It’s the second week of May and all this warm weather can make anyone who plants crops anxious to get out there and get the seeds in the ground.

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Everything you plant is going to have different ranges of ideal planting times. These can be based on frost and moon dates. The Old Farmer’s Almanac looks at these when giving its recommendations for planting in Waterloo.

Springtime has a lot of different planting options here in Iowa- from herbs to fruit to vegetables. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, here is when you can still seed outdoors:

Photo by Rasa Kasparaviciene on Unsplash
Photo by Rasa Kasparaviciene on Unsplash
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Herbs

  • Cilantro
    • Based on frost dates: May 2-16
    • Based on moon dates: May 2-16
  • Dill
    • Based on frost dates: May 2-June 6
    • Based on moon dates: May 2-15, May 30-June 6
Photo by Bob Bowie on Unsplash
Photo by Bob Bowie on Unsplash
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Vegetables

  • Green Beans
    • Based on frost dates: May 9-30
    • Based on moon dates: May 9-15, May 30
  • Potato
    • Based on frost dates: April 25-May 16
    • Based on moon dates: April 25-29, May 16
  • Sweet Potato
    • Based on frost dates: May 23-June 6
    • Based on moon dates: May 23-29
Photo by Wouter Supardi Salari on Unsplash
Photo by Wouter Supardi Salari on Unsplash
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Fruit

  • Corn
    • Based on frost dates: May 16-6
    • Based on moon dates: May 30-June 6
  • Okra
    • Based on frost dates: May 16-30
    • Based on moon dates: May 30

Planting by the moon is a traditional technique that is determined based on moon phases and local frost dates. The average last spring frost occurs on May 2nd.

The Old Farmers Almanac lists more crops and dates; however, we did not include past dates.  It also gives dates on seeding indoors and when you should transfer them outdoors which you can find here.

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