Cara Beth Graebner

By May, the garden has stopped being theoretical. The seed packets, soil test notes, and “I’ll get to that this weekend” plans have officially met real weather, real weeds, real bugs, and real hungry gardeners. This is the month when cool-season crops come off at their best, warm-season crops move in for the long haul, and the gardener’s job shifts from “getting ready” to “paying attention.” The May pages of the Tennessee Home Fruit and Vegetable Garden 2026 Calendar focus on warm-season...

April is one of those transition months that can make a gardener feel very productive very quickly. The cool-season crops you seeded or transplanted earlier should be filling in, some of the earliest leafy greens and root crops may be ready to harvest, and the garden starts to pivot toward warm-season planting. According to the Tennessee Home Fruit and Vegetable Garden Calendar, April is the month to wrap up site preparation, finish direct seeding and transplanting cool-season crops, begin...

March is the month when Tennessee gardens truly begin to awaken. While winter may still linger in cooler regions of the state, soil temperatures begin to rise, daylight stretches longer, and gardeners can shift from planning to purposeful action. As always, adapt timing to your local frost-free date and soil conditions, since Tennessee’s growing seasons vary by region. Below are research-based tasks drawn from the Tennessee Home Fruit and Vegetable Garden Calendar (W436) and UT Extension...