Work back from your last frost date to the right day to sow indoors, transplant, and direct-seed.
Start indoors
6 weeks before frost
2026-03-04
Transplant out
2 weeks after frost
2026-04-29
Direct seed
Transplant only
N/A
Every crop has a preferred relationship to your last spring frost. Warm-season crops (tomato, pepper) wait until frost has passed; cool-season crops (lettuce, brassicas, onions) want to be in the ground weeks earlier, while the soil is still cool.
Dates are estimates — microclimate, soil temperature, and weather patterns matter too. Track your actual transplant dates and adjust next season.
start_indoor = last_frost − weeks_before
transplant = last_frost ± weeks_relative
direct_seed = last_frost ± weeks_relative