"William Wagner" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Doug Kanter" wrote:

"higgledy" wrote in message
oups.com...
If the last frost date for zone 5 is April 30, can I SAFELY sow seeds
two weeks prior to April 30? Or is there some reason that I don't
realize why I need to wait till April 30?


You've gotten some good info from other so far. But, something's
missing -
any mention of the things you're planting. I'm in Rochester NY, which is
zone 5-6, depending on just how far you are from Lake Ontario, and who
you
believe. I'll be planting peas around end of March. It's worked for 20+
years so far because peas will put up with a lot of weather nonsense. No
will many greens, not so much because they're tough plants, but because
they're small. With a little wire fence material (bent into a u-shape
over
the rows) and some heavy plastic sheets (from a paint store), you can
protect these things at night, and uncover them during the day.

Brocolli is another that can handle quite a bit of chill, along with
collard
greens, cauliflower, kale. Tomatoes - no way.

If you're going to continue gardening, you owe it to yourself to get to a
book store (the kind you walk into, not the online kind), browse books
for a
while, and buy one.

Don't forget talking with neighbors can yield location info not found
any where else. Perhaps over a BBQ etc.

Right. And, observe your own property to see where you might have
"mini-climates". On the Southeast corner of my previous house, things
survived which shouldn't have because the sun heated the exposed cement
foundation and created sort of a hot bed. That's where I often planted the
earliest lettuces.