A generic planting calendar doesn't work for the USA — the country runs from under 100 frost-free days in parts of the north to year-round growing in the south, so a single date for "when to plant tomatoes" is wrong for most readers. The USA Vegetable Garden Planner is built around your own climate band instead of one national date.
Built around bands, not a map of states
Rather than a state-by-state list, the planner organizes the whole year into three climate bands — Cold, Mild and Hot — because that's what actually decides your sowing dates, not which state you're in. Nine regional climate profiles run from the Pacific Northwest to the Deep South and the Southwest deserts, and every timing in the planner is given as a frost-relative window (so many weeks before or after your own last frost) rather than a fixed calendar date, checked against USDA zones 3-10.
What's inside (74 printable pages)
- A frost-relative calendar organized by Cold, Mild and Hot bands — not twelve repeated month spreads
- Nine regional climate profiles, from the Pacific Northwest to the Deep South and the Southwest deserts
- Bed, container and raised-bed layout pages
- A four-year crop rotation planner by botanical family
- 20 crop growing guides in imperial units
- Seed inventory, sowing log and harvest tracker
It's a one-time purchase: instant PDF download, imperial units throughout, and every page is yours to reprint each season at no extra cost.
How to use it
Start by finding your own last spring frost date, then find where that puts you: Cold, Mild or Hot band. Every sowing and planting window in the planner is written relative to that date, so once you know your band the whole year's timing follows. From there, use the bed layout pages to plan what goes where, and the rotation planner to avoid putting the same crop family back on the same ground for four years.
Free vs. paid: what's actually different
The free Garden Layout Planner sketches your plot and works out bed layout and spacing — that stays free. This printable planner adds the frost-band planting calendar itself, the four-year rotation plan, and the seed inventory, sowing log and harvest tracker: the parts you fill in by hand, season after season.
See the full USA vegetable planting calendar or browse all USA growing guides before you buy, or get the USA Vegetable Garden Planner now.