If you feel like you’re behind on garden planning, or maybe you didn’t even do any garden cleanup last fall and are feeling the pressure, this post is for you. It’s very rarely too late to do anything in the garden as we have so many options. It may not look ideal, but here are our best late start gardening tips.
Help! I’m Starting Too Late!
Are you a new gardener jumping into this season of gardening for the first time, and all of a sudden, you’re realizing you haven’t started seeds indoors, planned your garden, or done garden prep for the season? Don’t put pressure on yourself if you’re already realizing there are things you should have been doing before now!
Or, are you a seasoned gardener and just know you missed the boat on starting your tomato seedlings and prepping your garden soil? Just know we all have years like that, and it’s also OK to just move forward from where we are now.
Late Start Gardening Tips
So we’ve acknowledged that we’re getting a late start. There are no beautiful plant starts hardening off in a sunny spot like the photo above, but let’s not worry! It’s time to move forward and focus on what we can do instead of dwelling on what we can’t.
To move forward with our garden, here are the things to focus on:
- Direct sown crops
- Short days to maturity crops
- Buy Transplants (Plant Starts)
- Don’t get hung up on technicals
- Planning for next year
Let’s dive deeper into each of these areas below.
Direct Sown Crops
Since it’s too late to start crops indoors, it’s best to focus on main-season crops and direct sow them into your garden.
The difference between direct sowing crops and starting seeds indoors is that one is started inside in a controlled environment and one is planted directly into the garden where you want it to grow.
Starting seeds indoors is something that’s generally planned and started in late winter or early spring (depending on the crop) and then transplanted out into the garden once the soil temperatures are right for that plant (and the last chance of frost has passed).
When you’re direct sowing, there are many plants that can be planted before your last frost date which means you can probably get many of these items into the ground now!
Crops that can be direct sown are:
- Lettuces
- Beans
- Peas
- Corn
- Squashes
- Leafy Greens (Swiss Chard, Kales, Mustards, etc.)
- Cucumbers
- Carrots
- Beets
- Radishes
Short Days to Maturity Crops
Next, you want to focus on crops that have a shorter date to maturity. You can generally see this information on the seed packet. Check your calendar and do a quick count from today’s date to your average first frost date in the fall.
If the calendar shows that there are 120 days until the first frost date, I generally recommend shortening that number to about 100 growing days (since those last spring days and those early fall days are generally a bit colder, slowing down the growth of the crops).
Now we know we need to focus on growing crops with 100 days or less to maturity. This will help you narrow down what you have time to grow and what needs to wait until next year.
Don’t fret! There are still plenty of crops that can grow in fewer than 100 days.
Buy Transplants
If you’re getting a late start to your garden this year, the next option is to buy transplants from a local nursery or shop from Ellie’s Eden on Azure Standard (first-time customers can get 15% off your order of $100 or more with coupon code Homesteading15 at checkout). Ellie’s Eden has a great guarantee on their plants and will also generally tell you how to care for them once they arrive.
Many people make buying transplants their regular approach to gardening, and that’s just fine if it fits within your budget. I encourage you to start experimenting with starting seeds indoors (and learning when to start seeds indoors) because, in the long run, it will really save you the most money.
I have had many people tell me how expensive transplants are. This is true when comparing the cost of one transplant to the cost of one seed (or even a whole seed packet), but when you compare the cost of what the transplant will provide you when compared to the money it will save you from the grocery store, they really are inexpensive.
Choosing the Best Transplants
When choosing which transplant to buy, be sure you’re looking for the healthiest transplant you can find. This doesn’t always mean the most beautiful plant. You want plants that look hardy and strong (no spindly, thin stems), are disease-free and insect-free, and don’t look stunted from growth.
Furthermore, ask the nursery when the plants were started. Don’t buy plants that were started more than two months prior, or they may be root-bound.
When you get those plants home, give them a really good watering. If the nursery hasn’t started the hardening-off process (you can ask the nursery), then you’ll want to start this once you get home.
Homesteading hack: Never transplant plants that haven’t been properly hardened off, as this will both cause root disturbance and put more stress on the plant than it can handle. It can result in stunted growth or even losing the plant altogether. You can read this post for tips on how to harden off and transplant crops into the garden.
Once the transplants are ready to be planted in the garden, add some really good compost to the plant’s roots so they get a great boost of nutrients right away.
Don’t Get Hung Up On Technicals
When you’re already behind in your garden year, it’s not necessary to make sure everything else follows every rule. Remember, most plants don’t read their growing guides! Don’t worry about crop rotation, companion planting or proper soil pH for each plant. These things can be learned after this year’s growing season and implemented in next year’s garden.
Don’t let perfection keep you from getting something in the ground. Getting seeds or plants in the ground gets you one step closer to learning how to garden.
Plan for Next Year
Whenever I’m gardening, I always think about next year’s garden. There are so many aspects that go into a successful gardening year, which is why planning is key.
Order Seeds
If I’m planting carrots, I’m taking inventory of my carrot seeds and placing a seed order for next year. I like to be ahead of the game when it comes to ordering seeds so I don’t miss out if my favorite variety gets sold out.
Homesteading Hack: Seed packets will have a date on them that says something like “packaged for 2025.” This doesn’t mean those seeds will go bad in 2026! Most seeds will keep their germination rate for about three years (except for some seeds, like onions, which will have a lower germination rate the following year). However, I’d rather have older seeds on hand than potentially no seeds at all.
Mark Your Calendar
After ordering seeds, if there are crops that should be started indoors, I add the ideal start dates to our family calendar now. That way, when next winter rolls around, I’m reminded that there is garden preparation to be done when the garden is still covered in snow!
Fall Garden Prep
Don’t neglect your fall garden prep. Many of us dread this time of year because we’re exhausted from a long growing season and are probably still in preservation mode. However, spending a few hours in the garden in the fall will really give your garden a jump-start in the spring.
These are simple tasks like removing dead plants, cleaning up the beds and adding a fresh layer of compost to settle down into the soil all winter. You can learn more about how we prepare our garden for winter here.
In conclusion, my biggest tip is to just plant something! Don’t let the lack of planning and preparation keep you from a garden this year. You’ll never regret sowing a few seeds, you’ll only regret that which you don’t do now.
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