Timing is a big part of successful vegetable gardening. Vegetables can be grown year-round in our zone, but not every vegetable will grow all the time. Many have a seasonal preference that is influenced by soil temperature, air temperature and the intensity of available light

This Vegetable-Planting-Calendar is a useful guide to planting in the Zone 9 vegetable garden. It provides recommended planting times for sowing DIY transplants indoors, direct sowing outdoors, and transplanting outdoors. It also suggests a “best time” window during which the plant should be its most successful.  The calendar is a PDF format that should be friendly to most down-loads. It is formatted to be printed on legal sized paper.

The dates are intended to be a guide. Weather is the final factor that must be considered. Adjust these dates during spells of unusually warm or cool weather.

You will see that there is a column that is titled “Rotation #”, but it is blank. This is for you to fill in your own rotation sequence. It varies for everyone and may even vary from year to year. 

You’ll hear a lot about “Crop Rotation” when you get serious about planting vegetables in on-going or existing beds. Below are some basics that will help you learn this important protocol when vegetable gardening along the Gulf Coast.

Crop Rotation Basics 
Crop Rotation Families 
4-Step Crop Rotation Plan 

Originally published by Angela Chandler at www.thegardenacademy.com.  Republished here with full rights and permissions.