What Grows in Barton, Vermont

USDA Zones 4a · 724 acres

Barton, Vermont, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4a — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

Well-matched crops include cabbage, cranberry, turkish rocket, and collard greens, and the gap between "grows in the area" and "grows in your yard" is closed by soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Barton, 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 Barton 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 Barton — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Barton — the short answer

Barton, Vermont: USDA zone 4a, about 151 days between hard freezes, across 724 acres of town.

USDA zone
4a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
May 10
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 8
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~151
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
724 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

4a4a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)
Your USDA zone 4aSee the zone map →

Zone 4a is Barton's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Barton's 151-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Barton

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

Season length

Measured

Barton runs about 151 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.

Buying weeks at each end

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Barton sits in USDA hardiness zone 4a.

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.

How hardiness zones work

USDA PHZM 2023

The kind of country Barton is in

Barton sits in the Northeastern Highlands — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. That is read at Barton's own centroid rather than borrowed from Orleans County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Barton

Every plant below cleared Barton's own zone 4a and its 151-day season. Each card opens that plant's Vermont profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in VermontZones 2–11Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
Vermont cranberry guideZones 2–7Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Turkish rocket in VermontBarton's 151 days clear the ~90 it needs.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Vermont growing notesZones 2–11Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Growing hazelnut in VermontZones 4–9Barton's 4a is its exact cold limit.
cilantro, photograph
Vermont cilantro guideZones 2–11Barton's 151 days clear the ~35 it needs.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in VermontZones 2–10Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Blueberry: Vermont growing notesZones 3–8Barton's 4a — 1 zone of cold margin.
epazote, photograph
Growing epazote in VermontBarton's 151 days clear the ~60 it needs.
kale, photograph
Vermont kale guideZones 2–11Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
apple, photograph
Apple in VermontZones 3–8Barton's 4a — 1 zone of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Vermont growing notesZones 2–11Barton's 151 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Growing okra in VermontZones 2–12Barton's 151 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Vermont potato guideZones 2–11Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
rhubarb, photograph
Rhubarb in VermontZones 2–8Barton's 151 days clear the ~60 it needs.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Vermont growing notesZones 3–8Barton's 4a — 1 zone of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in VermontZones 2–11Barton's 151 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
Vermont azalea guideZones 4–8Barton's 4a is its exact cold limit.
hops, photograph
Hops in VermontZones 3–8Barton's 4a — 1 zone of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Vermont growing notesZones 3–10Barton's 4a — 1 zone of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in VermontBarton's 151 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Vermont lilac guideZones 4–10Barton's 4a is its exact cold limit.
riverbank grape, photograph
Riverbank grape in VermontZones 2–8Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Siberian squill, photograph
Siberian squill: Vermont growing notesZones 2–8Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Growing blue spruce in VermontZones 2–8Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
field pea, photograph
Vermont field pea guideZones 2–10Barton's 151 days clear the ~60 it needs.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in VermontZones 2–7Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
American elm: Vermont growing notesZones 3–9Barton's 4a — 1 zone of cold margin.
Growing triticale in VermontBarton's 151 days clear the ~90 it needs.
bunchberry, photograph
Vermont bunchberry guideZones 2–6Barton's 4a — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Barton?

Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 12; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 10 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 8 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Even past midsummer there is room for a true fall garden here, and garlic planted near the close carries the momentum into next year.

Documented around Barton

Survey cells within 31 miles of Barton checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 74 miles off. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Barton

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

  1. BARTON UNITED CHURCHBrownfields · 550 ft
  2. Redington Residence frmr gas stationUnderground Storage Tanks · 550 ft
  3. BARTON PUBLIC LIBRARYBrownfields · 750 ft
  4. Orleans One Stop Mini Mart #298Underground Storage Tanks · 800 ft
  5. Barton Village WW Pumping StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 800 ft
  6. Henry & Jeannette LabrecqueUnderground Storage Tanks · 800 ft
  7. Barton Mini MartUnderground Storage Tanks · 800 ft
  8. ORLEANS PITSTOPBrownfields · 950 ft
  9. Orleans PitstopUnderground Storage Tanks · 950 ft
  10. O'REILLY AUTO PARTS STORE 5689Brownfields · 1000 ft
  11. CIRCLE K #7402Brownfields · 1100 ft
  12. Barton Circle KUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft

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

Measured from Barton'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 Barton.

Total Sites

106

within ~10 miles of Barton

Risk Level

Moderate

Highest-severity

3 Toxics Release Inventory facilities

Explore the live map
Underground Storage Tanks60Brownfields43Toxics Release Inventory3

Sources Checked

within ~10 miles of Barton

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Barton

High0Moderate23Low83

Highest-Severity Sites

Albany General Store
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
B &Amp; B Trucking
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Barton Circle K
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Bob'S Quick Stop
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Butler Family Auto
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

Know Before You Grow

  • •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
  • •Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
  • •TRI facilities report what they release. Check the wind — downwind beds catch more of it.
Explore the contamination map around Barton·Vermont Growing Guide
Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Barton

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 Barton average

Your land is one point inside Barton

Everything above resolves to Barton as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 724 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 Barton Average

Barton Average

  • ●USDA Zones 4a, averaged across Barton
  • ●One soil character for all of Barton
  • ●Frost dates read at Barton's scale: May 10 to Oct 8

YOUR Parcel

  • ✓Your exact zone, not Barton's 4a
  • ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Barton

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Barton averages 151Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Barton

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 Barton’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 Barton

When does frost risk typically end in Barton?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Barton typically lands around May 10, 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 31.

When is the first frost in Barton?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Barton typically arrives around Oct 8, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 24, so the watching starts about Sep 8 — about 151 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Barton?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Barton sees about 151 frost-free days — roughly May 10 through Oct 8, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 31 to Sep 24, about 116 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Barton?

The federal record around Barton shows 106 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (60), the nearest Brownfields record about 0.1 miles 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.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Barton?

From about Sep 8 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 8 (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 8. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Barton's scale — its 4a band and its 151-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Barton'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 Barton’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Barton's own scale — its own ~151-day season between 28°F freezes, the 724 acres it covers and 106 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Barton's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Barton's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about May 10 and Oct 8 and the ~151-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 106 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Barton, the closest Brownfields record about 0.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Barton's boundary and the 724 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4a and a ~151-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Barton's own centroid, the Northeastern HighlandsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Lanternfly survey cells around Barton 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 Barton's 724 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Orleans County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Orleans County
  • The growing challenges every Vermont grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Vermont
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Orleans County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Barton's 724 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
  • Which side of Barton you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 724 acresreading your own microclimate →
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record about 0.1 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 Barton-wide figureread your own land →
The next step finer is your own address

More in Vermont

Orleans County Growing Guide·Vermont Growing Guide
USDA PHZM•NOAA Climate Normals•US Census TIGER•PRISM Climate•EPA FRS