You can grow vegetables in Melbourne every month of the year. The climate is cool temperate maritime (Köppen Cfb) - mild, wet winters and warm dry summers, with the last frost typically in early September and the first frost in mid-May. The trick to year-round harvests is matching the crop to the season: warm crops (tomato, capsicum, basil) from October to April; cool crops (broccoli, peas, leeks, garlic) from March to September; salad greens, silverbeet and herbs continuously, with shading or shelter at the extremes.
Once you understand Melbourne's rhythm you'll never have an empty bed.
Melbourne's climate in a sentence
Melbourne gets four real seasons but they don't arrive on time. October days can be 32 °C or 12 °C. April is famously gentle but a freak frost is possible. The wettest months are October and November; the driest are January and February. Annual rainfall is around 650 mm - enough that you can usually skip a watering after a wet weekend.
The frost calendar matters more than the temperature calendar:
- Last frost: late August in coastal suburbs, mid-September in the outer east and hills
- First frost: mid-May to early June in low-lying suburbs, earlier in the hills
- Frost-free window: roughly 220 days for inner Melbourne - long enough for any standard summer crop
Summer (December–February): warmth and water
What's growing: tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant, cucumber, zucchini, beans, basil, sweetcorn, pumpkin.
What to plant:
- Early December: late tomatoes, cucumbers, beans (second succession), basil
- January: quick crops - beans, lettuce in afternoon shade, beetroot, spring onions
- February: start your autumn brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage) and leeks from seed in punnets
Tasks: mulch heavily (5 cm of sugarcane straw) to keep roots cool, water deeply twice a week, harvest tomatoes daily once they start ripening. February is the most underrated planting month - what you plant now feeds you all winter.
Autumn (March–May): the second spring
Melbourne's autumn is the easiest growing season. Soil is still warm, evenings cool down, and rain is reliable. Pests collapse, weeds slow.
What to plant:
- March: brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, bok choy), spinach, silverbeet, peas, broad beans, lettuce, coriander, parsley, leeks, spring onions
- April: garlic (mid–late April for the best heads at Christmas), more broad beans, hardy lettuce, rocket, mustard greens
- May: the last sensible planting for broad beans, peas and onions; cover crops (lupin, oats) for empty beds
Tasks: rip out tomato, capsicum and bean plants once they slow. Compost the foliage if disease-free. Sow a cover crop in any bed you won't replant for six weeks.
Winter (June–August): slow but productive
Melbourne winters are mild enough that broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, silverbeet, spinach, lettuce, rocket, coriander, parsley, leeks, garlic, peas and broad beans all happily sit through them. They grow slowly, but they grow.
What to plant:
- June: broad beans, peas, garlic (last call), hardy lettuce, Asian greens
- July: onions from seed, more broad beans, garlic
- August: start tomato, capsicum and eggplant seed under cover (windowsill or seed heat mat)
Tasks: harvest broccoli side-shoots after the main head, cut silverbeet leaves from the outside, watch for snails after rain. Beds with a hardy mulch (pea straw) keep producing salad leaves through the coldest weeks.