Erie, PA · zone 6a · ~191 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Erie.
In Erie, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 26 and the first fall frost around Nov 3, giving you about 191 frost-free days. Cool-season crops go out before the last frost; warm-season crops wait until after it.
The 2026 windows
Sow dates for Erie, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Mar 22 to May 22 | May 3 to Jul 3 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Mar 19 to May 3 | Aug 20 to Oct 19 |
| Carrot | — | Mar 19 to Apr 21 | Aug 8 to Sep 3 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 26 to Jun 16 | Jul 20 to Aug 22 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | May 3 to Aug 2 | Jul 3 to Aug 3 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 31 to May 22 | May 12 to Jul 3 | — |
| Kale | Feb 5 to Mar 5 | Mar 19 to Apr 16 | Aug 3 to Sep 18 |
| Spinach | — | Mar 5 to Apr 16 | Aug 20 to Oct 8 |
Erie sits in Zone 6a, but two gardens in the same city can be a week or two apart. The planner works from your ZIP code's frost dates, not the zone, so the dates land right for your block, not the metro average.
Build your Erie garden plan.
Tell the free planner what you want to eat and who you're feeding. It returns plant counts, spacing, and frost-safe sow dates for ZIP 16501 in about 60 seconds.