Planting Calendar from the Farmers’ Almanac
Welcome to the Farmers’ Almanac Planting Calendar, also known as Gardening by the Moon calendar. This planting calendar helps you pick the best dates for popular garden tasks—starting seeds, pruning shrubs, harvesting, weeding, and much more—according to our 200-year-old formula that relies on phases and position of the Moon. Our readers swear they “won’t plant without it.”
Learn why we “Garden by the Moon.”
The dates listed below are consistent across all growing zones. This means you must consider your weather and climate before following our suggestions. For best results, talk with your local greenhouse or agricultural extension office for the optimal window of time within which to use these dates.
Note, you can find a glossary of our gardening terms below the calendar.
Happy gardening!
You’re seeing one month’s worth of the Farmers’ Almanac Calendar for FREE. To view our full 12 month calendar, sign up for a membership today for as low as $8.99 a year!
-
20th – 21st
Kill plant pests on these barren days.
-
22nd – 23rd
Fine for vine crops. Set strawberry plants. Good days for transplanting. Favorable time for planting late root crops.
-
24th – 26th
Poor planting. Fine for cultivating or spraying. Good harvest days.
-
27th – 28th
Good days for transplanting. Root crops that can be planted now will yield well.
-
29th – 31st
Any seed planted now will tend to rot. First day is a good harvest day.
-
1st – 2nd
Excellent for sowing seedbeds and flower gardens. Plant tomatoes, beans, peppers, corn, cotton, and other aboveground crops on these most fruitful days.
-
3rd – 7th
Poor period for planting. Kill plant pests, clear fencerows, or clear land.
-
8th – 9th
Sow grains and forage crops. Plant flowers. Favorable for planting peas, beans, tomatoes, and other fall crops bearing aboveground.
-
10th – 11th
Plant seedbeds. Extra good for planting fall lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, and other leafy vegetables. All aboveground crops planted now will do well.
-
12th – 13th
Poor planting days, cut hay or do general farm work.
-
14th – 15th
Plant late beets, potatoes, onions, carrots, and other root crops.
-
16th – 17th
Poor days for planting. Kill plant pests, spray, fertilize, do general farm work.
-
18th – 19th
Set strawberry plants. Excellent for any vine crops such as beans, peas, and cucumbers. Good days for transplanting. Favorable time for planting late root crops.
Official Gardening Terms Cheat Sheet From the Farmers’ Almanac
Above ground crops — this term is used to describe crops that produce their yield above the soil, such as corn, peppers, squash, etc.
Root Crops — crops that produce their yield below the soil, such as potatoes, radishes, carrots, etc.
Seedbeds — a bed of soil cultivated for planting seeds or seedlings before being transplanted.
Seedlings — young plants, especially ones that grow from seeds rather than from a cutting.
Transplanting — to uproot and replant a growing plant or an already well-established plant.
“Favorable,” “Good,” and “Best” are all considered beneficial days for planting seeds, for example. “Good” and “Favorable” both mean the same thing. However, “Best” is considered the prime, optimal day for planting seeds.
