One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant kale in Marathon should be figured out by looking at 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 are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Marathon 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your kale may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Marathon it never frosts. It might get as low as 45°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Marathon may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since it never frosts in Marathon you do not have to be ready to cover your kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marathon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Marathon

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