Maine Vegetable Gardening: Keep Your Garden Growing - Plant from Spring to Fall - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension (2024)

FAQs

When to plant a vegetable garden in Maine? ›

Maine Vegetable Gardening: Keep Your Garden Growing — Plant from Spring to Fall. Plant as soon as the ground can be worked. Plant two weeks before the average last frost date. Plant when soil and sun are warm.

Potatoes: As a staple in Maine, potatoes are well adapted to the local soil and climate conditions. Beans: Both bush and pole beans can be successful in Maine's growing season. Leafy Greens: Other greens such as kale and spinach can perform well in the cooler temperatures of Maine.

A handy tip is to cover the soil with some black plastic or horticultural fleece 2 weeks before sowing outdoors to help warm the soil up. Most veg are sown in Spring (March to May) although some such as broad beans and sweet peas can be sown in the autumn.

Peas and spinach can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked in March, followed by radishes, beets, carrots, dill, and cilantro a couple weeks later. To sow seeds directly in the garden, draw furrows into the soil surface where you want to sow your seed, then drop seeds into the furrow at the appropriate spacing.

Plants in the same family as zucchinis, melons and pumpkins should not be planted directly next to cucumbers. The same applies to Jerusalem artichokes, lovage, sage, radishes, radishes and tomatoes.

The reality is that because the two have similar growth requirements, they can in fact be grown quite successfully together. Diseases common to both tomato and pepper include Verticillium wilt and bacterial spot.

You'll need to replenish the nutrients and organic matter in your soil that the spring plants used. This will help feed the microbes in your soil, which will, in turn, feed your plants. You can add a top dressing of organic fertilizer or simply mix it in. Fall is a great time to start new garden beds.

It's up to the gardener, guided by the local conditions, and present weather patterns, to offer some watering in the fall season and right on up to the first frost is as a good gardening practice.

Should I fertilize my vegetable garden in the fall? ›

A productive vegetable garden needs fertile soil that is full of nutrients, so after a good summer of harvests you should not rest on your laurels. Fall is a great time to make efforts to fertilize your vegetable garden, and put nutrients back into the soil ready for next season's crops.

Radishes. One of the fastest-growing vegetable plants you can grow is radish. Some types are ready to eat in as little as 3 weeks from seeding. They are a cool-season vegetable, meaning they do best in spring or fall, before or after the heat of summer.

In Maine, you can also easily grow pears. With some finesse, cherry trees (sour, sweet or nanking) and peach trees will also bear fruit in Maine. Orchards can also include non-tree fruits, such as elderberries, aronia and highbush blueberries.

Planting time (you want to wait until the danger of last frost is gone) which is typically late May to early June. No need to get them in extra early as they won't be doing much growing and it has been my personal experience to still get good yields into the later season, even if they go in a little later.

If the ground is still frozen, then plant these as soon as the ground thaws. Do you want to grow tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants? Start these indoors around March 17. Then, around May 22 you should start watching the weather forecast and, as soon as no frost is forecast, go ahead and transplant those into the ground.

Maine planting zones range from 3b to 5b, with just a few very small areas in the southern region of the state reaching up to 6a. It is quick and easy to determine your growing zone with Gilmour's Interactive Planting Zone Map.

“Cool-season” vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, and peas grow in the cooler weather of early spring (and fall). “Warm-season” vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers aren't planted until the soil warms up in late spring and summer.