The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Battle Creek should be used to determine when you can plant kale.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Since kale are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Battle Creek 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Battle Creek. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Battle Creek and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Battle Creek last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Battle Creek

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 Battle Creek

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Battle Creek.