Planting a Spring Garden in Louisiana - Louisiana: Cooking. Spring in Louisiana is a great time--if you're a south LA gardening newbie, I encourage you to pick up the terrific gardening guides written by Dan Gill.
He understands the gulf coastal south and writes advice that we can use...he also divides our planting year into the warm season (just beginning), the hot season, and the cool season (AKA winter). This is useful, as the "standard" planting advice used for much of the country totally doesn't apply here. Also, I garden in raised beds, due to the heavy, water-retaining qualities of my soil, and relatively flat plain of my backyard. Right now, I've got 16 tomato plants (put out as transplants, purchased from WalMart, Bonnie Bell brand) of diff varieties, peppers (bell, cayenne, jalapeno), zucchini (started from seed), canteloupes (seed), cilantro, various basils, dill, parsley, sage (usually dies due to heat & humidity, but I try every year anyway), as well as perennial mint, lemongrass, rosemary, and flowering garlic chives.
The Vegetable Garden: Planting Schedules. When to Plant Vegetable Seeds Each USDA zone has its own schedule for sowing seeds.
If you're new to vegetable gardening, you'll want to know that there is a right time to plant each variety of vegetable seed. By following our zone chart for both cool and warm season vegetables, you'll be sure to plant your seeds at the correct time, enabling optimum sprouting and yield. And don't forget, the seeds you pick are also of the greatest importance. Even if you are an old hand in the vegetable garden, we hope that our USDA zone planting chart will be a useful tool for organizing your spring and summer vegetable planting. Zone 1-2 Zone 3-4 Zone 5-6 Zone 7-8 Zones 9-10 Not sure what your USDA Zone is? Matching your vegetables to your season duration is a wonderful recommendation . First, though, get an idea of the growing seasons for your zone that you have to contend with (for info on growing seasons by zones, see below). You can even produce some veggies during the winter. Planting Vegetables from Seed and Seedling. By The National Gardening Association, Bob Beckstrom, Karan Davis Cutler, Kathleen Fisher, Phillip Giroux, Judy Glattstein, Mike MacCaskey, Bill Marken, Charlie Nardozzi, Sally Roth, Marcia Tatroe, Lance Walheim, and Ann Whitmanfrom Gardening All-in-One For Dummies You can plant vegetable seeds indoors or outdoors.
If you plant seeds indoors, you transplant them into your garden later. With direct seeding, you skip the indoor step and sow the seeds directly in your garden. If you're serious about growing vegetables, you'll probably end up using both options. Consider these points when making your choice: You get a jump on the growing season when you sow seeds indoors. Transplanting seedlings into the ground Harden off vegetable seedlings that have been grown indoors or purchased from a greenhouse before exposing them to the elements.
To harden-off seedlings, leave the plants in their containers and put them in a shaded area with some indirect light for a few days. When to Plant Vegetable Seeds.