The Farmers Almanac planting calendar most people mean is the Old Farmer’s Almanac tool at almanac.com, which bases your planting dates on the frost dates for your ZIP code. Those frost dates use a 30% probability from NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals, as our almanac versus NOAA frost date comparison shows. A NOAA frost-normal calendar counts from the median date instead.
Almanac Planting Calendar vs NOAA Frost Normals at a Glance
Two publications share the name, and they do different jobs. The Old Farmer’s Almanac (almanac.com) offers a ZIP code planting calendar. The Farmers’ Almanac (farmersalmanac.com) offers a moon-day gardening calendar. A calendar built from NOAA normals, like our state planting calendars, is a third thing: a set of crop rules counted from a station’s frost date. Everything in the table below comes from the pages named in the last column, read in October 2026, or from our own planting calendar data.
| Question | Old Farmer’s Almanac planting calendar | Farmers’ Almanac gardening calendar | NOAA frost-normal calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| What sets the date? | Your local frost dates, entered by ZIP code or place | Moon phases and the Moon’s position | Weeks before or after a station’s frost date |
| Frost basis | Its frost tool uses NOAA 1991-2020 normals at 30% probability | None on the page; says dates are the same in all zones | NOAA 1991-2020 normals, median (50%) date |
| Moon days | Optional toggle | The whole point | Not used |
| Crop timing rules shown? | Not on the page we read | No calculation shown | Yes, each with an extension source |
| Read at | almanac.com planting calendar and frost dates pages | farmersalmanac.com gardening calendar page | NOAA NCEI, NC State Extension, our planting calendar |
The short version: the Old Farmer’s Almanac gives you dates, the Farmers’ Almanac gives you good and bad days, and a NOAA calendar gives you dates plus the arithmetic behind them, as on our frost dates by city and zone pages. None of the three can see this year’s weather.
What Is the Old Farmer’s Almanac Planting Calendar?
The Old Farmer’s Almanac planting calendar is a web tool that lists planting dates for a place you choose. The page says you can enter a ZIP code (U.S.) or pick a state or province, and that it covers 100+ vegetables, herbs and fruit. For each crop it shows when to start seeds indoors (our guide to when to start seeds indoors covers the method), transplant, sow directly and make your last planting, and it greys out crops that are out of season. The page is labeled as the 2026 edition. This is the page people usually mean by the almanac planting calendar, almanac planting dates, or the old farmer’s almanac gardening calendar.
Almanac planting dates and the frost dates behind them
The calendar page says its dates are based on your local frost dates, and it links to a separate frost date tool. That tool is where the method is written down. The Old Farmer’s Almanac says its frost dates come from the nearest official weather station and use a 30% probability threshold, which it explains as a chance of frost remaining after the listed date. It calls the last spring frost the average final date when temperatures may dip to 32°F, and its FAQ says plainly that frost dates are averages and that you should check your local forecast before putting warm-season crops outdoors. The station and the NOAA 1991-2020 source are named on its ZIP results pages, which is how the frost date comparison traced them.
What we could not verify is the step in between. The planting calendar page we read does not say which frost date it counts from (the 30% date or another), and it does not publish the crop rules, such as how many weeks before the last frost it starts tomatoes. Without that, we can describe what the tool shows but not reproduce it, so we do not reprint its dates here. Open it for your own ZIP code and read the dates it gives.
The moon toggle
The page describes the moon option as a toggle that aligns dates with the Moon’s phases for people who plant by lunar tradition, and says nothing more about how the phases change the dates. The same publication’s planting by the moon page calls timing by the moon a judgment call. For the extension research on whether it matters, see our guide to the best time to plant vegetables by moon phase, which we do not repeat here.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac garden planner
Searches for the almanac garden planner or the old farmer’s almanac garden planner usually mean a different product from the calendar. The Almanac Garden Planner (gardenplanner.almanac.com) is an online layout tool. Its page says you draw your beds, add plants and get a personalized chart of when to sow, plant and harvest each one, with email reminders twice a month. It offers a free 7-day trial and paid subscriptions, and does not list prices on the page we read. It says it adapts to your area using a database of over 5,000 weather stations, but it does not say which frost statistic it uses, so the same caveat applies.
