Fairbanks, AK · zone 3a · ~101 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Fairbanks.
In Fairbanks, the typical last spring frost lands around May 17 and the first fall frost around Aug 26, giving you about 101 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 Fairbanks, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Apr 12 to Jun 12 | May 24 to Jul 24 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Apr 9 to May 24 | Jun 12 to Aug 11 |
| Carrot | — | Apr 9 to May 12 | May 31 to Jun 26 |
| Bush Bean | — | May 17 to Jul 7 | May 12 to Jun 14 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | May 24 to Aug 23 | Apr 25 to May 26 |
| Pepper, bell | Apr 21 to Jun 12 | Jun 2 to Jul 24 | — |
| Kale | Feb 26 to Mar 26 | Apr 9 to May 7 | May 26 to Jul 11 |
| Spinach | — | Mar 26 to May 7 | Jun 12 to Jul 31 |
Fairbanks sits in Zone 3a, 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 Fairbanks 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 99701 in about 60 seconds.