One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant kale is to check out the USDA zone info for Fostoria.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale 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 kale in Fostoria 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 really do well. Starting your kale indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Fostoria. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Fostoria is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fostoria you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fostoria

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 Fostoria

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