Question 1

Do I need an account to try Harvestead?

Accepted Answer

No. You can look up your USDA zone, frost dates, the Zone Almanac, and a sample planting plan without signing up. An account saves your garden, and Harvesteader adds tracking over time: frost-date drift for your zone and your own seasons compared side by side.

Question 2

Will Harvestead help me sell what I grow?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Walk to Market checklist, pricing tools, and Harvestead's Market HQ dashboards are built for growers taking produce to farmers markets, CSAs, and direct buyers through your own Harvest Stand page.

Question 3

What do the two plans include?

Accepted Answer

Harvesteader ($14.99/mo or $119/yr) is the full toolkit: Garden Studio, frost dates recalculated from real local weather, 30-year frost drift, season-to-season history, journal, weekly schedule, preserving, the Harvestead Garden Guardian, rotation warnings, and the ebook library. The Sales bundle ($39.99/mo or $390/yr, Harvesteader included) adds Harvestead's Market HQ, card checkout on your Harvest Stand page, accounting exports, wholesale order books, CSA management, succession planning, labor ROI, and sales tracking.

Question 4

Is there a free trial?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial. We don't ask for a card up front, and there are no surprise charges. You can also look up frost dates, browse the open Learn library, and try sample plans without an account. The deeper tools and the full schedule unlock once you start a trial.

Question 5

How do I change or cancel my plan?

Accepted Answer

Use the "Manage billing" button on this page (or on the pricing page) to open the secure billing portal. You can switch plans, update your card, download invoices, or cancel yourself, no ticket needed. Cancellations take effect at the end of your current period, so you keep access until then. For billing help you can also email hello@harvestead.com.

Question 6

Do you offer refunds?

Accepted Answer

If a plan isn't the right fit, email hello@harvestead.com within 7 days of a charge and we'll make it right.

Question 7

Why do I keep getting signed out?

Accepted Answer

Sessions expire for security. Use 'Remember me' on the sign-in screen and avoid private/incognito windows, which clear the session when closed.

Question 8

I forgot my password.

Accepted Answer

Use the 'Forgot password' link on the sign-in page. You'll get a reset email; the link is single-use and expires after an hour.

Question 9

My scheduler shows tasks I never made.

Accepted Answer

Your schedule starts empty from the month you signed up. If you see older auto-generated tasks, delete them and add your own. The task dropdown has the usual jobs ready to pick.

Question 10

How accurate are frost dates and zones?

Accepted Answer

Once you set your ZIP or location, we use 30 years of gridded daily low temperatures for your area and estimate the last spring and first fall frost from each year. That is more local than one date for an entire zone, but it is not an exact reading from your garden. The usual date is a coin-flip year, so we also show the safer '1 year in 10' date. A low spot, south-facing wall, balcony, or nearby water can shift real frost by one to three weeks from the area estimate. Report the frost you actually saw and your calendar shifts toward your ground, or set your own dates, which we never overwrite. No tool can guarantee a frost date — weather doesn't make promises. The full method is at harvestead.com/almanac/method.

Question 11

Why do my frost dates say 'estimated' instead of measured?

Accepted Answer

Until you add your ZIP or share your location, we use your USDA zone's rule-of-thumb dates with a built-in safety cushion. Once you add a location, we replace those with an estimate based on 30 years of gridded weather history for your area. If your dates still look zone-based, check that your garden profile has a ZIP saved.

Question 12

Does the planting plan work outside of spring?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Harvestead builds a rolling 12-month plan for spring, summer, fall, and winter, counting backward from your first frost date for fall and overwintered crops.

Question 13

What are the community rules?

Accepted Answer

Be useful, be kind, no spam or product pitches unless someone asks. Grove keepers may remove posts that break these rules and will note the reason.

Question 14

How do I report a post?

Accepted Answer

Open a ticket below with the category 'Community' and paste the post title, or email hello@harvestead.com. A Grove keeper reviews reports daily.

Question 15

Can I use Harvestead on my phone?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Harvestead works in any phone browser. The site is built for small screens, and your account, garden plan, and course progress are the same everywhere you sign in.

Help & support

What do the two plans include?

Is there a free trial?

How do I change or cancel my plan?

Do you offer refunds?

Email us

Still stuck? Open a ticket