When to plant in Maharishi Vedic City, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 4

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 19

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 14

1 year in 10 by Oct 1

Frost-free days

176

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Fairfield · 5.1 km away · station 228 m, town 241 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	Mar 9 – Mar 23	May 4 – May 18	Jun 28
Sweet pepper	Feb 23 – Mar 9	May 4 – May 18	Jul 3
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 15 – Feb 22	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 1
Peas	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	May 16
Bush beans	—	Apr 27 – May 18	Jun 16
Carrot	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 30
Beet	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 20
Potato	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 9
Kale	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 11
Broccoli	Feb 8 – Feb 22	Mar 22 – Apr 12	May 21
Cucumber	Apr 6 – Apr 13	May 4 – May 18	Jun 23
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 6 – Apr 13	May 4 – May 18	Jun 18
Winter squash	Apr 6 – Apr 13	May 4 – May 18	Jul 23
Sweet corn	—	Apr 27 – May 18	Jun 26
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 22 – Apr 12	Jun 20
Garlic	—	Sep 30 – Oct 28 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	Apr 29
Basil	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 4 – May 18	Jun 30

Plan all 65 crops for Maharishi Vedic City

Maharishi Vedic City'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
1895	May 14
1896	Apr 8
1897	May 31
1898	Apr 11
1899	Apr 16
1900	Apr 13
1909	May 3
1910	Apr 25
1911	Apr 7
1912	Apr 17
1913	Apr 27
1914	May 1
1915	May 9
1916	May 2
1917	May 7
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 15
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 30
1923	May 13
1924	Apr 22
1925	May 25
1926	Apr 26
1927	Apr 24
1928	May 12
1929	May 5
1930	Apr 25
1931	May 7
1932	May 2
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 22
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 22
1940	May 1
1941	Mar 29
1942	Apr 20
1943	Apr 21
1944	May 6
1945	May 14
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 9
1948	May 3
1949	Apr 19
1950	Apr 29
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 15
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 7
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 24
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 22
1960	Apr 10
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 16
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 27
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 24
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 6
1970	May 2
1971	Apr 22
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 17
1974	Apr 24
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 29
1978	Mar 27
1979	Apr 28
1980	Apr 16
1981	Apr 21
1982	Apr 21
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 6
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 6
1988	Apr 29
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 18
1991	Apr 10
1992	May 7
1993	Apr 22
1994	May 3
1995	Apr 5
1996	Apr 25
1997	Apr 18
1998	Apr 5
1999	Mar 27
2000	Apr 12
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 9
2003	Apr 10
2004	Apr 14
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 15
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 15
2010	May 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 21
2013	Apr 24
2014	Apr 18
2015	Apr 23
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 7
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 25
2022	Apr 26
2023	Apr 24
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 10
2026	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1895	138
1896	164
1897	111
1898	185
1909	161
1910	180
1911	197
1912	161
1913	147
1914	176
1915	148
1917	126
1921	168
1923	123
1924	160
1925	137
1926	152
1927	150
1928	134
1929	135
1930	174
1931	178
1932	150
1933	168
1934	182
1935	152
1936	182
1937	167
1938	184
1939	174
1940	147
1941	212
1942	156
1943	176
1944	158
1945	147
1946	191
1947	180
1948	166
1949	161
1950	158
1951	157
1952	170
1953	147
1954	163
1955	194
1956	197
1957	187
1958	154
1959	172
1960	192
1961	170
1962	190
1963	180
1964	181
1965	179
1966	159
1967	157
1968	161
1969	190
1970	160
1971	194
1972	172
1973	195
1974	159
1975	171
1976	155
1977	166
1978	194
1979	159
1980	178
1981	180
1982	182
1983	155
1984	175
1985	179
1986	193
1987	179
1988	158
1989	139
1990	183
1991	162
1992	162
1993	170
1994	174
1995	169
1996	176
1997	184
1998	199
1999	172
2000	177
2001	181
2002	178
2003	174
2004	170
2005	172
2006	185
2007	195
2008	181
2009	177
2010	172
2011	169
2012	167
2013	181
2014	195
2015	176
2016	182
2017	204
2018	176
2019	166
2020	163
2021	189
2022	164
2023	188
2024	177
2025	196

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1895	19.2 °C
1896	18.9 °C
1897	18.9 °C
1898	18.9 °C
1899	19.1 °C
1900	19.9 °C
1902	19.0 °C
1909	19.0 °C
1910	18.6 °C
1911	19.9 °C
1912	19.2 °C
1916	18.6 °C
1917	17.3 °C
1919	19.4 °C
1920	18.0 °C
1921	20.4 °C
1923	19.2 °C
1924	17.2 °C
1925	19.7 °C
1926	18.2 °C
1927	18.2 °C
1928	17.6 °C
1929	18.3 °C
1930	19.9 °C
1931	19.6 °C
1932	18.8 °C
1933	19.8 °C
1934	21.4 °C
1935	18.4 °C
1936	21.5 °C
1937	19.2 °C
1938	19.6 °C
1939	19.7 °C
1940	19.1 °C
1941	20.7 °C
1942	19.9 °C
1943	19.1 °C
1944	19.4 °C
1945	18.2 °C
1946	18.9 °C
1947	19.6 °C
1948	19.6 °C
1949	19.4 °C
1950	17.5 °C
1951	18.1 °C
1952	19.7 °C
1953	19.6 °C
1954	20.4 °C
1955	20.9 °C
1956	20.4 °C
1957	19.7 °C
1958	19.0 °C
1959	20.1 °C
1960	19.7 °C
1961	18.6 °C
1962	19.9 °C
1963	20.4 °C
1964	20.2 °C
1965	18.8 °C
1966	17.9 °C
1967	17.8 °C
1968	19.0 °C
1969	18.9 °C
1971	19.2 °C
1972	18.9 °C
1973	19.1 °C
1974	18.4 °C
1975	18.8 °C
1976	18.9 °C
1978	20.1 °C
1979	19.3 °C
1980	20.0 °C
1981	19.7 °C
1982	18.8 °C
1983	19.9 °C
1984	19.7 °C
1985	19.6 °C
1986	20.2 °C
1987	21.2 °C
1988	21.2 °C
1989	19.0 °C
1990	19.6 °C
1991	20.7 °C
1992	18.1 °C
1993	18.7 °C
1994	19.1 °C
1995	18.9 °C
1996	18.3 °C
1997	18.3 °C
1998	20.2 °C
1999	19.7 °C
2000	20.0 °C
2001	20.2 °C
2002	20.3 °C
2003	19.7 °C
2004	19.4 °C
2005	20.6 °C
2006	20.1 °C
2007	20.1 °C
2008	18.8 °C
2009	18.4 °C
2010	20.8 °C
2011	19.9 °C
2012	20.9 °C
2013	19.2 °C
2014	18.4 °C
2015	19.3 °C
2016	19.8 °C
2017	19.2 °C
2018	19.5 °C
2019	18.6 °C
2020	18.0 °C
2021	19.2 °C
2022	19.6 °C
2023	19.8 °C
2024	19.8 °C
2025	19.8 °C
2026	20.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1895, Maharishi Vedic City's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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