Home & garden, state by state
Everything we have worked out for New Hampshire: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Manchester, the last spring freeze runs April 16 to April 27 and the first fall freeze runs October 13 to October 26, USDA zones 3b-6a, 2,973 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 26.1 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in New Hampshire: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals put Manchester’s first fall frost between October 13 and 26, which sets New Hampshire’s garlic planting window at late September through early October.
A county-by-county look at whether New Hampshire’s winters are cold enough for garlic, when to plant, and which varieties to choose.
Compares nine catalogue tomato varieties by days to maturity against New Hampshire’s frost window, from 55-day cherry tomatoes to 78-day paste tomatoes.
Explains how to use Manchester’s frost-date range to calculate safe tomato sowing and transplant windows anywhere in New Hampshire, plus how local conditions shift the numbers.
This guide lists the tomato pests that actually appear in New Hampshire gardens, in season order, with what to look for and what works.
Learn when to start tomato seeds indoors, transplant outdoors, and pick disease-resistant varieties suited to New Hampshire’s short growing season.