Direct Sow These Herbs & Veggies for Best Results

By far, the simplest and least expensive way to plant is to sow some seeds in your raised beds. Just open a package of seeds, put them in the soil, and watch the magic happen. There is little risk involved (the worst thing that can happen is your seeds don't sprout and you're out a couple bucks), and the potential for success is huge.

The soil in your raised bed is actually the ideal place to germinate seeds. It holds onto a bit of moisture but drains excess water, plus it warms up much faster than the soil in the ground. That means you can plant sooner in the spring, which is always a bonus. And of course, your raised beds have instant access to the best possible grow light: the sun.

Let's look at the 15 best herbs, leafy greens, root crops, and fruiting plants to grow from seed right in your raised beds.

The Best Plants to Direct Sow

Planting these 15 veggies right where they'll grow will overall produce healthier, more robust plants that are more likely to thrive in your garden and give you tons of delicious harvests.

• Arugula
• Basil
• Beans
• Beets
• Carrots
• Cilantro
• Cucumbers
• Dill
• Lettuce
• Mizuna
• Okra
• Peas
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Squash & zucchini

The Best Leafy Greens to Grow from Seed in Raised Beds

Small leafy greens like arugula and lettuce are a case study for when it's best to buy a packet of like 200 seeds for $4 instead of a couple little starter plants. Salad plants that are direct sown in the garden will quickly catch up to plants that have been moved. They're also likely to stick around a little bit more before they go to seed.

Let's look at the easiest leafy greens to direct seed in the garden. You'll be taking your first leaf harvest in just 30 days.

Arugula Is Literally One of the Easiest Plants to Grow From Seed

Arugula grows quickly from seed, and once it's up and at 'em, it'll produce leaf after peppery leaf for you. You can harvest a ton from each little plant.

Arugula Planting Tips:

You can begin sowing arugula seeds as early as 30 days before your last frost date. Keep sowing arugula seeds every couple of weeks for a continuous leaf harvest. Pause in the summer if your temperatures are going to regularly be in the 90s or up. Sow seeds all the way up until about 4 to 6 weeks before your first expected frost in the fall.

If you're using my intensive planting method, you can plant as many as 9 to 16 plants per square foot. The closer together you plant arugula, the more frequently you'll need to harvest those outer leaves. Arugula seeds are tiny, so you can always just scatter them over the soil and then rake them in to make sure they have good soil contact. Take care not to bury these seeds too deep.

Find more tips for growing arugula in your raised garden beds.

Lettuce Is an Easy Plant to Grow from Seed in a Raised Bed

Lettuce is another super easy leafy green to grow from seed. I mean, the first time I ever grew lettuce, I just let my toddler sprinkle seeds over our raised bed, and we were harvesting salads for months!

One of the best things about growing your own lettuce is the variety of seeds available. I love buttercrunch, black seeded Simpson, red sails, and spring mix.

Lettuce Planting Tips:

Lettuce plants are more particular about their temperature than arugula, so look for a period when your temps will mostly be between 55°F and 75°F.

Like arugula seeds, lettuce seeds are itty bitty, so you can scatter them between your fingers or use a clean spice shaker or condiment bottle to help you control the flow of seeds.

The trickiest part about growing lettuce from seed is just keeping the soil consistently moist for germination. Lettuce seeds can easily dry out and then never sprout.

Learn more tips and tricks to sow lettuce seeds.

Mizuna Is a Fun Vegetable to Add to Your Raised Bed Rotation

The beautiful feathered leaves of mizuna can add some interest to you garden bed and your salad bowl. Mizuna is a Japanese mustard green with a tangy, slightly peppery flavor.

Mizuna Planting Tips:

You can sow mizuna seeds in your garden as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. Mizuna is slow to bolt in hot weather, but the leaves are tastiest when it's nice and cool. Use shade cloth to extend your growing season once the temps rise.

I recommend sowing your seeds about 2 to 3 inches apart in staggered rows. I like to plant mizuna right up on the edge of my raised beds.

Learn how to grow this super easy leafy green.

Spinach Grows Really Well in Raised Beds

Spinach is a must-grow in the cool season, and it's such a great leaf producer. You should be able to harvest extra leaves each week to freeze for times when spinach won't grow outside. With just a couple rows of spinach in your raised bed, you could very well grow your own year-round supply of spinach!

