Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Portage can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant chard.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Since chard do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Portage. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Portage is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Portage you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your chard in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portage

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 Portage

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