Tool for Savvy Seed Starting & Sowing

Today I come bearing good news about a great tool. My friends, it's simple, it's ingenious, and it makes easy planning your seed starting and sowing with confidence. Brought to you by the people at Johnny Selected Seeds, it's the totally free and super informative Seed Calculator.

Basically, you just enter your "spring frost-free date," or the average last day that you can estimate frost to occur. Then, according to your frost date, this handy table generates the date ranges when you should start specific vegetables plants indoors from seed and when these seedlings should be planted outside.

For my part, I based my planning on the conservative estimate that southeastern Michigan's frost free date is May 21 (though other sources day it can be as early as April 26). Find your own date using the Farmers' Almanac Average Frost Date table. Obviously, no matter what date you use, once you've planted anything outdoors, it's always wise to keep on eye on weather reports in the early season months. This way, if you know frost is likely during the evening, you can take precautions on behalf of your young plants (there are many methods for doing this, ranging from homemade plastic covers to these professional grade fabrics and contraptions). 

I was once skeptical of the need to seriously consider this frost date. I mean, once it's warm, it's warm right? Consider the following from the Farmers' Almanac:

• 29-32 degrees Fahrenheit kills tender plants
• 25-28 degrees kills most vegetation
• Below 25 degrees kills everything other than evergreens

I've smartened up and learned that with the substantial investment of time, energy, and money that goes into plants before you ever put them in the ground, it's important to a) consider frost date estimates and b) watch the weather once you commit your plants to living outside. Fortunately, to alleviate some of the potential anxiety that comes with having to consider yet another factor in gardening, I return to the seed starting and seedling planting date calculator which makes managing these factors all the more manageable.

Map for Rough Frost Free Date Estimates