One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant chard is to refer to the USDA zone info for East Rutherford.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Chard do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chard in East Rutherford 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. Any later than that and 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in East Rutherford. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for East Rutherford is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in East Rutherford it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your chard in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Rutherford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in East Rutherford

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Rutherford.