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!
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23rd – 24th
Good days for transplanting. Good days for planting root crops.
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25th – 27th
Seeds planted now tend to rot in ground.
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28th – 29th
Plant seedbeds and flower gardens. Good days for transplanting. Fine planting days for fall potatoes, turnips, onions, carrots, beets, and other root crops.
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30th – 30th
Clear ground, turn sod, or kill plant pests.
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1st – 4th
A most barren period, best for killing plant pests or doing chores around the farm.
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5th – 6th
Fine for sowing grains, hay, and forage crops. Plant flowers. First day is a favorable day for planting root crops. Second day is a favorable day for planting beans, peas, squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, and other aboveground crops in southern Florida, Texas, and California.
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7th – 8th
Start seedbeds. Favorable days for planting aboveground crops, and leafy vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, kale, and celery where climate is suitable
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9th – 10th
Do clearing and plowing, but no planting.
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11th – 12th
Plant tomatoes, peas, beans, and other aboveground crops, indoors in the North and outdoors in lower South.
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13th – 14th
Poor planting days. Kill poison ivy, weeds, clear land, but no planting.
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15th – 17th
Extra good for vine crops. Favorable days for planting aboveground crops where climate is suitable.
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18th – 19th
Barren days, do no planting.
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20th – 22nd
Good days for transplanting. Good days for planting beets, carrots, onions, turnips, and other hardy root crops where climate is suitable.
Official Gardening Term Cheat Sheet for 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 a 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. “Good” and “Favorable” both pretty much mean the same. However, “Best” is considered the prime, optimal days for planting seeds.
