One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Munster you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant parsnip by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Parsnip do well in some cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Munster 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 parsnip and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your parsnip may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your parsnip indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Munster. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Munster and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Munster you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your parsnip in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Munster

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Munster

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