Regional guide

Upstate New York Frost-Window Vegetable Garden

Cornell planting-date guide for upstate New York vegetable planning using May 20 spring frost, October 1 fall frost, crop groups, and rotation families.

Climate signals

• Cornell says its planting date recommendations are for vegetables grown in upstate New York and are based on areas with last spring frost around May 20 and first fall frost around October 1.
• The table separates crops with cool/warm season labels and direct seed or transplant flags before listing planting windows.
• Cornell defines C = Best in cool weather and tolerates frost, C/W = Prefers cool weather and tolerates light frost while tolerating summer heat, and W = Best after last frost and prefers summer heat with No frost tolerance.
• The source says to rotate your plantings with different families, and it lists crop-family numbers for the table rows.

Planning notes

• Use Cornell's May 20 and October 1 frost basis for upstate New York areas that match the source scope, not as a whole-state calendar.
• For early and repeat cool-season rows, peas run April 1 to May 20, spinach runs April 1 to May 20 and August 1 to September 15, leaf lettuce runs April 10 to May 10 and July 30 to August 20, and radish runs April 10 to May 30 and August 1 to September 15.
• For warm-season rows, beans run May 10 to July 15, sweet corn runs May 25 to June 20, cucumber runs May 25 to July 5, tomato runs May 25 to June 20, pepper runs May 30 to June 20, eggplant runs June 1 to June 20, and watermelon runs June 5 to June 20.
• For root and shoulder-season rows, beets run April 25 to July 25, carrots run April 15 to July 25, parsnips run April 20 to June 15, turnips run April 25 to July 25, and rutabaga runs April 25 to June 25.
• For brassica and transplant-heavy rows, broccoli runs April 15 to May 15 and July 20 to August 10, Brussels sprouts run June 10 to June 30, cabbage runs May 1 to July 5, and cauliflower runs June 30 to July 20.
• Use these priority catalog links as crop-level examples for Cornell's upstate New York table rows, not as named-variety recommendations or commercial yield expectations.

Catalog crop examples

These catalog entries match crops covered by the regional timing source; variety-specific details remain tied to each seed entry's own source.

• Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
• Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
• Waltham 29 Broccoli Vegetable · Cool · 74 days
• Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts Vegetable · Cool · 100 days
• Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
• Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
• Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
• Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
• Tall Utah Celery Vegetable · Cool · 110 days
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
• Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
• Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Green Curled Endive Vegetable · Cool · 85 days
• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Evergreen Bunching Onion Vegetable · Shoulder · 65 days
• Hollow Crown Parsnip Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
• Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
• California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
• Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
• French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
• American Purple Top Rutabaga Vegetable · Cool · 90 days
• Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
• Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days

Related regional guides

• Long Island Vegetable Planting Guide A CCE Suffolk Long Island vegetable timing guide for outdoor seeding, indoor starts, transplant windows, wet-soil caution, and spacing caveats.
• New York City Area Vegetable Planting Guide Cornell Harvest NY guide for NYC-area spring, summer, and fall vegetable windows, soil dry-out timing, frost dates, and S/T crop rows.

Source: Cornell Vegetables planting dates for Upstate New York