21 Vegetable Seeds to Plant in March

Though rain, cold, and frost may still appear in March, cold-resistant vegetables prefer to grow from seed and establish during this month. Crops like carrots, beets, and spinach excel outside and grow best when you directly sow them in the ground. Others, like tomatoes and peppers, prefer growing indoors before moving outside.

My best recommendation is to sow plants you’ll enjoy eating. Why grow something if you won’t cook with it? Maybe you prefer the taste of spinach but dislike lettuce—try spinach, not lettuce! When you grow the plants you enjoy eating, you’ll be more likely to cultivate them year after year.

Broccoli

Broccoli sprouts large, bulging heads full of small green flower buds. The entire plant is edible; its leaves, stems, flowers, and seed pods work well in various recipes. Cook the leaves like Swiss chard or cut off the mature flower heads and saute them in a stir fry. The possibilities are endless! You can chop the stems and remove their outer skin for a fresh, crunchy snack.

Start broccoli indoors a month or six weeks before the last average frost date in your region. The seedlings thrive with bright light, consistent moisture, and regular airflow. Try growing a unique variety like ‘Burgundy’ for lush, purple flower buds instead of green ones. 

Cabbage

Cabbage is a close relative of broccoli; it’s in the same family, the mustard family Brassicaceae. It loves cool weather, forming tight, bulging heads of packed leaves. Home-grown heads make delicious sauerkraut, or fermented cabbage with salt.

Cabbage crops need a little more time than broccoli to mature indoors before they can harden off outdoors. Start seeds two months before your last frost, and transplant mature plants outdoors two to four weeks before the date. Cabbage also grows well as a fall crop in mild winter climates. 

Cauliflower

Cauliflower is another vegetable in the mustard family! It prefers cool weather like its relatives and excels when it grows in early spring or fall. It forms tight-packed bulging heads full of white buds. Though you used to have to tie the leaves onto the heads to blanch their heads (keep them white), new varieties like ‘Snowball Y’ are self-blanching! 

Sow cauliflower at the same time as broccoli, then transplant mature seedlings outdoors a week or two before frost disappears from your local forecast. The plants grow best with cool, frosty temperatures—they’ll bolt if they face excessive heat in spring or summer. 

Celery

Celery is cheap at the grocery store, though it’ll never taste like homegrown celery! Crops from your garden are tasty, sweet, and crunchy. Though celery needs some time to grow up, the wait is well worth it. 

Celery seeds are tiny! Surface sow them in pots, pressing them down and misting the soil surface. Place a humidity dome on top to help maintain consistent moisture, and remove the dome once the seeds germinate. 

Chives

Chives are like mild, perennial onions. You never have to dig them up! Simply watch the seeds germinate, let them grow, and plant the seedlings in your garden. They sprout small, cylindrical onion leaves and blossoms with lavender and white hues. Both the leaves and flowers are edible, adding a sweet, punchy flavor to soups, stews, and salads.

Sow chives four to six weeks before the last average frost date, when conditions are still frosty outdoors. Move the mature plants outside after the date, when days are lengthening and temperatures are warming.

Eggplant

Eggplants are one of the best veggies to start from seeds indoors. They need two months or more of warm temperatures and bright lights before they’re ready to grow outdoors. Like peppers and tomatoes, they’re warm-season vegetables that grow best in summer rather than spring. 

Start eggplants from seeds 10 to 12 weeks before the last frost in your area. You can safely move them outside a week or two after the date, once soil and night temperatures hover above 60°F (16°C). If you’re new to growing eggplants, try the easy sprouting cultivar ‘Rose Bianca.’ It performs well with little care or maintenance.

Green Onion

Green onions are like chives, though they’re biennials rather than perennials. These vegetable seeds are perfect for planting in March. Their onion-like leaves taste less sweet and more pungent than chives, making them an excellent choice for savory dishes that need garnishing. Snip the onion leaves over the dishes before serving them—you’ll add fresh, tasty greens to the meal. 

