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Organic Backyard Gardening

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Garden Charts, Calculators and Planting Guides

Every lookup tool on this site in one place: the charts I keep on the wall of the seed room, the calculators I built because I got tired of doing the math by hand, and a page for each crop that answers “how many per square foot” without the rest of the article. Bookmark this page.

Type a number, get an answer

Calculators and lookups

57 cropsSeed Starting CalendarEnter your last frost date and get the week to start each crop indoors, transplant it, or sow it outside.Soil, compost, Mel’s MixRaised Bed Soil CalculatorBed length, width and depth in. Cubic feet and bags out.Jones ruleMaple Sap to Syrup CalculatorGallons of sap and its sugar content in, finished syrup out.On Plan My GardenFrost Date Lookup by ZIPLast spring frost, first fall frost, season length and USDA zone for your ZIP code.Any bed sizeSquare Foot Garden CalculatorEnter your bed size and crops and get the squares each one needs and how many plants fit.Cloves and bulbsSeed Garlic CalculatorWork out how many bulbs of seed garlic to buy for the bed space you want to plant.Watering mathHow Many Gallons Is 1 Inch of Water?Convert one inch of water into gallons for any bed size, and into minutes on your system.Tubing and emittersDrip Irrigation CalculatorEmitter count, flow rate and run time for a raised bed drip line.Roof and barrelsRainwater Harvesting CalculatorHow many gallons your roof sheds in a rain, and how much barrel capacity that needs.Boards and cutsRaised Bed Lumber CalculatorBoards to buy and a cut list for any raised bed size and height.Arch heightCattle Panel Arch CalculatorSpan, height and panel length for a cattle panel arch trellis.BTU per hourGreenhouse Heater Size CalculatorHeater size from your greenhouse dimensions, glazing and the temperature you want to hold.Grow lightsDLI CalculatorTurn PPFD and hours per day into daily light integral, or work backwards to the hours you need.Greens and brownsCompost Ratio CalculatorVolume weighted carbon to nitrogen ratio for what you are putting in the pile.Boiling pointMaple Syrup Finishing TemperatureThe temperature to finish syrup at your altitude, from the boiling point of water.DensityHydrometer Temperature CorrectionCorrect a hydrometer or refractometer reading for the temperature of the syrup.Tree diameterHow Many Taps per Maple Tree?Tap counts by trunk diameter, and how the guidance changed.

The two I get asked for most

Charts

71 cropsSquare Foot Gardening ChartPlants per square foot for every common vegetable, herb and fruit, with the spacing behind each number.Print it (PDF, 1 page)
30 cropsSeed Germination Temperature ChartMinimum, optimum and maximum soil temperature for each seed, and days to sprout at each temperature.Print it (PDF, 2 pages)

57 cropsDays to Maturity ChartDays from sowing or transplant to first harvest, with a date calculator.Which crops surviveFrost Tolerance ChartWhich vegetables take a frost, which take a hard freeze, and which do not.How long seed lastsSeed Viability ChartTypical years of viability by crop, and how storage changes it.After harvestVegetable Storage ChartStorage temperature, humidity and how long each crop keeps.

One page per crop

Plants per square foot, by crop

The number, the pattern in the square, counts for a 4×4 and 4×8 bed, planting steps, germination temperatures, when to plant relative to your frost date, and the seed I use.

9Beans9Beets1Broccoli16Carrots2Cucumbers4Garlic16Green onions1Kale4Lettuce4Onions9Peas1Peppers2Potatoes9Spinach1Strawberries1Tomatoes¼Zucchini¼Artichokes4Arugula1Basil4Bok choy1Brussels sprouts¼Butternut squash1Cabbage¼Cantaloupe1Cauliflower4Celery4Chives9Cilantro1Collards4Corn2Dill1Eggplant4Kohlrabi9Leeks1Okra1Oregano4Parsley¼Pumpkins16Radishes1Rosemary1Sage4Shallots¼Squash4Swiss chard1-4Thyme9Turnips¼Watermelon

The number is plants per square foot. ¼ means one plant per four squares. Tomatoes are 1 per square pruned to a single stem.

For the wall of the seed room

Printable charts

PDF, 1 pageSquare Foot Gardening Chart71 crops, three columns.PDF, 1 pageVegetable Spacing Quick Reference17 crops with the per-square method and 4×4 / 4×8 bed totals.PDF, 2 pagesSeed Germination Temperature ChartSoil temperature ranges, then days to emerge at each temperature.PDF, 1 pageSeed Starting Calendar, weeks version57 crops, with a blank to write in your frost date.

Weekend projects

Build and set-up guides

Whole beds, square by square

Bed layouts

8 squares2×4 Raised Bed LayoutFive crops in eight squares, with the plant count for each.12 squares2×6 Raised Bed LayoutEight crops in twelve squares, square by square.16 squares2×8 Raised Bed LayoutNine crops in sixteen squares, square by square.48 squares4×12 Raised Bed LayoutFifteen crops and 252 plants in one long bed.Two 4×8 beds10×10 Garden LayoutSixteen crops across two beds, with the paths accounted for.9 herbsRaised Bed Herb Garden LayoutNine herbs in a 4×4 bed, with spacing for the ones that spread.5 cropsSalsa Garden LayoutTomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, onions and cilantro in one bed.Root depthHow Deep Should a Raised Bed Be?Rooting depth by crop, and what that means for your bed height.

Put it all together

Plan the whole bed at once

The charts tell you how many of each plant fit in a square. The calendar tells you when to start them. Doing both for a full bed, for your frost date, used to take me an evening with graph paper. Plan My Garden does it in a few minutes: your ZIP code, your bed size, your crops, and it lays out the squares and gives you the dates.

Plan my bed on Plan My Garden

Most crop pages link to the variety I grow from Wood Prairie Family Farm, an organic seed farm in Maine. Code PMG5 takes 5% off. Buying through those links supports this site at no cost to you.