One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

One way of determining when to plant peas is to check out the USDA zone info for Sparta.

Planting Calendar for Peas

Frost tolerance for peas:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since peas do well in cold you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant peas in Sparta 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 peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your peas may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Sparta. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sparta is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sparta last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your peas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sparta

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 Sparta

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