Onions prefer cool temperatures while they mature. Sow green onion seeds indoors eight to ten weeks before the final frost, and transplant the seedlings outside a month before your frost date. They’ll thrive with consistent moisture, cool weather, and full sun.

Leek

Leeks are close relatives of onions, though they’re more of a main star in recipes than onions are. You can make dishes like potato leek soup, a sauté, or braised leeks. No matter how you cook them, it’s important to grow a tasty, well-performing variety like ‘King Richard’ or ‘Otina.’ 

Sow leeks at the same time as green onions, about two months or more before frost disappears from your region. They’ll grow tall and strong indoors, though they’ll need hardening off before you can safely transplant them into the garden. 

Lettuce

Lettuce is one of my favorite plants to grow! It sprouts readily, grows indoors or outdoors, and loves cool weather. Try a mix with multiple varieties, or choose your favorite and grow it annually. There are many different lettuce types, like Romaine, iceberg, crisphead, butterhead, and leaf lettuce. Give yours at least a month from the time of the last frost to grow.

As summer warmth arrives, the lettuce heads tend to bolt; they grow vertical stalks that sprout flowers and seeds. The leaves are bitter after the plants bolt, but you can leave them in your garden if you’d like to save seeds. Seed saving is an excellent way to get free plants for next year!

Pepper

Peppers grow like eggplants, sprouting tall, vertical stems that support foliage, flowers, and fruits. They need a head start on the growing season because they’re warm-loving tropical crops. Both spicy and sweet peppers appreciate growing inside for two or three months before they’re ready for the outside.

Sow these popular vegetable seeds ten weeks before the last frost of your region—around March for many growers—and transplant ready specimens two weeks after the risk of frost has passed. This ensures your tender specimens avoid cold damage, which leads to bigger and better harvests later in the season. 

Sorrel

Fresh greens are lovely additions to the early spring garden! Sorrel is one of the best, as it resists frost and wet weather better than lettuce or spinach. These seeds thrive from March planting, yielding tasty vegetable greens rather quickly. Sorrel is also perennial, meaning it’ll sprout anew each spring in your garden. 

Though you can start sorrel indoors a month or more before the last frost, the seedlings often grow best when you directly sow them in beds or containers outside. The seeds germinate readily when soil temperatures fall between 68-86°F (20-30°C). 

Tomato

Every gardener should grow tomatoes! The versatile fruits work well in fresh, cooked, and prepared recipes. There’s nothing like slicing a fresh, heirloom tomato and eating it with salt and pepper. The flavor is unmatched! No grocery store tomato will ever taste like the ones you grow in your home garden.

Sow tomatoes at the same time as peppers, six to ten weeks before the final frost. Let them mature indoors under grow lights or bright sunlight, keeping their soil moist throughout the growing process. Transplant mature seedlings outdoors after the danger of frost has passed. 

Outdoor

Sowing vegetable seeds outdoors is a magical experience in March or any time of year! You plant seeds in the ground, cultivate the seedlings, and grow dozens of crops without any transplanting or hardening-off periods. Though some species need head starts on the growing season, these nine vegetables quickly mature amidst wind, rain, and cold temperatures. 

Arugula

Fresh greens are essential for salads. Arugula is one of the best-tasting leafy greens. It has a strong crunch and a slight peppery flavor. Use it in salads, or decorate charcuterie boards and sandwiches with it.

There are two types of arugula, perennial and annual. Perennial arugula has a strong, complex flavor and it sprouts anew in spring without the need for resowing. It survives year-round from USDA hardiness zones 5 through 9. Annual arugula requires resowing, though it has a softer, milder flavor than the perennial type.

Beet

Beets are root crops that must grow outside! They’re subject to root disturbance during transplanting if you sow them in pots, so it’s better to plant them in the ground and cultivate them in beds or containers. Beetroots need 10 to 12 inches of depth to grow well in pots, and they fare well in raised or in-ground beds.

