Zone 4a planting calendar

What to plant in October: zone 4a

Zone 4a averages its last spring frost around May 20 and its first fall frost around September 20. Everything below is timed from those two dates, so it stays useful whether you're planting for summer or for a fall harvest.

These are zone-average dates. Check an area-level frost estimate from thirty years of nearby weather history and this calendar retimes itself.

Last frost: May 20

First frost: September 20

Winter lows: -30 to -25 °F

Zone 4a Almanac. What growers here actually recorded: sowing weeks, days to first pick, and yields.

A quiet month in zone 4a

October is a rest-and-plan month here. Use it to order seed, test your soil, repair beds, and map next season's rotation, then jump ahead to November.

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