What Seeds to Grow This Spring: A Heirloom Gardener's Guide
Spring is one of the best times of year to get seeds in the ground. The days are lengthening, the soil is warming, and after a slow, coldish winter, gardens are ready to burst back to life. If you're new to growing your own food, here's what to plant and how to set yourself up for a productive spring garden.
Why Grow from Heirloom Seed?
Before getting into what to plant, its worth understanding why heirloom seeds are worth seeking out in the first place. Heirloom seeds are traditional, non-hybrid varieties that have been passed down through generations, grown, saved, and re-sown by home gardeners for decades. Because they're open-pollinated and non-GMO, they grow true to type, which means you can save seed from your own harvest and replant it the following year. It's a simple way to build a more self-sufficient garden over time, rather than buying new seed every season.
Warm-Season Vegetables: Spring's Main Event
Vegetables generally fall into two broad camps: cool-season crops (sown in late summer through autumn) and warm-season crops, which need real warmth to germinate and thrive and go into the ground from spring, once the risk of frost has passed and soil temperatures climb.
Spring is warm-season planting time, and there's a wide range of productive, garden-proven varieties worth considering for raised beds, backyard veggie patches, or pots:
- Beans - Needs a trellis, teepee, or stakes at least 1.8–2m tall. Space plants 10–15cm apart along the support.
- Beetroot - Needs loose, stone-free soil at least 20–30cm deep so the roots aren't restricted. Thin seedlings to about 10cm apart.
- Capsicum - Needs a stake or small cage around 60–90cm tall once fruit starts forming, as loaded branches can snap. Space plants 40–50cm apart.
- Carrot - Needs deep 25–30cm+, loose, rock-free soil so roots grow straight rather than forking. Thin to 5cm apart.
- Cucumber - Needs a trellis or A-frame around 1.5–2m tall, which keeps fruit off the ground and improves airflow. Can also sprawl along the ground if you have the space (allow 60–90cm per plant.
- Eggplant - Needs a stake around 60–100cm once fruit sets, as the weight can bend or snap stems. Space plants 45–60cm apart.
- Pumpkin - Is a sprawling vine that needs room, 2–3m of space per plant (or grow it up a very sturdy trellis if space is tight, supporting heavy fruit with slings as they grow.
- Radish - Shallow-rooted and fast-growing. Thin to about 5cm apart.
- Silverbeet - Needs consistent moisture and about 30cm between plants as it grows into a fairly wide clump.
- Sweet corn - Needs to be planted in blocks (minimum 4x4 plants) rather than a single row, spaced 20–30cm apart, so pollen reliably reaches neighbouring plants.
- Tomato - Needs a stake, cage, or trellis, generally 1–2m tall depending on variety. Tie stems loosely as they grow. Space plants 40–60cm apart. Cherry varieties are especially forgiving for beginners.
- Watermelon - It's a sprawling vine needing 2–3m of space per plant, similar to pumpkin. Not usually trellised due to fruit weight.
- Zucchini - It grows as a bush rather than a vine but needs generous space about 60–90cm per plant for its large leaves to spread.
Longer daylight hours and rising temperatures create ideal growing conditions for all of the above, which is why spring and early summer tend to be the most productive stretch of the gardening calendar for warm-season crops.
Germinating Seeds Indoors is an Option
If you're starting seeds indoors or in a greenhouse, a good rule of thumb is to begin around four weeks before your last expected frost. Once seedlings have about six weeks of growth under their belt, they're generally ready to be transplanted outdoors. It pays to harden them off first, spend about a week letting seedlings gradually adjust to outdoor conditions, building up from an hour a day outside to around five hours, before transplanting them permanently. This helps prevent transplant shock and gives young plants a much better start.
Getting the Basics Right
A productive spring garden doesn't require fancy equipment, what matters more is choosing a spot with plenty of sunlight throughout the day, healthy soil, and easy access to water. If you're unsure how a specific vegetable is tracking, it's worth knowing that the symptoms of underwatering and overwatering can look surprisingly similar, since waterlogged soil cuts off oxygen to the roots, so check before assuming a wilting plant simply needs more water.
A Note on Seed Freshness
If you've got seed sitting in a drawer from a previous season, don't assume it's dead. Germination rates naturally decline over time, and for best results seed is generally worth planting within two years of purchase. That said, when stored long-term in a cool, dry place, many varieties can still germinate a decade or more later, just at lower rates. Even a handful of successful seedlings is often enough to grow on, save fresh seed from, and keep your own seed supply going for years to come.
Getting Started
Whether you're planting a single pot of cherry tomatoes on a balcony or filling out a full backyard patch, choosing well-suited heirloom varieties and getting your timing right for your region are the two things that will make the biggest difference to your results.
Information on Australian growing conditions and heirloom seed varieties sourced from Survival Seeds Australia, a Toowoomba-based, family-run supplier of Australian heirloom and non-GMO seeds.
Buy Australian Heirloom Seeds
A full collection of Survival Seeds Australia seeds is available to purchase from Go Eco Store at this link: Heirloom Seeds
