Zone 7 is a fantastic climate for growing vegetables. With a relatively cool spring and fall and a hot, long summer, it’s ideal for virtually all vegetables, as long as you know when to plant them. Keep reading to learn more about planting a zone 7 vegetable garden and some of the best vegetables for zone 7.
Cool Season Vegetables for Zone 7
Zone 7 is a great climate for cool season gardening. The spring comes much earlier than in colder zones, but it also lasts, which can’t be said for warmer zones. Similarly, temperatures in autumn get nice and low for quite a while without dipping below freezing.
There are plenty of vegetables for zone 7 that thrive in cool temperatures and will really only grow in the colder months of spring and autumn. They’ll also tolerate some frost, which means they can be grown outside even when other plants can’t.
When vegetable gardening in zone 7, these plants can be sown directly outside for the spring around February 15. They can be sown again for a fall crop around August 1.
Warm Season Vegetable Gardening in Zone 7
The frost-free season is long in zone 7 vegetable gardening and virtually any annual vegetable will have time to reach maturity. That being said, many of them really benefit from being started as seeds indoors and transplanted out.
The average last frost date in zone 7 is around April 15th, and no frost-intolerant vegetables should be planted outdoors before then. Start these seeds inside several weeks before April 15th. (The exact number of weeks will vary but will be written on the seed packet):
These plants can be sown directly in the ground after April 15th: