One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when you can plant kale is to consult the USDA zone info for Walnut Ridge.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale do well in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Walnut Ridge 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Walnut Ridge. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Walnut Ridge is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Walnut Ridge it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Walnut Ridge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Walnut Ridge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Walnut Ridge.