One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant carrots is to check out the USDA zone info for Oakland.

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 little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The last month that you can plant carrots and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your carrots indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Oakland. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Oakland and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Oakland last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your carrots in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oakland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Oakland

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