This is a practical, week-by-week gardening calendar created specifically for our own home garden in Stockholm, Sweden, in a cool-temperate climate with a last expected frost around April 30. The calendar shows when we need to start different gardening activities in the coming the year — from indoor seed starting and outdoor sowing to transplanting, and harvesting. It is designed as a realistic planning tool for us as we want guidance that reflects the real conditions that we see in our cold-climate garden.
| Week | Crop – Activity |
|---|---|
| W9 (late Feb) | Celery – Indoor Seeding |
| W10 (early March) | Tomatoes – Indoor Seeding Stevia – Indoor Seeding |
| W12 (late March) | Kale – Indoor Seeding Basil – Indoor Seeding |
| W13 (late March) | Potatoes (Early) – Sprouting Potatoes (Early) – Test soil 5.0–5.5 Composting Mulching |
| W14 (early April) | Spinach – Outdoor Seeding |
| W15 (mid April) | Potatoes (Late) – Sprouting Potatoes (Late) – Test soil 5.0–5.5 Lettuce – Outdoor Seeding Radishes – Outdoor Seeding |
| W16 (mid–late April) | Carrots – Outdoor Seeding Parsnips – Outdoor Seeding Beetroot – Outdoor Seeding Mangold – Outdoor Seeding |
| W17 (late April) | Potatoes (Early) – Transplanting Kale – Transplanting |
| W18 (late April) | Sweetcorn – Indoor Seeding Pak choi – Outdoor Seeding Coriander – Outdoor Seeding |
| W19 (early May) | Squash – Indoor Seeding Potatoes (Late) – Transplanting Spinach – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) Spring onions – Outdoor Seeding |
| W21 (late May) | Beans – Outdoor Seeding |
| W22 (early June) | Celery – Transplanting Tomatoes – Transplanting Basil – Transplanting Stevia – Transplanting Lettuce – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) Radishes – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) |
| W23 (early June) | Sweetcorn – Transplanting Squash – Transplanting Beetroot – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) Carrots – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) Composting Mulching |
| W25 (late June) | Beans – Flowering/Fruiting |
| W27 (early July) | Kale – Harvesting Spring onions – Harvesting Basil – Harvesting Thyme – Harvesting Oregano – Harvesting Rosemary – Harvesting |
| W28 (mid July) | Garlic – Harvesting Potatoes (Early) – Harvesting |
| W30 (late July) | Beetroot – Harvesting Carrots – Harvesting |
| W32 (early August) | Sweetcorn – Flowering/Fruiting Tomatoes – Flowering/Fruiting Squash – Flowering/Fruiting Lettuce – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) Spinach – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) Pak choi – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) Coriander – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) Mangold – Outdoor Seeding (successive sowing) |
| W34 (late August) | Strawberries – Harvesting Raspberries – Harvesting White currants – Harvesting Blackcurrants – Harvesting Gooseberries – Harvesting |
| W36 (early September) | Mangold – Harvesting Parsnips – Harvesting Spinach – Harvesting Coriander – Harvesting Celery – Harvesting |
| W37 (mid September) | Tomatoes – Harvesting Sweetcorn – Harvesting Apples – Harvesting Cherries – Harvesting Rhubarb – Harvesting Pak choi – Harvesting Stevia – Harvesting |
| W38 (late September) | Lettuce – Harvesting Potatoes (Late) – Harvesting |
| W40 (early October) | Composting Mulching |
| W43 (late October) | Garlic – Outdoor Seeding |
How this calendar was created
- Climate-first approach: All timings are anchored to Stockholm conditions, not generic “northern Europe” averages.
- Frost-aware logic: Outdoor planting respects a last expected frost date of April 30.
- Biological realism: Indoor seeding windows account for crop-specific growth rates (e.g. celery and tomatoes need long lead times).
- Succession sowing: Crops well-suited to repeated sowing (such as lettuce, spinach, radishes, pak choi, and coriander) are shown more than once, with later sowings clearly marked.
- First-week principle: Only the first week of any continuous activity window is shown, to keep the calendar readable.
- Real garden focus: This calendar reflects how we actually garden at home — including composting, mulching, and soil testing — not just seed packets.
The calendar will likely evolve as the season unfolds, weather patterns change, and we learn more from the garden itself. This is a living reference rather than a rigid schedule.