Salem, OR · zone 8a · ~213 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Salem.
In Salem, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 3 and the first fall frost around Nov 2, giving you about 213 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 Salem, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Feb 27 to Apr 29 | Apr 10 to Jun 10 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Feb 24 to Apr 10 | Aug 19 to Oct 18 |
| Carrot | — | Feb 24 to Mar 29 | Aug 7 to Sep 2 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 3 to May 24 | Jul 19 to Aug 21 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 10 to Jul 10 | Jul 2 to Aug 2 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 8 to Apr 29 | Apr 19 to Jun 10 | — |
| Kale | Jan 13 to Feb 10 | Feb 24 to Mar 24 | Aug 2 to Sep 17 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 10 to Mar 24 | Aug 19 to Oct 7 |
Salem sits in Zone 8a, 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 Salem 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 97301 in about 60 seconds.