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

In Minneapolis you can estimate when it's the best time to plant kale by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Minneapolis 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Minneapolis. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Minneapolis is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Minneapolis it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Minneapolis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Minneapolis

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