The following is a seed starting schedule for the Dallas area from John Jeavons' outstanding book How to Grow More Vegetables.
This schedule assumes an average last frost date of March 21st. Note that this is an average date, and different sources claim an average frost date of anywhere from March 10th through April 8th for the Dallas / Forth Worth area.
Here is a link to a useful Interactive Map showing first and last frost dates.
If you are outside of Dallas, adjust the dates accordingly.
February 7th (6 weeks before last spring frost)
Start seedlings for:
broccoli
brussel sprouts
cabbage
cauliflower
celery
lettuce
parsley
tomatoes
February 14th (5 weeks before last spring frost)
Start seedlings:
carrots
beets
spinach
February 28th (3 weeks before last spring frost)
Start seedlings:
bush peas
March 7th (2 weeks before last spring frost)
Sprout: sweet potatoes
Start seedlings:
chard
dill
eggplant
green peppers
spinach
Transplant/plant outside:
beets
broccoli
brussel sprouts
bush peas
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
lettuce
onion sets
radishes
March 21st (last spring frost)
Start seedlings:
cantaloupe & melon
cucumbers
pumpkin
basil
zucchini
Transplant/plant: potatoes
April 4th (2 weeks after last spring frost)
Start seedlings:
bush green beans
bush lima beans
Transplant/plant:
chard
spinach
green beans - vining
April 11th (3 weeks after last spring frost)
Transplant/plant:
early corn
tomatoes
April 18th (4 weeks after last spring frost)
Transplant:
basil
bush green beans
bush lima beans
cucumbers
dill
pumpkin
zucchini
May 2nd (6 weeks after last spring frost)
Transplant:
cantaloupe & melon
celery
May 9th (7 weeks after last spring frost)
Transplant:
eggplant
green peppers
parsley
I personally like to plant some of these directly in the ground and save myself the trouble of starting seeds under grow lights in my garage. The items listed in blue above are the vegetables/fruits that I sow directly in the ground (bush green beans, bush lima beans, cucumbers, cantaloupe, corn). With my space limitations, I usually cannot get my warm weather vegetables in the ground right after the last frost date because I am still waiting on some of my spring vegetables. If you want to get an early jump on your warm weather vegetables, by all means get them started as seeds using this schedule.
For the items in red, I have planted these in the late fall and let them grow through the winter under hoop houses.
For some of these vegetables, I will plant succession sowings every 2 to 4 weeks (radishes, corn, climbing green beans, melon, water melon)
