One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Truckee can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

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 moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Truckee 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 few weeks earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Truckee. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind 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 Truckee and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Truckee you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your kale if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Truckee

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Truckee

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