New Haven, CT · zone 6a · ~193 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in New Haven.
In New Haven, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 17 and the first fall frost around Oct 27, giving you about 193 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 New Haven, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Mar 13 to May 13 | Apr 24 to Jun 24 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Mar 10 to Apr 24 | Aug 13 to Oct 12 |
| Carrot | — | Mar 10 to Apr 12 | Aug 1 to Aug 27 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 17 to Jun 7 | Jul 13 to Aug 15 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 24 to Jul 24 | Jun 26 to Jul 27 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 22 to May 13 | May 3 to Jun 24 | — |
| Kale | Jan 27 to Feb 24 | Mar 10 to Apr 7 | Jul 27 to Sep 11 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 24 to Apr 7 | Aug 13 to Oct 1 |
New Haven 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 New Haven 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 06510 in about 60 seconds.