Local coastal and urban sites can differ; use the dates as calendar defaults, not a frost guarantee.
Regional guide
Vermont Frost-Relative Vegetable Garden
UVM Extension Master Gardener Planting the Garden guide for Vermont vegetable timing by crop hardiness and frost-free-date spacing.
Regional timing
Current regional planting plan
UVM Extension Master Gardener Planting the Garden guide for Vermont vegetable timing by crop hardiness and frost-free-date spacing.
Source-backed timing
UVM Extension Master Gardener Planting the Garden
Vermont Frost
153 frost-free days
May 15 last frost
spring release
Oct 15 first frost
fall limit
- Planting the Garden groups vegetables by hardiness or ability to withstand frost and cold temperatures.
- Very hardy vegetables can be planted four to six weeks before the frost-free date; source examples include potato tubers, onion sets, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, collards, spinach, peas, lettuce, and turnips.
- Frost-tolerant vegetables can be planted two to three weeks before the frost-free date; source examples include cauliflower transplants, carrots, mustard, parsnip, beets, and radishes.
- Catalog priority
- 22 priority crops 22 catalog examples
- Climate checks
- 5 climate signals 7 planning notes
- Timing basis
- Using Rhode Island Calendar dates May 15 to Oct 15
Bloomsdale Spinach, Sugar Snap Pea, Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, Purple Top White Globe Turnip
Before seeding, prepare a smooth seedbed, avoid compacting seeded areas, follow seed packet depth directions, and use the general rule that seed depth is two to four times the seed diameter or largest width.
Calendar
Convert regional timing into dated sowing, transplant, and harvest jobs.
Frost dates
Keep hardiness zone context separate from local first and last frost dates.
All regions
Compare this guide with the broader regional atlas.
Maine Coast/North
A UMaine planting-window guide for central Maine dates, coastal and northern timing shifts, spring greens, warm transplants, and fall rows.
Climate signals
- Planting the Garden groups vegetables by hardiness or ability to withstand frost and cold temperatures.
- Very hardy vegetables can be planted four to six weeks before the frost-free date; source examples include potato tubers, onion sets, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, collards, spinach, peas, lettuce, and turnips.
- Frost-tolerant vegetables can be planted two to three weeks before the frost-free date; source examples include cauliflower transplants, carrots, mustard, parsnip, beets, and radishes.
- Tender vegetables can be planted on or after the frost-free date; source examples include beans, sweet corn, summer squash, and tomato transplants.
- Warm-loving vegetables can be planted one to two weeks after the frost-free date and need warm temperatures and warm soil; source examples include watermelon, cucumbers, pumpkins, cantaloupe, peppers, eggplant, and sweet potatoes.
Planning notes
- Harden off transplants for 7 to 10 days before planting outdoors by gradually increasing outdoor time in cooler temperatures and brighter light.
- Before seeding, prepare a smooth seedbed, avoid compacting seeded areas, follow seed packet depth directions, and use the general rule that seed depth is two to four times the seed diameter or largest width.
- Use floating row covers after planting cucurbit crops for cucumber beetle protection, and remove row covers after flowering begins for pollination.
- Carrots can be planted around the end of March or first of April where soil is loose, deeply worked, well-drained, and free of clods or rocks.
- Plant onion sets in April; this guide does not use onion-evergreen-bunching as a priority catalog link because the source is onion sets, not bunching onion seed.
- Sow radish, lettuce, spinach, beet, and turnip seed late in August for cooler fall weather.
- Use these priority catalog links as crop-level examples for UVM's hardiness groups, not UVM cultivar recommendations.
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.
- Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
- Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
- Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
- Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
- Georgia Southern Collards Vegetable · Cool · 65 days
- Waltham 29 Broccoli Vegetable · Cool · 74 days
- Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
- Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
- Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
- Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
- Hollow Crown Parsnip Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
- Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
- French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
- Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
- Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
- Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
- Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
- Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
- Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
- Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
- California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
- Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
Related regional guides
- Maine Coastal and Northern Vegetable Garden A UMaine planting-window guide for central Maine dates, coastal and northern timing shifts, spring greens, warm transplants, and fall rows.
- Central New Hampshire Memorial Day Vegetable Garden A UNH Extension guide for central New Hampshire's Memorial Day frost baseline, indoor starts, soil temperatures, and sequence plantings.
- Massachusetts Extension Planting Chart Vegetable Garden A UMass Extension planting-chart guide for Massachusetts crop groups, frost risk, direct/transplant markers, succession, and regional timing shifts.
- Connecticut Crop Planning Calendar Vegetable Garden UConn Extension crop planning calendar for Connecticut vegetable growers using frost-aware field timing, indoor starts, cover crops, and fall reset windows.
- Rhode Island Planting Calendar Vegetable Garden URI Cooperative Extension calendar for Rhode Island gardeners using May 15/October 15 frost dates, method legend, and crop-row timing.