What Does the Farmers’ Almanac Planting Guide Say?
The Farmers’ Almanac (farmersalmanac.com) is the other publication, and the closest thing it has to a planting guide is its gardening calendar. We did not find a ZIP-based planting date tool there, so this is a moon-day guide rather than a planting schedule. The page says the calendar uses phases and the position of the Moon to pick days, and calls moon gardening a fundamental part of its philosophy. It rates each day, with labels such as Best, Good, Favorable and barren days when it says to do no planting.
Two statements on that page matter for anyone comparing it with a frost calendar. First, it says the dates are consistent across all growing zones, and tells readers to consider regional weather and climate, including checking their growing zone, before following them. Second, it admits that modern science has not definitively proven lunar gardening effects in controlled studies, and says moon gardening does not replace good soil, proper timing or climate awareness. Its separate average frost dates page does cite a source: the United States Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals (1991-2020), with a 30% probability of frost after the spring date or before the fall date. So the Farmers’ Almanac uses NOAA frost numbers, but its gardening calendar does not combine them with the moon days.
If your question is when a seed can safely go outdoors where you live, that is a frost and soil temperature question. The moon calendar answers a different one, which day among the workable days to pick.
How Does a NOAA Frost-Normal Planting Calendar Work?
A NOAA frost-normal calendar starts from a station’s frost date and adds a fixed offset for each crop. NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information defines a normal as the 30-year average of a particular variable’s measurements over a uniform period. The current normals cover 1991 to 2020, were first released in May 2021, and include more than 7,300 stations reporting temperature. That is the dataset behind our Frost Date Calculator and both almanacs’ frost tools.
The probability level is the main choice. NC State Extension explains that NCEI’s tables give dates at 10%, 50% and 90% levels, and that a 10% date will occur in 1 of 10 years on average. For spring and fall freeze dates it describes the 50% date as the moderate choice, medium in precision and risk, and the 10% date as the conservative one. A calendar counted from the median is therefore the middle-of-the-road plan. The almanac’s 30% date sits between the median and the conservative 1-in-10 date.
The second part is the crop rules. Each rule is a number of weeks before or after the last frost, such as “start 6 to 8 weeks before,” taken from extension guidance. Our planting calendar data lists a source for each crop, and where sources disagree, a note says so. Starting seeds indoors is where the arithmetic matters most, and the seed starting calendar lays those weeks out month by month.
Worked Example: What a NOAA Frost-Normal Calendar Produces for Zones 6b and 7a
Here is a NOAA-normal calendar for two neighboring zones. The median last spring frost comes from our zone data: Apr 23 for zone 6b and Apr 16 for zone 7a. Their median first fall frosts are Oct 20 and Oct 25. The crop windows apply our planting calendar’s offsets, each backed by an extension source. A zone is a wide average, not your yard: a gardener in Ohio or Illinois will find zone 6b places, and Missouri or Kentucky have zone 7a ones. Each state page carries the full crop table.
