Modesto, CA · zone 9b · ~308 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Modesto.
In Modesto, the typical last spring frost lands around Jan 31 and the first fall frost around Dec 5, giving you about 308 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 Modesto, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Dec 27 to Feb 26 | Feb 7 to Apr 9 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Jan 1 to Feb 7 | Sep 21 to Nov 20 |
| Carrot | — | Jan 1 to Jan 26 | Sep 9 to Oct 5 |
| Bush Bean | — | Jan 31 to Mar 23 | Aug 21 to Sep 23 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Feb 7 to May 9 | Aug 4 to Sep 4 |
| Pepper, bell | Jan 5 to Feb 26 | Feb 16 to Apr 9 | — |
| Kale | Nov 20 to Dec 10 | Jan 1 to Jan 21 | Sep 4 to Oct 20 |
| Spinach | — | Jan 1 to Jan 21 | Sep 21 to Nov 9 |
Modesto sits in Zone 9b, 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 Modesto 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 95354 in about 60 seconds.