When to plant in Rancho Tehama Reserve, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Mar 31

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Feb 21

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 29

1 year in 10 by Nov 10

Frost-free days

284

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Red Bluff Muni Ap · 19.6 km away · station 108 m, town 160 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 25
Sweet pepper	Jan 20 – Feb 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 30
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 20 – Dec 27	Jan 24 – Feb 7	Mar 5
Peas	—	Jan 10 – Feb 7	Mar 6
Bush beans	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	May 13
Carrot	—	Jan 31 – Mar 14	Apr 1
Beet	—	Jan 24 – Mar 7	Mar 15
Potato	—	Jan 31 – Feb 21	Apr 11
Kale	Dec 13 – Dec 27	Jan 24 – Feb 7	Mar 8
Broccoli	Dec 13 – Dec 27	Jan 24 – Feb 14	Mar 25
Cucumber	Mar 3 – Mar 10	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 20
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 3 – Mar 10	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 15
Winter squash	Mar 3 – Mar 10	Mar 31 – Apr 14	Jun 19
Sweet corn	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	May 23
Onion (from sets)	—	Jan 24 – Feb 14	Apr 24
Garlic	—	Nov 14 – Dec 12 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Jan 10 – Feb 7	Feb 17
Basil	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 27

Plan all 65 crops for Rancho Tehama Reserve

Rancho Tehama Reserve'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
1935	Apr 9
1936	Apr 1
1937	Feb 15
1938	Mar 21
1939	Mar 4
1940	Mar 11
1941	Jan 4
1942	Mar 27
1943	Mar 30
1944	Apr 20
1945	Mar 24
1946	Feb 16
1947	Jan 31
1948	Apr 6
1949	Feb 16
1950	Mar 12
1951	Mar 11
1952	Mar 20
1953	Mar 13
1954	Jan 25
1955	Apr 27
1956	Mar 6
1957	Feb 5
1958	Mar 9
1959	Feb 12
1960	Jan 17
1961	Jan 21
1962	Feb 28
1963	Mar 17
1964	Mar 2
1965	Jan 8
1966	Mar 17
1967	Apr 28
1968	Jan 28
1969	Mar 8
1970	Jan 29
1971	Mar 6
1972	Apr 13
1973	Jan 28
1974	Feb 22
1975	Feb 23
1976	Mar 6
1977	Feb 3
1979	Feb 3
1980	Jan 30
1981	Feb 4
1982	Apr 7
1983	Jan 13
1984	Feb 10
1985	Feb 10
1986	Feb 10
1989	Mar 3
1990	Mar 13
1991	Mar 11
1992	Jan 21
1993	Feb 28
1994	Feb 15
1995	Mar 24
1996	Mar 30
1997	Mar 5
1998	Jan 6
1999	Apr 9
2000	Jan 12
2001	Apr 8
2002	Mar 8
2003	Feb 11
2004	Feb 11
2005	Jan 14
2006	Mar 13
2007	Feb 27
2008	Feb 5
2009	Mar 10
2010	Mar 13
2011	Mar 1
2012	Apr 6
2013	Feb 18
2014	Feb 5
2015	Jan 3
2017	Feb 28
2018	Mar 5
2019	Feb 23
2020	Jan 15
2021	Jan 26
2022	Feb 26
2023	Mar 27
2024	Mar 4

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1935	203
1936	222
1937	310
1938	234
1939	274
1940	276
1941	317
1942	222
1943	256
1944	210
1945	227
1946	254
1947	296
1948	234
1949	296
1950	293
1951	257
1952	248
1953	284
1954	308
1955	199
1956	265
1957	290
1958	250
1959	296
1960	313
1961	299
1962	299
1963	269
1964	258
1965	323
1966	285
1967	216
1968	308
1969	255
1970	316
1971	272
1972	235
1973	336
1974	280
1975	277
1976	267
1977	288
1978	314
1979	290
1980	311
1981	329
1982	263
1983	343
1984	287
1985	274
1989	269
1990	251
1991	249
1992	293
1993	260
1994	271
1995	271
1996	260
1997	289
1998	331
1999	226
2000	301
2001	232
2002	284
2003	285
2004	290
2005	322
2006	256
2007	276
2008	301
2009	251
2010	255
2011	251
2012	217
2013	289
2014	324
2015	328
2016	338
2017	283
2018	299
2019	278
2020	298
2021	324
2022	267
2023	243
2024	269

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1935	22.9 °C
1936	22.9 °C
1937	22.6 °C
1938	23.2 °C
1939	23.6 °C
1941	21.9 °C
1942	21.8 °C
1943	22.5 °C
1944	22.3 °C
1945	22.7 °C
1946	22.3 °C
1948	21.2 °C
1949	23.6 °C
1950	24.1 °C
1951	23.7 °C
1952	23.6 °C
1953	22.0 °C
1954	22.6 °C
1955	22.2 °C
1956	22.7 °C
1957	22.9 °C
1958	23.5 °C
1959	23.8 °C
1960	23.8 °C
1961	23.4 °C
1962	23.1 °C
1963	21.7 °C
1964	22.3 °C
1965	22.0 °C
1966	23.7 °C
1967	22.4 °C
1968	22.9 °C
1969	23.7 °C
1970	23.3 °C
1971	22.3 °C
1972	23.0 °C
1973	23.4 °C
1974	23.0 °C
1975	22.4 °C
1976	23.1 °C
1977	23.7 °C
1978	23.4 °C
1979	23.8 °C
1980	22.4 °C
1981	24.5 °C
1982	21.9 °C
1983	22.1 °C
1984	23.7 °C
1985	23.4 °C
1988	24.0 °C
1989	23.2 °C
1990	23.7 °C
1991	22.6 °C
1992	23.7 °C
1993	21.8 °C
1994	22.8 °C
1995	21.7 °C
1997	23.1 °C
1998	21.3 °C
1999	22.0 °C
2000	22.5 °C
2001	23.2 °C
2002	23.3 °C
2003	22.6 °C
2004	23.3 °C
2005	22.2 °C
2006	23.4 °C
2007	23.0 °C
2008	23.6 °C
2009	23.8 °C
2010	21.9 °C
2011	22.2 °C
2012	23.3 °C
2013	24.0 °C
2014	24.3 °C
2015	24.2 °C
2016	24.1 °C
2017	24.4 °C
2018	23.6 °C
2019	23.7 °C
2020	24.6 °C
2021	25.1 °C
2022	24.3 °C
2023	23.6 °C
2024	24.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1935, Rancho Tehama Reserve'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 Red Bluff Muni Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Corning Gerber Red Bluff Los Molinos Orland Cottonwood (near Anderson)