Well, OGG, according to the Weather Service --
Cadiz, Ohio has a last frost date on average: April 27.
You could plant cool-season crops on or a little before that date and plant warm-season crops a couple weeks after that date. Your local forecasts can be a guide.
I'm keeping notes on when I see the native plants and other trees bloom, hoping that after a few years, they will be able to tell me. Here it's the pink magnolia, bradford pear and forsythia that bloom first. Now the red buds are doing their thing, and of course the bats and carpenter bees are out as well as the hummingbirds.
The charts generally give me a 10% chance of frost after April 15, but we haven't had freezing temps since early in March and they're only forecasting one night at 45 this week before it's back in the 50's again, with daytime temps in the low 80's. I'm planning to put the tomatoes out in early April and cross my fingers.
Look at the charts, but I'd also ask at the local garden center or plant nursery to see if there is someone who knows your specific area well and has more info.
I always recommend this, but check your extension website. I think Ohio State is the school that has the ag. extensions in Ohio. In IN, Purdue runs our extensions, and they have an AWESOME gardening calendar that actually subdivides the state into multiple regions, and gives planting dates for a bunch of veggies. Other than that, it's just a great resource for new gardeners. I'd imagine that OSU has similar info.
i've been searching and what i've found says about april 15 is last frost. i'm planting alot of new things this year like parsnips and turnips and carrots, etc. but no one i know gardens like i do...
buy tomato plants at walmart or lowes and plant em in the yard. thats the gardening around here... :/
thanks
Of course, recognize that the last frost date you'll see is an AVERAGE, not a rule. You may want to tack another week on for everything except the hardiest of crops -- even things like lettuce & peas...
Case in point: I have all of my early crops in the ground -- lettuce, various cold weather greens, peas, onions, garlic, carrots, etc. We are past our average last frost date. Well, now they are predicting freezing weather for at least four or five nights in the next 7-10 nights. I may end up losing some things. Even little lettuce plants can only take so much!
Official last frost date is good info if you have nothing else to go on -- and at this point, maybe you don't However.
1) remember that your garden may have a significantly earlier or later last frost (by as much as a few weeks in some cases) -- what direction does it face or is it on the flat, and are you on a hilltop or hillside or low area. Plus which *soil temperature* matters too, for many crops -- clay soil stays cold faster than loose sandy soil, dark soil warms up faster than lighter-colored soil, mulch slows warming, temporarily putting on clear plastic sheeting (BEFORE planting, not when seeds are in ground!) speeds warming, and the amount of snow cover the garden had in winter will affect how cold a temperature it's having to warm up *from*.
2) so you will need to experiment and see what REALISTICALLY you can and can't do in your garden. I'd suggest that at least the first 3-5 years you do a lot of succession planting -- some of them rather earlier than you think is likely to succeed -- and keep DETAILED CORRECT records. After a while of this it will all become clearer
3) also, talk with your neighbors and anyone else in your area who seems likely to garden. They can often give very good advice specific to your location, not just on what to plant when, but on what crops and varieties do well, and what your likely pest/disease/mgmt challenges are most likely to be.