.
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US Zone 10 can also successfully grow corn and tomatoes outside anywhere, whereas here in US Zone 9 we have to have a particularly sunny and sheltered place.
It is all about creating micro-climates at your place, with brick walls to soak up the warmth of the sun and block the wind. Growing shelter belts/hedges and using glass/greenhouses to extend the season.
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If you would like to learn more about growing a prolific vegetable garden, read our garden resources page.
The next step to growing your garden from seed, is saving your seeds! This is quick and simple, you just need to let 3-5 of the strongest plants flower and set seed – once the seed heads start to dry, put them in a paper bag, label them and hang them somewhere dry.
If you want to know exactly how to grow a garden from scratch with monthly gardening tasks and exactly what to plant when find out more here.
If you would like help getting the most out of your garden, I would love to help you, find out more here
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For further reading, I also recommend all of these books. I own every one of them and they are amazing resources!
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