What Grows in Hatfield, Indiana

USDA Zones 7a · 750 acres

Hatfield, Indiana, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.

These conditions suit cabbage, hazelnut, california poppy, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Hatfield, no two yards are alike.

A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single Hatfield lot. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.

We read public map data around Hatfield — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Hatfield — the short answer

Hatfield, Indiana: USDA zone 7a, about 233 days between hard freezes, across 750 acres of town.

USDA zone
7a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 23
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 11
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~233
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
750 acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.

Hardiness Zone Range

7a7a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 7a is Hatfield's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Hatfield's 233-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Hatfield

Each reading below is measured for Hatfield itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

Measured

Hatfield runs about 233 days between hard freezes — a long growing season.

There is slack for succession plantings and slow-finishing crops: many vegetables can be sown twice, and the heat-lovers have time to ripen fully.

Plan a second sowing of quick crops after the first comes out, and use the fall window most gardeners let sit idle.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Hatfield sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a.

The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.

Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.

USDA PHZM 2023

The kind of country Hatfield is in

Hatfield sits in the Interior River Valleys and Hills — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Hatfield's own centroid rather than borrowed from Spencer County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Hatfield

Every plant below cleared Hatfield's own zone 7a and its 233-day season. Each card opens that plant's Indiana profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in IndianaZones 2–11Hatfield's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Indiana hazelnut guideZones 4–9Hatfield's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in IndianaZones 6–10Hatfield's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Indiana growing notesZones 2–11Hatfield's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in IndianaZones 5–9Hatfield's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Indiana lavender guideZones 5–8Hatfield's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in IndianaZones 2–10Hatfield's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pecan, photograph
Pecan: Indiana growing notesZones 5–9Hatfield's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in IndianaHatfield's 233 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Indiana kale guideZones 2–11Hatfield's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in IndianaZones 5–10Hatfield's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Indiana growing notesZones 2–11Hatfield's 233 days clear the ~70 it needs.
apple, photograph
Growing apple in IndianaZones 3–8Hatfield's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Indiana okra guideZones 2–12Hatfield's 233 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in IndianaZones 2–11Hatfield's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Indiana growing notesZones 3–10Hatfield's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in IndianaZones 2–11Hatfield's 233 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Indiana apache plume guideZones 5–11Hatfield's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in IndianaZones 3–8Hatfield's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Indiana growing notesZones 3–8Hatfield's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in IndianaHatfield's 233 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Indiana holly guideZones 5–11Hatfield's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in IndianaZones 3–9Hatfield's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Indiana growing notesZones 6–8Hatfield's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in IndianaZones 3–9Hatfield's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Indiana ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Hatfield's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in IndianaZones 2–7Hatfield's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Indiana growing notesZones 4–10Hatfield's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in IndianaZones 5–10Hatfield's 233 days clear the ~45 it needs.
Eastern gamagrass, photograph
Indiana eastern gamagrass guideZones 5–9Hatfield's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Hatfield?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 23; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 11 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. A long window like this one runs successions deep into fall — and even its last weeks take quick greens and garlic.

Documented around Hatfield

Survey cells within 31 miles of Hatfield checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 122 miles off. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Hatfield

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Hatfield. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. JIMS BODY SHOPBrownfields · 1100 ft
  2. HATFIELD MARKETUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
  3. J & M SERVICEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  4. LUCE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
  5. JIM WALKERUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.1 mi
  6. SPENCER SALES & SERVICE INCORPORATEDUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.1 mi
  7. IN5274009 SPENCER 01926 PRODUCTION WELL 3Nitrate · 2.1 mi
  8. RICHLAND SO LO SERVICE STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.8 mi
  9. RICHLAND PIT STOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
  10. F10D0077Nitrate · 4.6 mi
  11. SIP-2 RICHLAND CITY, INDNitrate · 4.7 mi
  12. RAIBLEY GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.9 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Hatfield's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.

Environmental Intelligence

The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Hatfield.

Total Sites

208

within ~10 miles of Hatfield

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Hatfield

High0Moderate102Low106

Highest-Severity Sites

Barmet Aluminum Corp, Rockport Recycling Div
Toxics Release Inventory · 47635BRMTLCOUNT
Chuckles 16
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Hatfield, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Hatfield — PFAS (4 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (20 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.

Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.

Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.

Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Hatfield

Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Hatfield average

Your land is one point inside Hatfield

Everything above resolves to Hatfield as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 750 acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at town scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better local average.

Your Lot vs the Hatfield Average

Hatfield Average

  • USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Hatfield
  • One soil character for all of Hatfield
  • Frost dates read at Hatfield's scale: Mar 23 to Nov 11

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Hatfield's 7a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Hatfield

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Hatfield, Indiana — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Hatfield averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Hatfield averages 233Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Hatfield — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Hatfield average

How we know this about Hatfield

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this town’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Hatfield’s own record; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at town grain anywhere on this page — there is no town-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.

Common questions about Hatfield

When does frost risk typically end in Hatfield?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Hatfield typically lands around Mar 23, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about Apr 13.

When is the first frost in Hatfield?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Hatfield typically arrives around Nov 11, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 28, so the watching starts about Oct 12 — about 233 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Hatfield?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Hatfield sees about 233 frost-free days — roughly Mar 23 through Nov 11, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 13 to Oct 28, about 198 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Hatfield?

The federal record around Hatfield is a meaningful one — 208 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (87), the nearest Brownfields record about 0.2 miles out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Hatfield?

From about Oct 12 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Nov 11 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Nov 11. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Hatfield's scale — its 7a band and its 233-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Hatfield's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.

What this page reads at Hatfield’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Hatfield's own scale — its own ~233-day season between 28°F freezes, the 750 acres it covers and 208 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Hatfield's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Hatfield's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 23 and Nov 11 and the ~233-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 208 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Hatfield, the closest Brownfields record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Hatfield's boundary and the 750 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~233-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Hatfield's own centroid, the Interior River Valleys and HillsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Lanternfly survey cells around Hatfield checked, none carrying a detectionlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Hatfield's 750 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Spencer County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Spencer County
  • The growing challenges every Indiana grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Indiana
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Spencer County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Hatfield's 750 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Hatfield you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 750 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record about 0.2 miles out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record
  • Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any Hatfield-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address