When to plant in Chelsea, VT

Planting dates worked out from Chelsea's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

May 29

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 21

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 29

1 year in 10 by Sep 17

Frost-free days

133

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Northfield · 25.6 km away · station 204 m, town 250 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 29 – Jun 12	Jul 23
Sweet pepper	Mar 20 – Apr 3	May 29 – Jun 12	Jul 28
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 23 – May 7	Jun 2
Peas	—	Apr 20 – May 18	Jun 14
Bush beans	—	May 22 – Jun 12	Jul 11
Carrot	—	Apr 30 – Jun 11	Jun 29
Beet	—	Apr 26 – Jun 7	Jun 15
Potato	—	Apr 30 – May 21	Jul 9
Kale	Mar 16 – Mar 30	Apr 27 – May 11	Jun 9
Broccoli	Mar 12 – Mar 26	Apr 23 – May 14	Jun 22
Cucumber	May 1 – May 8	May 29 – Jun 12	Jul 18
Summer squash and zucchini	May 1 – May 8	May 29 – Jun 12	Jul 13
Winter squash	May 1 – May 8	May 29 – Jun 12	Aug 17
Sweet corn	—	May 22 – Jun 12	Jul 21
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jul 22
Garlic	—	Sep 15 – Oct 13 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 20 – May 18	May 28
Basil	Apr 17 – May 1	May 29 – Jun 12	Jul 25

Plan all 65 crops for Chelsea

Chelsea's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1887	May 14
1888	May 8
1889	May 4
1890	May 17
1891	Jun 5
1892	May 22
1893	May 9
1894	Jun 7
1895	May 17
1896	May 24
1897	May 22
1898	May 9
1899	May 17
1900	May 26
1901	May 26
1902	May 31
1903	Jun 1
1904	May 2
1905	May 31
1906	Jun 12
1907	May 26
1908	Jun 3
1909	May 26
1910	Jun 5
1911	May 17
1912	Jun 14
1913	Jun 10
1914	May 16
1915	Jun 3
1916	May 14
1917	May 24
1918	Jun 20
1919	Jun 29
1920	May 17
1921	Jun 5
1922	May 28
1923	May 31
1924	Jun 9
1925	May 27
1926	Jun 5
1927	Jun 3
1928	May 17
1929	May 23
1930	Jun 2
1931	May 18
1932	Jun 8
1933	Jun 2
1934	Jun 8
1935	May 26
1936	May 22
1937	May 16
1938	May 13
1939	May 19
1940	Jun 22
1941	May 31
1942	May 12
1943	May 15
1944	Jun 5
1945	May 20
1946	Jun 19
1947	May 15
1948	May 4
1949	Jun 1
1950	May 15
1951	May 25
1952	May 17
1953	Jun 3
1955	May 20
1956	Jun 20
1957	Jun 9
1958	Jun 7
1965	Jun 3
1967	May 26
1969	May 27
1970	Jun 14
1971	Jun 11
1972	Jun 12
1973	Jun 3
1996	May 28
1997	May 28
1999	May 15
2000	May 21
2001	Jun 1
2002	May 25
2003	May 18
2004	Jun 2
2005	May 21
2006	May 8
2007	May 22
2008	May 28
2009	May 26
2010	May 17
2011	May 10
2012	May 13
2013	May 27
2014	May 9
2015	May 15

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1887	119
1888	120
1889	147
1890	127
1891	117
1892	120
1893	139
1894	110
1895	120
1896	103
1897	121
1898	124
1899	119
1900	115
1901	116
1902	97
1903	98
1904	127
1905	105
1906	103
1907	127
1908	103
1909	96
1910	101
1911	118
1912	115
1913	76
1914	118
1915	111
1916	134
1917	108
1918	81
1919	80
1920	125
1921	113
1922	112
1923	80
1924	106
1925	92
1926	100
1927	110
1928	115
1929	118
1930	98
1931	123
1932	93
1933	100
1934	83
1935	110
1936	125
1937	124
1938	115
1939	121
1940	95
1941	104
1942	132
1943	125
1944	110
1945	119
1946	76
1947	127
1948	134
1949	116
1950	125
1951	126
1952	113
1953	98
1955	110
1956	81
1957	91
1958	113
1969	114
1970	80
1971	105
1972	94
1973	105
1996	118
1999	143
2000	107
2003	137
2004	123
2005	152
2006	141
2007	143
2008	113
2009	122
2010	145
2011	129
2012	148
2013	112

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1887	13.6 °C
1888	13.0 °C
1889	14.2 °C
1890	13.2 °C
1891	13.9 °C
1892	13.8 °C
1893	13.2 °C
1894	14.6 °C
1895	14.4 °C
1896	14.1 °C
1897	13.5 °C
1898	14.3 °C
1899	13.7 °C
1900	13.8 °C
1901	14.9 °C
1902	13.1 °C
1903	12.9 °C
1904	13.2 °C
1905	13.1 °C
1906	13.6 °C
1907	12.4 °C
1908	14.0 °C
1909	12.7 °C
1910	13.5 °C
1911	13.7 °C
1912	12.7 °C
1913	13.1 °C
1914	12.6 °C
1915	13.6 °C
1916	13.7 °C
1917	12.7 °C
1918	13.6 °C
1919	13.7 °C
1920	13.4 °C
1921	14.9 °C
1922	14.2 °C
1923	12.9 °C
1924	12.7 °C
1925	13.0 °C
1926	12.0 °C
1927	12.7 °C
1928	13.1 °C
1929	13.4 °C
1930	14.1 °C
1931	14.4 °C
1932	13.4 °C
1933	14.3 °C
1934	14.3 °C
1935	13.4 °C
1936	13.8 °C
1937	14.4 °C
1938	14.1 °C
1939	13.7 °C
1940	13.2 °C
1941	14.5 °C
1942	14.7 °C
1943	13.5 °C
1944	15.4 °C
1945	15.3 °C
1946	14.3 °C
1947	15.0 °C
1948	14.7 °C
1949	15.7 °C
1950	14.1 °C
1951	14.5 °C
1952	15.4 °C
1953	15.3 °C
1954	13.9 °C
1955	16.0 °C
1956	13.3 °C
1957	14.8 °C
1958	14.2 °C
1963	13.1 °C
1965	13.7 °C
1969	14.8 °C
1970	15.3 °C
1971	14.5 °C
1972	13.8 °C
1973	15.2 °C
1996	14.2 °C
1997	13.0 °C
1999	15.2 °C
2000	13.5 °C
2003	14.3 °C
2004	14.6 °C
2005	15.4 °C
2006	15.0 °C
2007	14.3 °C
2008	14.6 °C
2009	14.7 °C
2010	16.0 °C
2011	15.6 °C
2012	15.4 °C
2013	15.2 °C
2015	15.5 °C
2017	15.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1887, Chelsea's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Northfield (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Washington Williamstown Randolph South Barre Barre Northfield