Harrisburg, PA · zone 7a · ~195 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Harrisburg.
In Harrisburg, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 13 and the first fall frost around Oct 25, giving you about 195 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 Harrisburg, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Mar 9 to May 9 | Apr 20 to Jun 20 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Mar 6 to Apr 20 | Aug 11 to Oct 10 |
| Carrot | — | Mar 6 to Apr 8 | Jul 30 to Aug 25 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 13 to Jun 3 | Jul 11 to Aug 13 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 20 to Jul 20 | Jun 24 to Jul 25 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 18 to May 9 | Apr 29 to Jun 20 | — |
| Kale | Jan 23 to Feb 20 | Mar 6 to Apr 3 | Jul 25 to Sep 9 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 20 to Apr 3 | Aug 11 to Sep 29 |
Harrisburg sits in Zone 7a, 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 Harrisburg 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 17101 in about 60 seconds.