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.

The USDA zone info for Hereford can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant kale.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Hereford 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. If you wait any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Hereford the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hereford is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Hereford there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hereford

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 Hereford

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