One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Merrill should be looked at to determine when it's possible 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 can survive in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Merrill is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant kale and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Merrill. You should expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Merrill may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Merrill it frosts late in the year after May 15 so always be ready to cover your kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Merrill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Merrill

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