Sow beets a half inch deep as soon as soil temperatures hover above 45°F (7°C), and thin the seedlings to ensure there’s one plant every four inches. Beets are ready to harvest when they grow one to three inches in diameter. If you like beets but hate the red color that stains your fingers, try a gold variety such as ‘Touchstone Gold’ or ‘Golden Boy.’

Bok Choy

Asian greens like bok choy are tasty, nutritious, and delicious! They offer a different flavor and texture than more common greens like spinach, lettuce, and arugula. Bok choy sprouts upright, spoon-shaped leaves on crunchy stems. They’re multi-purpose, working well in salads, soups, or sautés.

Sow bok choy seeds two to four weeks before frost dissipates from your area—around March or April for most zones—and make successive sowings of this cool-climate vegetable until the weather warms in early summer. This cool-season crop thrives with consistent moisture, full sun, and soil temperatures from 60-85°F (16 to 29°C). 

Carrot

Carrots, like beets, benefit from direct sowing because they’re root crops. Their crunchy, long taproots grow funky and misshapen if you transplant them into the garden from pots. Instead, plant them in loose, fertile soil without hard chunks or aggregates.

Most growers plant orange carrots, though there are many colors to choose from! Opt for a mix such as ‘Carnival Blend’ to try all the colors, or choose your favorite and plant those instead. Sow carrots a month before the last frost in your region, and make successive sowings every three weeks until early summer.

Mustard

Mustard is a pungent, tasty vegetable like bok choy. It has a flavor characteristic of mustard, though it also has hints of broccoli and cabbage. It’s a cold season leafy green that cooks well in prepared or fresh dishes.

Mustard excels when soil temperatures range between 40-75°F (4-24°C), from about a month to six weeks before frost is no longer abundant in your garden. Unlike most other spring crops, mustards grow well in spring and summer. Make successive sowings every two months for an endless supply of edible leaves until fall arrives. 

Pea

Peas aren’t root crops, though their roots are sensitive to disturbance. It’s best to sow them directly in the ground, planting them an inch deep. Peas are legumes—they grow edible seeds in pods, and their roots form partnerships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil. Wherever you plant peas, you’re boosting soil fertility by helping foster these bacteria. 

Peas excel when temperatures are low and moisture is abundant. Sow them a month before your final frost date in March or April. You may also sow them two to three months before your first frost for a tender fall crop. A good soak before planting speeds germination.

Spinach

Spinach is the ultimate leafy green! Tender, soft, and delicious, the leaves taste great whether cooking or eating them fresh. Like lettuce, spinach prefers growing during the cool months from March through May, though there are heat-tolerant types for warm regions, such as ‘New Zealand’ spinach.

Spinach roots are sensitive to disturbance; sow seeds a half inch deep in the ground, water thoroughly, and wait for them to germinate. Though the plants quickly mature, you can sow them every two to three weeks for an endless supply of spinach leaves. 

Swiss Chard

Swiss chard is exceptionally cold-hardy! It’s my favorite tender green because it needs little care or maintenance. Though its leaves aren’t great tasting fresh, they cook down well in prepared dishes and casseroles. Mix them with cream, top them with breadcrumbs, and bake them for a savory, fiber-rich treat. 

Sow Swiss chard a month or more before frost dissipates in your region, in February, March, and April. The plant is biennial, meaning it’ll grow leaves the first year and flowers and seeds the next. Harvest entire bunches at summer’s end, or let them overwinter and save the seeds for a free supply of chard for next year. 

Turnip

Turnips are tasty root vegetables, like carrots and beets. They sprout large roots with creamy flesh and purple-white skin, and they’re incredibly nutritious! Turnips swell and turn sweet with exposure to frost, making them ideal early spring or fall crops in cool climates. They thrive best in autumn and winter in warm zones.