One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

In Orinda you can determine when it's a good idea to plant mustard by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

Frost tolerance for mustard:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant mustard until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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

The last month that you can plant mustard and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your mustard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your mustard indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Orinda. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Orinda is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Orinda there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your mustard if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orinda

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Orinda

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