When to plant in Brooklyn, MI

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

Safe to plant out
May 20
1 year in 10 has a later frost
Average last frost
May 5
about a 50% chance of a later one
Average first fall frost
Oct 9
1 year in 10 by Sep 30
Frost-free days
160
median, 1991–2020

Station used: Jackson Reynolds Fld · 24.5 km away · station 296 m, town 303 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

CropStart indoorsPlant out or sowHarvest from
Tomato Mar 25 – Apr 8 May 20 – Jun 3 Jul 14
Sweet pepper Mar 11 – Mar 25 May 20 – Jun 3 Jul 19
Lettuce (leaf) Mar 3 – Mar 10 Apr 7 – Apr 21 May 17
Peas — Apr 3 – May 1 May 28
Bush beans — May 13 – Jun 3 Jul 2
Carrot — Apr 14 – May 26 Jun 13
Beet — Apr 13 – May 25 Jun 2
Potato — Apr 14 – May 5 Jun 23
Kale Feb 27 – Mar 13 Apr 10 – Apr 24 May 23
Broccoli Feb 24 – Mar 10 Apr 7 – Apr 28 Jun 6
Cucumber Apr 22 – Apr 29 May 20 – Jun 3 Jul 9
Summer squash and zucchini Apr 22 – Apr 29 May 20 – Jun 3 Jul 4
Winter squash Apr 22 – Apr 29 May 20 – Jun 3 Aug 8
Sweet corn — May 13 – Jun 3 Jul 12
Onion (from sets) — Apr 7 – Apr 28 Jul 6
Garlic — Sep 25 – Oct 23 (fall) following summer
Spinach — Apr 3 – May 1 May 11
Basil Apr 8 – Apr 22 May 20 – Jun 3 Jul 16

Plan all 65 crops for Brooklyn

Brooklyn's weather over time

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

Apr 15May 1May 15Jun 1 19501960197019801990200020102020
Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend
See the data as a table
YearLast spring frost
1949May 11
1950May 8
1951Apr 23
1952Apr 16
1953Apr 21
1954May 10
1955May 9
1956May 16
1957May 16
1958May 5
1959Apr 22
1960May 10
1961May 27
1962Apr 20
1963May 23
1964May 29
1965Apr 29
1966May 31
1967May 3
1968May 6
1969Apr 30
1970May 6
1971May 13
1972May 10
1973May 18
1974May 10
1975Apr 26
1976May 8
1977May 10
1978May 3
1979May 5
1980May 9
1981May 7
1982Apr 22
1983May 9
1984May 16
1985Apr 10
1986May 4
1987May 5
1988Apr 25
1989May 7
1990May 2
1991Apr 12
1992May 25
1993Apr 27
1994May 6
1995Apr 24
1996May 30
1997May 16
1998Apr 28
1999Apr 25
2000Apr 28
2001Apr 25
2002May 20
2003Apr 24
2004May 4
2005May 4
2006Apr 26
2007May 18
2008May 28
2009May 18
2010May 10
2011Apr 21
2012Apr 29
2013May 13
2014May 16
2015Apr 28
2016Apr 14
2017May 9
2018Apr 30
2019Apr 24
2020May 13
2021May 14
2022Apr 28
2023May 4
2024Apr 25

What this means for you: Since 1949, Brooklyn's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Jackson Reynolds Fld (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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