One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Northampton you can determine when it's possible to plant lettuce by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lettuce

Frost tolerance for lettuce:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Lettuce do well in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in Northampton is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lettuce may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lettuce indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Northampton. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Northampton is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Northampton there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your lettuce in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Northampton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Northampton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Northampton.