The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant carrots is to consult the USDA zone info for Grinnell.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

Frost tolerance for carrots:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since carrots do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Grinnell is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant carrots and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your carrots indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Grinnell. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Grinnell is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Grinnell you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your carrots if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grinnell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Grinnell

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grinnell.