My favorite variety of spinach to grow is Bloomsdale Long Standing. The glossy leaves are considered "curly" and so tender and delicious.

Spinach Planting Tips:

You can start sowing spinach seeds as soon as your soil is workable. A little frost makes your spinach leaves even sweeter, but heat does not have a similarly positive effect. Once the weather warms up above 75°F or so, you'll need to pause your spinach production and switch to more heat-tolerant greens.

Plant spinach seeds 1 to 2 inches apart in staggered rows. This is tight spacing, but it works if you commit to harvesting those outer leaves every week. I recommend having a planting ruler to help with these small seeds. You can actually soak spinach seeds for a bit immediately before planting to make them a little easier to handle.

Find more details on growing your own spinach from seed.

What About Swiss Chard & Kale?

Swiss chard and kale are larger leafy greens that take a bit longer to reach maturity than arugula, spinach, and the like. I recommend starting these by seed indoors about 6 to 8 weeks ahead of time so you can get a head start on their growing season. Or you can buy little starts from your local nursery. Swiss chard and kale can last a long time in your garden, so it's worth the investment.

The Best Herbs to Grow from Seed in Raised Beds

Annual herbs grow quickly from seed in raised beds and are ready to harvest in about 45 days. Two of my favorite annual herbs, cilantro and dill, have little taproots that don't like being disturbed, so these plants really do best when direct sown right in the garden. They'll grow quicker and stick around a little longer before bolting, or going to seed.

Basil Is an Easy Herb to Grow from Seed

Basil is way easier than most other herbs in the Lamiaceae family to grow from seed. You can grow basil just about anywhere, but it thrives in raised beds. These plants grow so prolifically you'll soon find yourself with more basil leaves than you need. If you let your plants flower and drop seeds, you'll get free basil plants next year!

Basil is a wonderful example of how growing your own from seed means you have way more options than if you only bought your plants from the nursery. There are hundreds of different varieties you can try.

Basil Planting Tips:

Wait 1 to 2 weeks after your last frost date to sow basil seeds in your raised beds. Basil seeds are teeny tiny, so the hardest part about sowing them is just separating them out. I recommend taking your gardening gloves off and spreading some seeds in the palm of your hand. Wet the tip of your index finger and use it to pick up one seed at a time.

Once you're done placing the seeds, press them gently into the soil. These seeds are so tiny they don't need to be buried. They just need good soil contact to sprout.

Check out our full guide to growing basil.

Cilantro Is Easy to Grow from Seed When the Temps Are Right

Cilantro can be a little tricky to grow. The key is really just to focus on the temperature. This herb loves when it's in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Any warmer than that, and it'll start producing flowers and lose its characteristic flavor. That means most of us will do best growing cilantro during the spring and fall, not summer.

Cilantro Planting Tips:

Start sowing cilantro seeds a few weeks before your last frost date. These seeds are relatively large (they're the same thing as the coriander spice you might use in your kitchen) and easy to handle, so take some time to space them every 6 inches apart. Come back every two weeks and sow more cilantro seeds so you'll have a more steady supply of leaves.

If the weather begins to warm, use shade cloth to keep your soil nice and coil. That's how you buy yourself more cilantro growing time.

Learn more tips to grow cilantro from seed.

Dill Is Simple to Grow from Seed in Raised Beds

Dill plants are pretty low-maintenance and grow quickly. Like cilantro, dill prefers temps between 45 and 75°F, so most of us will do best growing dill in the spring and fall. When the weather warms, dill will produce pretty yellow flowers that will attract tons of pollinators. If you let these flowers go all the way to seed, you'll end up with dill again next year.

Dill Planting Tips:

Begin sowing dill seeds in your raised beds as soon as your soil can be worked in the spring. Wait until the weather is cooling off to plant again in the fall.

Dill can grow quite tall, so be mindful where you're planting it. Don't let it shade something that requires as much sunlight as possible. Because dill grows more up than out, you can sow as many as 6 to 9 dill plants per square foot. (This spacing assumes you'll be harvesting those feathery leaves frequently.)

Learn more about growing dill from seed.

What About Perennial Herbs Like Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme?

Herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, and tarragon can take a fairly long time to grow from seed. If you see an herb plant at the store that looks healthy, it might be worth it to bring that little guy home so that you can snip your first leaves that very day. Otherwise, I recommend starting these herbs indoors a good 10 to 12 weeks before your last frost date.

