What we grow
The staples first.
This is the 2026 list from the portfolio garden in Wilton. Yours starts from what you actually eat, and the calendar is the one a zone 5b spring allows, not the one on the seed packet.
The 2026 list
Crop by crop
| Crop | How it starts | Goes out | First harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomatoes | Indoors, mid-March | After May 20 | Late July, to frost |
| Peppers, eggplant | Indoors, early March | After May 20 | August |
| Tomatillo | Indoors, mid-March | After May 20 | August |
| Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower | Indoors, March | April 21 | June |
| Kale, collards | Indoors, mid-March | April 21 | June, into November |
| Lettuce, arugula, spinach | Direct, every two weeks from April | May | |
| Radish, turnip, bok choy | Direct, from April | May | |
| Peas | Direct, early April | June | |
| Carrots, parsnips | Direct, April 21 | July | |
| Beets, chard | Direct, April 21 | June | |
| Onions, shallots | Sets and bundles | April | July |
| Potatoes | Seed potatoes | May | August |
| Bush beans, pole beans, edamame | Direct | Late May | July |
| Cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash | Direct, or starts | Late May | July |
| Winter squash, melons | Starts | Late May | September |
| Sweet potatoes | Slips | June | September |
| Garlic | Cloves | Mid-October | July of the next year |
| Basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, fennel | Starts and direct | May | June on |
| Thyme, sage, oregano, mint | Starts, divisions | May | June on, and every year after |
Corn waits for a bed with room to rotate. Anything not on this list is a conversation.
The calendar
A zone 5b year
| When | In the garden |
|---|---|
| March | Starts under lights. Peppers and onions first, tomatoes mid-month, the brassicas by the 16th. |
| April 1 to 20 | Field prep. Peas, spinach, radish and lettuce sown direct as soon as the soil works. |
| April 21 | Transplant day for the cool crops: brassicas and onions out, carrots and beets sown. |
| April 22 to May 14 | Cool-season succession, a new sowing every two weeks. |
| May 15 to 20 | Frost-free. Tomatoes, peppers, squash and beans go out. |
| Late May to June | Everything in the ground. Trellises up. First radishes and lettuce, then peas. |
| July | Tomatoes start. Garlic comes out. Second sowings of beans and greens. The garden is loud. |
| August | The turn. Fall brassicas and greens sown into the gaps as summer crops finish. Squash coming in. |
| September | Fall sowings by the 15th. Cover crops onto every empty bed. Tomatoes to frost. |
| October | Garlic in. Leaves shredded over the beds. Compost spread. |
| November to February | Kale under cover. The seed order in January. The lights go on in late February. |
What you eat, when
Radishes and lettuce in May. Peas and the first greens in June. Beets, chard and the early beans in July, with the garlic harvest hanging in the barn. Tomatoes from late July to the first frost, squash and potatoes through August and September. Kale and the fall greens carry into November, and with a cover, past it.