Direct Sowing Seeds Successfully in the Garden

This helpful guide will help you understand the best planting process, whether you are planting in a raised bed or container gardening, along with knowing what seeds have a better germination rate when started inside or out, no matter what zone you live in.

Also, find an additional section of gardening tips and processes I have learned through my years of gardening to help you feel confident in your garden endeavors, including my guide (and podcast episode) on how much to plant per person for a year's worth of food.

This post has been updated to include two podcasts on direct sowing seeds, the latest (Pioneering Today Podcast episode #469) is with guest Don Tipping from Siskiyou Seeds.

The other is a solo podcast of mine that dates back to 2014! You can download and listen to them both!

I grew up in a family that always had a large vegetable garden. For me, gardening has been a part of my life and comes naturally. I enjoy gardening so much that I’ve written a few books to share what I’ve learned with others. 

The Family Garden Plan will help you plan your garden from beginning to end. It has charts to help you stay organized and gives space for records and information to save from year to year. If you are inspired to get back to the basics and live a simpler life, read The Made From Scratch Life and my updated Home and Hand Made book.

My family’s goal of living self-sustainably is a work in progress. In fact, we're now calling it “community sufficiency.” We continue to make small steps in that direction every year.

We're now raising pigs and raising grass-fed beef cattle. We also raise meat chickens along with raising egg-laying chickens. For a while, we even kept a family dairy cow.

My grandparents moved from North Carolina to the Pacific Northwest in 1941 during the Depression. They traveled across the country on the back of a flat-bed truck with a few other families. 

Obviously, they were limited in space, but one thing they brought with them was their heirloom seeds. These seeds are invaluable and have been with us for generations.

Direct sowing seeds is simply planting seeds directly in the prepared garden soil. Depending on the seed, there is a specific temperature at which the seed will germinate and grow.

Most gardeners plant their crops using both the direct-sow method and the transplanting method (also known as plant starts). The method you choose depends greatly on the growing zone you live in and the crop.

Some crops do better with a head start before planting out in the elements, while others don't like their roots messed with and do better when direct sown into the soil (more on this below).

Seeds that are sown directly will need to withstand the elements in order to get started. Do your due diligence in researching your local growing zone to make sure you understand the best times to plant seeds.

Below is a list of the best crops to direct sow. I'll also share tips for the best germination and growing techniques.

• Beans – There are two types of beans…bush beans and pole beans. If you are limited in space, try to find a compact heirloom bush bean variety. Pole beans are my favorite, and you can learn more about how to grow pole beans here. They will need to have a structure to grow on. If they aren’t given something to vine around, they will stop growing. We have tried three different methods:
  • A vertical or arched trellis has become our preferred method, both to save space in the garden and for ease of harvesting.
  • Placing a single stake by each plant for the vine to grow on.
  • Placing a pole or stake at each end of the row and tying a string at the top and bottom of each pole. After that, take regular garden twine and design a “V” trellis crisscrossing back and forth for the vines to grow on.
• Beets – Beets are a cool-weather crop and will be one of the first things you can direct seed. Make sure to plant them before the soil is hot, or they will rot in the ground. Find my step-by-step beet planting tutorial here.
• Carrots – Carrots also like cooler weather. The seeds are super-tiny, so a benefit of direct sowing is not having to separate individual seeds. However, you will have to thin out the carrot rows after they are growing to allow for proper growth. Use this germination hack for starting carrot seeds (and other small seeds) that like to wash away when watering.
• Corn – Plant corn one (or two) inches deep. After it has sprouted, thin it to one foot apart, corn will have small ears if the stalks grow too closely together. If you're having problems with birds pulling the shoots to get to the seed, plant two inches deep so the seed is rooted a bit stronger in the soil.
• Peas – Direct sow peas in early spring, as they too like cooler weather. They will also benefit from some trellis support.
• Radishes – Radishes are fun to grow and very prolific. Try sowing them every two weeks for a continuous harvest during the summer.
• Spinach – Spinach does well in cooler weather, and it can even handle a light frost.
• Squash – Squash has two different types: summer and winter. Plant squash in hills instead of rows. You can make a hill by heaping up garden soil into a 1-foot-high by 3-foot-diameter pile. Sow six to nine seeds per hill at the top of each mound. After they sprout, thin them down to three of the strongest plants and discard the others. It's important to wait to plant squash seeds until the soil temperatures reach 65°F, or you risk the seeds rotting in the soil.
  • Harvest summer squash early when the skin is soft and pliable.
  • Harvest winter squash later in the season. Make sure to bring in the winter squash before the first hard freeze. It will do well in cold storage for a few months such as in a root cellar. Learn more in detail about curing, storing and preserving pumpkins and winter squash here. Pro-tip: Press your thumbnail into the skin of winter squash. If it can’t pierce through, it is ready to harvest. 

Knowing your growing zone and familiarizing yourself with resources explaining your growing season will help you choose the best time to plant your garden. Check out my gardening by month series: gardening in March, gardening in April, gardening in May, and gardening in June where I break down what I do in these months to prepare for planting time.

Instead of direct sowing vegetables, transplants are plants that are started indoors under lighting before being planted in the garden. The seeds germinate and grow in a protected environment.

You will have a little more control over the outcome of the plants because the initial germination takes place indoors and allows the plant to be established. 

Insects tend to like baby plants for a snack, so a larger, more mature plant will not look as appetizing.

Why would you choose to start seeds indoors instead of direct sowing? This is purely due to extending the garden season. Where I live, we'd be hard-pressed to get a tomato to grow, from seed, if we waited to plant it until the soil was warm enough.

Our growing season simply isn't long enough. Therefore, there are two vegetables that I always start inside and transplant outside in warm soil:

• Tomatoes – My growing season in the Pacific Northwest is too short for tomatoes to germinate outside. I start seeds indoors in March and move them outside after our last frost date has passed. Check out my 10 tomato-growing tips for added success!
• Peppers – I also start these inside, but this can vary somewhat depending on your growing zone. If your growing season is long enough to allow you to wait until the soil temperature reaches 70°F, you can start peppers outside. For us here in the Pacific Northwest, this is not possible. The weather can get cold too soon for them to reach maturity.