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.

In Cambridge you can determine when it's possible to plant parsnip by looking at 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 ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Cambridge is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant parsnip and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your parsnip may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your parsnip indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Cambridge. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Cambridge is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cambridge last frost occurs after May 15 so always be ready to protect your parsnip in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cambridge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Cambridge

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