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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Ellettsville you should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant kale.

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

The earliest that you can plant kale in Ellettsville 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. If you wait any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to really do well. 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 Ellettsville. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ellettsville and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ellettsville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your kale if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ellettsville

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 Ellettsville

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