| Task | Offset from last frost | Zone 6b (median last frost Apr 23) | Zone 7a (median last frost Apr 16) | Source listed on our planting calendar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peas, direct sow | 4 to 6 weeks before | Mar 12 to Mar 26 | Mar 5 to Mar 19 | UConn Home & Garden Education Center |
| Peppers, start indoors | 8 to 10 weeks before | Feb 12 to Feb 26 | Feb 5 to Feb 19 | UMN Extension / UNH Extension |
| Tomatoes, start indoors | 6 to 8 weeks before | Feb 26 to Mar 12 | Feb 19 to Mar 5 | UGA Extension |
| Tomatoes, transplant | 1 to 2 weeks after | Apr 30 to May 7 | Apr 23 to Apr 30 | UGA Extension |
| Beans, direct sow | 0 to 1 weeks after | Apr 23 to Apr 30 | Apr 16 to Apr 23 | Utah State University Extension |
The arithmetic is plain: Apr 23 minus 6 weeks (42 days) is Mar 12, and minus 8 weeks (56 days) is Feb 26, which is where the start window for tomato seedlings in zone 6b comes from. Zone 7a runs exactly one week earlier because its median last frost is one week earlier. Peppers show why a window is a range. The University of Georgia says peppers are often started as early as 8 weeks before the last frost, and the University of Minnesota says to start them about eight weeks before planting outside, so 8 weeks is the figure the two pages agree on and the 10 weeks in our range is the long edge. Minnesota also says to transplant outdoors after nighttime lows are above 50°F, so a calendar date for setting out peppers is a starting estimate and the thermometer overrides it. Peas are the opposite case: UConn says to sow as soon as the soil is workable and that seed germinates in soil as cool as 50°F, although slowly when it is cold and wet. For a fuller zone-by-zone version, see planting calendar by zone.
Two links take the example further. Each zone has its own page, zone 6b frost dates and zone 7a frost dates, with the 10% and 90% dates beside the median. And for your own place rather than a zone, enter your ZIP code and get this month’s list, which uses the nearest station instead of a zone median.
Where Do the Two Calendars Really Differ?
Three differences account for most of the gap between an almanac planting calendar and a NOAA frost-normal one, and only some of them can be checked.
The frost date it counts from
At the same station, the almanac’s frost tool shows a 30% date and ours shows the median, so the almanac’s spring date comes a few days to a week later, which is what the comparison of five cities found. If the almanac planting calendar counts from its 30% date, its dates for warm-season crops will run a little later and safer than a median calendar. If it counts from some other date, they will not. The page does not say, and that is the honest limit of any comparison.
The station it picks
Different tools match a ZIP code to different stations, and stations a few miles apart can differ by weeks. Our comparison of Boston found Logan Airport and Hanscom Field more than three weeks apart in median last frost. So when two calendars disagree for your ZIP code, check which station each names before assuming one of them is wrong.
The crop rules
This is where a published rule has an edge. A calendar that lists “6 to 8 weeks before” with an extension source lets you see whether the rule fits your crop and variety, and change it. When a rule is not published, you can only accept or reject the output. Neither approach is a prediction. NC State Extension warns that trends from the past might not correspond to what we will experience today or in the future, and the Old Farmer’s Almanac says frost dates are averages. A late frost after a warm spell is how tomato transplants are lost, and how cold a tomato plant can take is a question about the night’s actual low, which can tomato plants survive winter works through, not about any calendar.
When Should You Use Each Calendar?
Use the one that answers the question you have. In practice the tools complement each other more than they compete.
- Use the Old Farmer’s Almanac calendar for a quick ZIP code schedule. It is fast, covers 100+ crops, and the greyed-out crops show what is still possible this season. Treat its dates as a starting point, since the page does not publish its crop rules.
- Use a NOAA frost-normal calendar when you want to see the working. You can read the frost date, the offset and its extension source, and move any crop earlier or later to suit your microclimate or your risk tolerance.
- Use the Farmers’ Almanac moon calendar only to choose among workable days. Its own page says dates are the same in all zones, so it cannot tell you whether the soil is ready where you live.
- Hold tender crops to a later date than the median. Tomatoes, peppers and basil are the usual examples. Waiting for the 30% or 1-in-10 date, or for nights above 50°F, costs a week and can save a planting.
- Check the forecast and the soil on the day. Both almanacs say dates are averages or guidance, so the 7-day forecast and a soil thermometer have the last word.
- Keep notes. Write down the date, the weather and the result for each crop. After two seasons your own record beats any generic calendar.
