What Grows in Mountain City, Tennessee

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Mountain City typically lands around Apr 14, 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 5.

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Mountain City typically arrives around Oct 24, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 10, so the watching starts about Sep 24 — about 193 days after the spring freeze cleared.

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Mountain City sees about 193 frost-free days — roughly Apr 14 through Oct 24, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 5 to Oct 10, about 158 days.

The federal record around Mountain City shows 80 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (67), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out — a typical footprint for a growing area, and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. It's worth seeing which recorded sites sit closest to where you grow, and testing the soil before new food beds near any of them.

From about Sep 24 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 24 (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 24. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.