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About PlotChallenge

The challenge with any plot is timing: sow too early and frost or cold soil takes it, too late and the season runs out or the heat makes it bolt. Most planting charts are written for one country’s “average” garden. PlotChallenge works the dates out for each city from its own records.

The site is built and run automatically: the calendars are recomputed every day from the data sources listed in the methodology, which also shows how accurate the frost dates are and where the method can go wrong.

There is no sign-up, no advertising and no tracking. We don’t sell seeds or anything else.

Coverage

89 cities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and 25 common vegetables and herbs. More cities and crops will follow as each is checked.

Corrections

If a date looks wrong for your area, the most common reasons are frost pockets, a station far from your garden, and variety differences. The methodology page explains how to read the dates against your own conditions.