The calendar also tells you when to stop. In fall the same frost data runs in reverse: the median first frost for zone 6b is Oct 20, and a gardener who counts back from it knows when the last tomatoes need to ripen indoors, which is what how to ripen green tomatoes covers. The same dates guide a pepper plant you plan to keep: how to overwinter pepper plants starts from the first frost date too.
A single date per crop also hides how many plantings you can make. Counting from the same frost date, succession planting repeats a sowing every couple of weeks. Starting too early with too little light is how seedlings go leggy, covered in leggy seedlings. If you would rather not count offsets crop by crop, the Season Planner puts every date for your own ZIP code into one plan. More on timing and spacing is in our spacing and planting guides.
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Almanac Planting Calendar FAQ
What is the Farmers Almanac planting calendar?
It is usually the Old Farmer's Almanac planting calendar at almanac.com, a tool that lists dates to start seeds indoors, transplant and sow directly for your ZIP code, based on your local frost dates. The Farmers' Almanac (farmersalmanac.com) is a separate publication whose gardening calendar rates days by the Moon's phases and says its dates are the same in all growing zones.
Is the Old Farmer's Almanac planting calendar based on frost dates?
Yes. Its page says planting dates are based on your local frost dates, and its frost tool states they use a 30% probability threshold from the nearest official weather station. The planting calendar page does not say which frost date the crop timings count from, so check the frost date shown for your ZIP code.
Is the Old Farmer's Almanac the same as the Farmers' Almanac?
No. They are two publications. The Old Farmer's Almanac is at almanac.com and offers a ZIP code planting calendar and frost date tool. The Farmers' Almanac is at farmersalmanac.com and publishes a moon-based gardening calendar and a list of average frost dates. Both cite NOAA's 1991-2020 normals for frost dates at a 30% probability.
Are almanac planting dates accurate?
They are as accurate as the frost averages behind them, which are averages and not forecasts. The Old Farmer's Almanac says frost dates are averages and to check your local forecast before planting warm-season crops outdoors. A 30% date can still be followed by frost in about 3 years in 10, so hold tender crops until nights are above 50°F, the University of Minnesota's transplant advice for peppers.
What is the difference between almanac planting dates and a NOAA frost date calendar?
The almanac dates come from its own tool, which names a 30% frost date but does not publish its crop rules on the planting calendar page. A NOAA frost-normal calendar counts published extension offsets from a station's median date. For zone 6b, with a median last frost of Apr 23, a 6 to 8 week offset puts tomato seed starting at Feb 26 to Mar 12.
Does the Old Farmer's Almanac garden planner cost money?
Its page offers a free 7-day trial followed by paid subscriptions, and does not list prices. The Almanac Garden Planner is a layout tool that charts when to sow, plant and harvest each crop, and says it adapts to your area using over 5,000 weather stations. It is a different product from the free planting calendar.
Should I plant by the almanac's moon days or by frost dates?
Frost dates and soil temperature come first. The Farmers' Almanac gardening calendar itself says modern science has not definitively proven lunar gardening effects and that moon gardening does not replace good soil, proper timing or climate awareness. Use moon days, if you like them, only to choose between days your frost date and soil already allow.
Sources & further reading
The almanacs, read in October 2026: The Old Farmer’s Almanac, Gardening and Planting Calendar, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, First and Last Frost Dates by ZIP Code, The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Planner, The Farmers’ Almanac, gardening calendar and The Farmers’ Almanac, average frost dates.
Frost normals and crop timing: NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Normals, NC State Extension, Interpreting Freeze/Frost Probabilities, University of Georgia Extension, Seed Starting, University of Minnesota Extension, Growing Peppers and UConn Home & Garden Education Center, Peas. The zone medians and crop offsets in the worked example come from the site’s own frost data and planting calendar, which list an extension source for each crop; see the methodology page.
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The Spacing & Planting Cheat Sheet
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