When to Plant Spinach in Zone 3a

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Zone 3a you can determine when it's possible to plant spinach by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Spinach

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

Spinach tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant spinach
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant spinach
Probably not a good time to plant spinach

The earliest that you can plant spinach in Zone 3a 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 spinach and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your spinach may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your spinach indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Zone 3a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -40°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zone 3a is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 3a last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your spinach if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-40°F
Highest Expected Low-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 3a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3a.