When to plant in Kennedy, CA

Planting dates worked out from Kennedy's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

Mar 11

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Feb 12

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 29

1 year in 10 by Nov 11

Frost-free days

284

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Stockton Ap · 5.0 km away · station 8 m, town 7 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Jan 14 – Jan 28	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 5
Sweet pepper	Dec 31 – Jan 14	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 10
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 11 – Dec 18	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 24
Peas	—	Jan 1 – Jan 29	Feb 25
Bush beans	—	Mar 4 – Mar 25	Apr 23
Carrot	—	Jan 22 – Mar 5	Mar 23
Beet	—	Jan 15 – Feb 26	Mar 6
Potato	—	Jan 22 – Feb 12	Apr 2
Kale	Dec 4 – Dec 18	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 27
Broccoli	Dec 4 – Dec 18	Jan 15 – Feb 5	Mar 16
Cucumber	Feb 11 – Feb 18	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 30
Summer squash and zucchini	Feb 11 – Feb 18	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 25
Winter squash	Feb 11 – Feb 18	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 30
Sweet corn	—	Mar 4 – Mar 25	May 3
Onion (from sets)	—	Jan 15 – Feb 5	Apr 15
Garlic	—	Nov 15 – Dec 13 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Jan 1 – Jan 29	Feb 8
Basil	Jan 28 – Feb 11	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 7

Plan all 65 crops for Kennedy

Kennedy's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1949	Feb 19
1950	Mar 13
1951	Mar 11
1952	Mar 20
1953	Mar 14
1954	Mar 14
1955	Mar 21
1956	Mar 7
1957	Feb 5
1958	Mar 1
1959	Feb 9
1960	Mar 2
1961	Mar 7
1962	Feb 28
1963	Mar 18
1964	Apr 24
1965	Feb 12
1966	Mar 17
1967	Mar 5
1968	Jan 28
1969	Mar 14
1970	Feb 19
1971	Mar 6
1972	Feb 3
1973	Jan 27
1974	Feb 9
1975	Feb 23
1976	Apr 17
1977	Mar 14
1978	Jan 24
1979	Feb 4
1980	Feb 8
1981	Feb 1
1982	Feb 24
1983	Jan 20
1984	Feb 26
1985	Mar 9
1986	Feb 9
1987	Mar 20
1988	Feb 7
1989	Feb 14
1990	Feb 20
1991	Feb 1
1992	Feb 4
1993	Jan 30
1994	Feb 12
1997	Mar 5
1998	Mar 7
1999	Feb 12
2000	Jan 8
2001	Apr 8
2002	Mar 15
2003	Feb 10
2004	Feb 12
2005	Jan 30
2006	Feb 22
2007	Feb 3
2008	Apr 20
2009	Mar 10
2011	Feb 28
2012	Feb 26
2013	Feb 22
2014	Feb 4
2015	Jan 5
2017	Feb 24
2018	Feb 24
2019	Feb 23
2020	Feb 5
2021	Mar 16
2022	Mar 11
2023	Mar 2
2024	Jan 8

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1949	294
1950	292
1951	270
1952	241
1953	272
1954	248
1955	247
1956	257
1957	290
1958	259
1959	278
1960	278
1961	254
1962	274
1963	266
1964	205
1965	288
1966	284
1967	278
1968	304
1969	248
1970	307
1971	255
1972	304
1973	337
1974	291
1975	268
1976	224
1977	249
1978	291
1979	310
1980	278
1981	312
1982	287
1983	334
1984	272
1985	247
1986	293
1987	250
1988	306
1989	286
1990	276
1991	302
1992	298
1993	297
1994	279
1995	363
1996	334
1997	279
1998	271
1999	295
2000	307
2001	266
2002	256
2003	266
2004	282
2005	300
2006	274
2007	300
2008	231
2009	249
2010	327
2011	254
2012	257
2013	284
2014	325
2015	324
2016	335
2017	284
2018	259
2019	306
2020	276
2021	269
2022	249
2023	267
2024	323

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1949	20.9 °C
1950	21.0 °C
1951	20.1 °C
1952	21.8 °C
1953	20.7 °C
1954	20.6 °C
1955	19.6 °C
1956	20.2 °C
1957	21.0 °C
1958	21.4 °C
1959	21.7 °C
1960	22.6 °C
1961	22.2 °C
1962	21.9 °C
1963	20.6 °C
1964	20.9 °C
1965	21.1 °C
1966	22.1 °C
1967	21.5 °C
1968	21.1 °C
1969	22.0 °C
1970	21.8 °C
1971	21.6 °C
1972	22.0 °C
1973	22.2 °C
1974	22.1 °C
1975	21.1 °C
1976	20.9 °C
1977	22.6 °C
1978	21.9 °C
1979	22.9 °C
1980	21.6 °C
1981	23.0 °C
1982	20.9 °C
1983	21.9 °C
1984	23.0 °C
1985	21.3 °C
1986	20.9 °C
1987	21.8 °C
1988	21.8 °C
1989	21.5 °C
1990	22.4 °C
1991	21.1 °C
1992	22.9 °C
1993	22.0 °C
1994	22.0 °C
1995	21.8 °C
1996	23.0 °C
1997	22.2 °C
1998	20.4 °C
1999	20.3 °C
2000	21.4 °C
2001	21.8 °C
2002	21.3 °C
2003	21.4 °C
2004	21.6 °C
2005	21.9 °C
2006	22.2 °C
2007	22.4 °C
2008	22.0 °C
2009	21.9 °C
2010	20.1 °C
2011	20.6 °C
2012	21.4 °C
2013	22.1 °C
2014	22.5 °C
2015	22.3 °C
2016	22.1 °C
2017	23.0 °C
2018	22.2 °C
2019	22.8 °C
2020	23.6 °C
2021	21.7 °C
2022	23.2 °C
2023	21.8 °C
2024	23.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1949, Kennedy's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 3 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Stockton Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Garden Acres Stockton French Camp August Morada Lathrop