Irish Grow Calendar

Month-by-Month

January — Plan

Too cold to plant outside. Order seeds (Seed Savers, Mr Middleton, Quickcrop). Design your bed layout. Chit seed potatoes by end of month.

February — Seed Indoors

Start broad beans, onions, early lettuce indoors. Prune fruit bushes. Turn compost.

March — First Outdoor Sowings

Potatoes can go in from mid-March. Direct-sow carrots, parsnips, spring onions, lettuce. Start tomatoes and peppers indoors.

April — Main Sowing Month

Direct-sow beetroot, radish, spinach, chard, peas, turnips. Transplant lettuce. Plant out broad beans and onions. Start courgettes, squash and french beans indoors.

May — Tender Crops Out

After last frost (mid-May in most of Ireland), plant out tomatoes, courgettes, squash, french beans, sweetcorn. Direct-sow brassicas (cabbage, kale, broccoli).

June — Maintain & Succession

Succession-sow lettuce, carrots, beetroot every 2–3 weeks for continuous harvest. Stake tomatoes. Water deeply. Mulch.

July — First Big Harvests

Early potatoes, peas, broad beans, first courgettes. Keep sowing lettuce and radish. Sow autumn carrots.

August — Peak Harvest

Tomatoes, courgettes, french beans, potatoes all hitting. Sow autumn/winter spinach, chard, winter onions. Start planning winter coverage.

September — Winter Crops Going In

Harvest maincrop potatoes. Sow garlic, autumn onion sets. Plant out overwintering brassicas. Last sowings of hardy salad.

October — Winding Down

Lift remaining squash and tomatoes before first frost. Plant garlic (if not done in September). Sow green manures. Clear and mulch empty beds.

November — Protect & Plan

Harvest leeks, parsnips, sprouts, winter cabbage. Protect overwintering crops. Dig manure into empty beds.

December — Rest

Not much to do. Harvest leeks, sprouts, stored potatoes. Review what worked. Order next year's seeds.

What to Plant for a First-Year Plot (Beginner-Friendly)

• Potatoes — easy, forgiving, visually satisfying
• Courgettes — prolific once it gets going; 2 plants feed a family
• Runner beans or french beans — climbers use vertical space efficiently
• Lettuce + salad mix — succession-sow every 3 weeks for continuous harvest
• Carrots — slow but hugely rewarding when they come up
• Herbs — mint, parsley, chives, thyme — useful, pretty, hard to kill

What to Avoid in Year 1

• Tomatoes outdoors — Irish summers rarely give them enough heat. Use a polytunnel or greenhouse
• Peppers / aubergines / sweetcorn — marginal outdoors in Ireland; polytunnel crops really
• Complex succession plans — one planting of each crop is enough in Year 1. Succession comes in Year 2