The Best Roots to Grow from Seed in Raised Beds

As a general rule, you should direct sow all your root vegetables. Transplanting something often leads to root disturbances, no matter how careful you are, and the root, in this case, just so happens to be the very part we want to eat.

For root crops like beets, carrots, and radishes, you'll start by making sure the soil in your raised beds is nice and loose about 6 to 12 inches down. Sow the seeds right where you want them to grow, paying careful attention to your seed spacing. Then, you'll come back in a couple of weeks and thin your plants to ensure each and every root has as much room as it needs to swell underground.

Beets Do Best When Grown from Seed in Raised Beds

Beets are one of my favorite cool season crops. Plant your beets when you're expecting a two- to three-month period with temps between 45 and 85°F. Since beet greens don't grow all that tall, make sure you're growing beets in a spot that's not shaded by taller plants.

Beet Planting Tips:

Sow beet seeds as soon as you soil is workable in the spring. These plants can sprout and grow just fine with some late-season frosts.

In the fall, wait until your temps cool off to sow more seeds. I typically start sowing beets about 6 to 8 weeks before my first frost date. If I'm expecting anything more than a light freeze while my beets are still finishing up, I can just cover them with frost cloth.

Beets are slow to germinate, so I recommend soaking your seeds in water overnight before planting them.

Once your seeds have sprouted, you may notice that you have a couple little seedlings growing in each spot you placed a seed. That's because beet seeds are what we call multigerm—two to three seeds for the price of one! You'll need to thin the extra seedlings so the ones you keep have plenty of room to grow.

Learn more about growing beets from seed.

Carrots Need to Be Direct Sown in Your Vegetable Garden

Like beets, carrots grow best when the temperatures range from 45 to 75°F, but they can also handle a little frost. Also like with beets, make sure you're planting carrots somewhere they'll receive at least 6 hours of sun.

Carrot Planting Tips:

I like to use a seed spacing ruler to help me sow carrot seeds, but you can also use your fingers. Think about the size you'd like your carrots to be when you're considering spacing. For small, crisp carrots, I'd do two fingers apart. If you want to juice your carrots, I'd do three fingers.

The one hard thing about growing carrots from seed is that they take a while to germinate. You'll have to make sure your planting area stays moist for the 2- to 3-week period you're waiting to see little carrot sprouts.

Find more tips to grow carrots from seed.

Radishes Are So Easy to Plant in Raised Beds

Radishes are the easiest of the root crops to plant and grow. They're also the fastest. Like beets and carrots, radishes love cool weather.

If you're planting radishes for the first time, I highly recommend growing French breakfast radishes. They're my favorite, and they grow from seed to harvest in just 30 days, so you can plant several rounds of them.

Plant your radishes somewhere they won't be shaded by other plants. Radish greens really don't grow all that tall, so I like to plant them near the edge of my raised beds.

Radish Planting Tips:

Make sure you don't bury radish seeds too deep. They're very small seeds, so I typically just use the edge of my planting ruler to press them into the soil rather than cover them with dirt.

Learn the steps to grow radishes from seed.

The Best Fruiting Plants to Grow from Seed in Raised Beds

Normally, large fruiting plants that take a long time to grow (60 to 75 days or more) are ideal candidates for seed starting indoors. Some of these fruiting plants, however, don't like being moved. Beans, peas, cucumbers, okra, squash, and zucchini should be direct sown when possible.

Peas Grow So Well in Raised Beds

Like root crops, peas grow best during the cool season. They thrive when temperatures are between 45 and 75°F. Peas are super easy to grow and don't take up too much space in your garden.

You can choose between bush peas (like sugar daddy peas) and pole peas (like snow peas and, my favorite, sugar snap peas). Pole peas will need a trellis to climb.

Make sure to pick a spot that will get good sunlight, even as the days grow shorter.

Pea Planting Tips:

Soak your peas overnight just before planting them to speed up germination. Use a dibber or your finger to dig a shallow trench in the planting area. Place your pea seeds in the trench every 3 to 4 fingers apart.

Find more tips to sow pea seeds.

Beans Should Be Direct Sown

We've left our cool season crops behind. Beans like warm weather and should be planted after your last frost date.

There are two different types of beans you can grow. Bush beans produce in just 50 to 60 days and don't take up a lot of space. I like to pop a bush bean seed anywhere I see an empty spot in my raised beds. Pole beans take a bit longer to grow but will produce a more continuous crop as long as the weather stays warm. You'll need to grow pole beans next to a support structure so they can climb.

