One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Marshalltown you can figure out when to plant field peas by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Field Peas

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

Since field peas are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant field peas in Marshalltown 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 field peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your field peas may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your field peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Marshalltown the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Marshalltown is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Marshalltown you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your field peas in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marshalltown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Marshalltown

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