Tilton Northfield, New Hampshire, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
Growers here do well with cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens — with the usual caveat that any single yard's soil, sun, and drainage cast the deciding vote.
Even in Tilton Northfield, 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 Tilton Northfield 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 Tilton Northfield — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Tilton Northfield — the short answer
Tilton Northfield, New Hampshire: USDA zone 5b, about 174 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 5b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 26
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 17
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~174
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 2K 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
Zone 5b is Tilton Northfield's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Tilton Northfield's 174-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Tilton Northfield
Each reading below is measured for Tilton Northfield itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredTilton Northfield runs about 174 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.
There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.
Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredTilton Northfield sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b.
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 Tilton Northfield is in
Tilton Northfield sits in the Northeastern Highlands — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. That is read at Tilton Northfield's own centroid rather than borrowed from Belknap County.
What Grows in Tilton Northfield
Every plant below cleared Tilton Northfield's own zone 5b and its 174-day season. Each card opens that plant's New Hampshire profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Tilton Northfield?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 29; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 26 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 17 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Late in the year the fall bench takes over — quick greens, radishes, and garlic that repays you next summer.
Documented around Tilton Northfield
Spotted lanternfly documented 29 miles from Tilton Northfield, first recorded 2022. What to watch for.
What's on the federal record near Tilton Northfield
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Tilton Northfield. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- FORMER WALLINGFORDSUnderground Storage Tanks · 350 ft
- STAFFORD FOOD & BEVERAGEUnderground Storage Tanks · 400 ft
- OLD PILLSBURY MILLSuperfund · 550 ft
- PERIPHERAL PRODUCTS INCToxics Release Inventory · 600 ft
- SURRETTE AMERICAToxics Release Inventory · 700 ft
- UNITED PARCEL SERVICE NHNFDBrownfields · 750 ft
- DANIELS ARTESIAN WELLS INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 900 ft
- TILTON SCHOOLUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
- BALL RESIDENCEUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft
- CUMBERLAND FARMS 2801Underground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
- KIDDER FUELS INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft
- PCC STRUCTURALS ALUMINUM OPERATIONSToxics Release Inventory · 2200 ft
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Tilton Northfield'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 Tilton Northfield.
Total Sites
541
within ~10 miles of Tilton Northfield
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
3 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Tilton Northfield
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Tilton Northfield
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Tilton Northfield, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 160 sites within ~10 miles of Tilton Northfield. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Check your specific parcel in Tilton Northfield
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 Tilton Northfield average
Your land is one point inside Tilton Northfield
Everything above resolves to Tilton Northfield as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 2K 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 Tilton Northfield Average
Tilton Northfield Average
- ●USDA Zones 5b, averaged across Tilton Northfield
- ●One soil character for all of Tilton Northfield
- ●Frost dates read at Tilton Northfield's scale: Apr 26 to Oct 17
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Tilton Northfield's 5b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Tilton Northfield
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Tilton Northfield, New Hampshire — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Tilton Northfield averages can't show:
We read public map data around Tilton Northfield — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Tilton Northfield average
How we know this about Tilton Northfield
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 Tilton Northfield’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 Tilton Northfield
When does frost risk typically end in Tilton Northfield?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Tilton Northfield typically lands around Apr 26, 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 May 17.
When is the first frost in Tilton Northfield?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Tilton Northfield typically arrives around Oct 17, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 3, so the watching starts about Sep 17 — about 174 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Tilton Northfield?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Tilton Northfield sees about 174 frost-free days — roughly Apr 26 through Oct 17, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 17 to Oct 3, about 139 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Tilton Northfield?
The federal record around Tilton Northfield is a meaningful one — 541 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (238), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile 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 Tilton Northfield?
From about Sep 17 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 Oct 17 (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 Oct 17. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Tilton Northfield's scale — its 5b band and its 174-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Tilton Northfield'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 Tilton Northfield’s own scale
7 of the readings below were taken at Tilton Northfield's own scale — its own ~174-day season between 28°F freezes, the 2,006 acres it covers and 541 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Tilton Northfield's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Tilton Northfield's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 26 and Oct 17 and the ~174-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 541 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Tilton Northfield, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Tilton Northfield's boundary and the 2,006 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5b and a ~174-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Tilton Northfield's own centroid, the Northeastern HighlandsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of Tilton Northfieldlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Tilton Northfield's 2,006 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Belknap County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Belknap County
- The growing challenges every New Hampshire grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom New Hampshire
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Belknap County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Tilton Northfield's 2,006 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Tilton Northfield you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 2,006 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile 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 Tilton Northfield-wide figureread your own land →
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