Bean Planting Tips:

Bean seeds have a pretty thick outer coat, so soak them in water overnight to speed up germination. Plant the softened seeds asap after soaking.

Bean seeds are nice and large, which makes them easy to handle. I usually dig a little trench about 1 inch deep and then place a bean seed every hand's width apart. Cover loosely with soil once you've placed all the seeds.

Learn more about growing your own beans.

Cucumbers Don't Transplant Well

Planting your cucumber seeds right where they'll grow is the best way to grow cucumbers. These plants have pretty shallow little roots that don't handle being transplanted well.

Cucumbers are fast-growing vining plants, so make sure you've got a strong trellis installed in your raised bed, ready to support them.

Cucumber Planting Tips:

Make each planting hole about 1/2 inch deep and spaced 4 to 6 inches apart. I recommend ignoring the recommendation on the back of the seed packet to plant several cucumber seeds per hole. If your seeds are fresh and from a reliable source, almost all your seeds will germinate. There's really no need to put more than one seed per hole.

Read up on how to grow cucumbers from seed.

Squash & Zucchini Grow Well in Raised Beds

These veggies grow best in nice, warm weather and should produce in about 55 days. Even though summer squash really spreads out side to side, I still like to grow it in my raised beds. The trick to not letting these large plants take over too much real estate is to grow them right on the edge and prune the outer, lower leaves frequently.

Squash & Zucchini Planting Tips:

These seeds are easy to handle and should be sown about 1/2 inch to 1 inch deep. Space your seeds 18 inches apart.

Learn more tips to grow squash and zucchini from seed.

Okra Germinates Really Well in Warm Soil

Okra grows best over long, hot summers. Wait a couple weeks after your last frost date to direct sow okra seeds in your garden.

While I love growing okra in a raised bed, keep in mind that these plants can grow upwards of 6 feet tall. You may need a ladder to harvest pods from the top of the plant.

Okra Planting Tips:

Before planting okra, check the back of the seed packet to see if it recommends soaking the seeds for 24 hours immediately before planting. Okra seeds are large and easy to handle, and they sprout quickly in warm soil. Space your okra seeds about 18 inches apart in raised beds.

Learn more about growing okra.

What About Peppers, Tomatoes, & Eggplant?

Most people don't experience a long-enough warm growing season to give lengthy plants like peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants the full time in the garden they need to grow from seed to fruit harvest. Ideally, you'll get well-grown seedlings in the ground the moment you pass your final threat of frost in the spring. It's worth it to buy healthy starts from the store so that you can maximize the time these guys spend under the warm sun ripening fruit for you.

Tips to Sow Seeds in Raised Beds

Follow these tips to get the most out of every seed you plant.

One: Check Your Frost Dates

Before you plant anything, doublecheck whether it can handle some frost. If it's frost intolerant (as pretty much every single warm season plant is), make sure you wait until your last frost date has passed in the spring. In the fall, count backwards so that you know whether your plant has enough time to grow from seed and produce before your first anticipated frost arrives.

Two: Add Compost Beforehand

Refresh your soil by adding a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost before sowing seeds. Not only will this compost give your baby plants all the nutrients they need as they're just starting out, it'll also retain more moisture than your topsoil.

Three: Pay Attention to Seed Depth

Pay attention to the planting depth on the back of your seed packet. As a general rule, seeds should only be planted about twice as deep as they are wide. If you push a seed too deep into the soil, it'll struggle to reach the surface and may never recover.

Four: Water Daily for the Next 2 Weeks

The first two weeks after you sow your seeds are critical. Each seed needs to swell with water in order to burst open and start growing. If the soil dries up before the little sprouts make it to the soil surface, then these plants are most likely done before they've ever really begun.

Five: Succession Plant

For a more continuous harvest of short-lived annual plants like cilantro and root crops like carrots, come back and sow more seeds every couple of weeks. Just as one batch is finishing up, you'll have another one ready to go.

Time to Sow Some Seeds!

Every time I plant a seed, even after all these years of gardening, I'm still amazed that so much can come from something so small. Each seed is the potential for leaves for your salad bowl, roots for your dinner, or fruits to pluck right off the vine and pop into your mouth.

Go outside and sow some seeds in the soil. See just how much life you can fill your garden with from a couple of packets.