Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when you can plant parsnip by referring to the USDA zone info for Sturgis.

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 some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Sturgis 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 parsnip and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your parsnip may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your parsnip indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Sturgis. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Sturgis is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Sturgis you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your parsnip if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sturgis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Sturgis

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