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Food growing · What to plant, where and when · food-28

Build a planting calendar for your climate

Turn the crop list into dates. In frost climates, the calendar hangs on your local last spring and first autumn frost dates; in hot climates on the cool and hot seasons; in the tropics on the wet and dry seasons.

How

  1. Find official frost dates. In the USA, NOAA publishes average last spring freeze dates from 1991 to 2020 climate normals; the average date is when the chance of a later freeze drops below 50%, so freezes after it still happen (NOAA Climate.gov). Elsewhere, use your national weather service or agriculture department.
  2. Choose a risk level. NC State Extension explains NCEI tables give 10%, 50% and 90% probability dates: plant at the 10% date for a cautious plan, the 50% date for a moderate one.
  3. In the UK, the RHS advises planting out tender crops once nights stay above 7 C, and above 10 C for tomatoes, peppers, basil and squash, and notes the last air frost is usually 2 to 4 weeks before that point. Harden off for 2 to 3 weeks first.
  4. Place crops by hardiness (Colorado State): hardy crops (cabbage family, onions, lettuce, peas, spinach) from 2 to 4 weeks before the last frost; semi-hardy (carrots, beets, potatoes, chard) from 0 to 2 weeks before; tender (beans, maize, cucumbers, summer squash) around the last frost; very tender (tomato, pepper, eggplant, melons, winter squash) 2 or more weeks after.
  5. Use a soil thermometer: Colorado State lists minimum soil temperatures from about 2 to 4 C (35 to 40 F) for lettuce and peas up to 16 C (60 F) for cucurbits and peppers.
  6. Hot arid climates: plan two main seasons, spring and autumn, as Arizona Extension does for the low desert. Grow heat-tolerant crops (okra, cowpea, sweet potato) in summer, and use 20 to 40% shade cloth for greens (University of Delaware). Expect tomato flowers to drop in long spells above 29 C (85 F) days or 22 C (72 F) nights (Alabama Extension).
  7. Tropical humid climates: follow a regional guide such as UF's, which plants many temperate vegetables in the cooler dry months. Plant cassava when about 2 months of soil moisture is expected (IITA) and bananas at the start of the rains if you have no irrigation (UF).
  8. Write one page by month showing sow, transplant and harvest windows for each crop, and link it to the succession plan (food-7) and the living module's routines.

Do these first

Sources

  1. Spring freeze: average date of last spring freeze (1991 to 2020 Normals). NOAA Climate.gov, accessed 2026-11
  2. Interpreting freeze/frost probabilities from the National Centers for Environmental Information. NC State Extension, accessed 2026-11
  3. When to plant out tender plants: avoiding late frosts. Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), accessed 2026-11
  4. Vegetable planting guide (cool and warm season crops). Colorado State University Extension, accessed 2026-11
  5. CMG GardenNotes #720: Vegetable planting guide (soil temperatures, spacing, days to maturity). Colorado State University Extension, accessed 2026-11
  6. Vegetable planting calendar for Maricopa County (AZ1005). University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, accessed 2026-11
  7. Shadecloth for Hot Season Vegetable and Fruit Production. University of Delaware Cooperative Extension (Weekly Crop Update), accessed 2026-11
  8. Blossom drop in tomato (ANR-2717). Alabama Cooperative Extension System, accessed 2026-11
  9. Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide (SP 103). University of Florida IFAS Extension, accessed 2026-11
  10. Growing cassava: a training manual from production to postharvest. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, CGIAR), accessed 2026-11
  11. Banana growing in the Florida home landscape (MG040). University of Florida IFAS Extension, accessed 2026-11

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