Yes — Strong Match
Swiss chard (zones 2-11) covers every zone Minnesota contains (3a-5a), so hardiness is not what limits it anywhere in the state.
Swiss Chard in Minnesota — the short answer
Swiss Chard in Minnesota: hardy in zones 2–11, part sun, against a state median of ~174 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 2-11
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Minnesota zones
- 3a-5a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Apr 19 - Apr 30 – Oct 10 - Oct 17
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 137 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
- Days to maturity
- 55 days
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Minnesota spans zones 3a-5a, but your yard has its own microclimate — slope, trees, and low spots shift frost and sun across a single parcel. Enter your address and we'll score swiss chard against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Minnesota is not one climate
A single Minnesota answer averages 87 counties whose growing seasons are 62 days apart — from 137 frost-free days in Lake County to 199 in Ramsey County. Which end of that your land sits nearer changes what swiss chard can finish before the first hard freeze.
The middle half of 87 counties runs 162–181 days, with a median of 174 days — a 62-day span end to end.
Measured across 87 Minnesota counties. NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where in Minnesota Fits Best
Even within Minnesota's zones 3a-5a, county microclimates differ enough to change what thrives. These counties carry the closest zone match for swiss chard (USDA PHZM 2023):
Zone Comparison
Swiss Chard Needs
- USDA Zones: 2-11
- Frost-Free Days: 160+
- Sun: Part Sun
- Mature size: 1.5 ft tall
- Picking window: ~90 days of harvest
- Drought tolerance: Medium
Minnesota Has
- USDA Zones: 3a-5a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Apr 19 - Apr 30
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 10 - Oct 17
- Annual Rainfall: 19-34 inches
- Common Soils: Prairie loam, Clay, Sandy outwash
Plant Zone Range (zones 2-11)
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Swiss Chard in Minnesota
The frost window
Across Minnesota, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 19 and Apr 30, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 10 and Oct 17 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 163-day window you can count on — up to 181 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
Frost tenderness
Swiss Chard is frost-tender — FAO ECOCROP puts its killing temperature at 32°F — so set plants out two to three weeks PAST your local last hard freeze, not on it and not on the state's earliest date. The 28°F marker above is when killing freezes stop, not when light frost does. That is the point where cold damages growing tissue, not a winter-survival floor — an established perennial comes through far colder while dormant, which is what its hardiness zone tells you.
When to start the seed
Swiss Chard is direct-sown where it grows rather than started under cover, so there is no seed-tray head start to bank — Minnesota's dates above are the whole calendar for it. That makes the last-freeze date the binding constraint, and a warmer pocket of your own yard is worth more to this crop than it is to a transplanted one.
Days to maturity vs. the window
At 55 days to maturity (Growable Ground Plant Database), counting from the last hard freeze it ripens with 108 days to spare even in Minnesota's tightest freeze scenario — room for a later start or a second sowing.
Timing tuned to sub-state frost dates — Lake County, not the statewide average.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
The zone check says swiss chard survives winter here. Whether the season is long enough — and warm enough — is a different question.
Frost-free days
Swiss Chard wants 160+ frost-free days; a typical Minnesota site sees ~174 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). That leaves a tight window — use transplants and pick early-maturing cultivars.
Growing degree days
Swiss Chard needs ~700 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. The state median runs ~1920 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so Minnesota's typical season clears that easily.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Swiss Chard likes near-neutral soil (pH 5.5-7.5). That's the common-ground band across Minnesota's prairie loam and clay — a soil test confirms it for your site. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 6 and 7 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Minnesota soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Minnesota site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, raised beds or amendment with compost solve it.
Your land, not the state average
Whether swiss chard is safe to eat from Minnesota soil is a block-by-block question, not a town-wide one — 59,092 documented contamination sites mean levels spike on some parcels and not the one next door. Swiss Chard roots to about 19 inches, so it is the top 19 inches under your address that decide what it takes up, so only a test on your address settles it.
Check your parcel → Source: USDA NRCS SSURGO + EPA/state contamination databases.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Minnesota soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant swiss chard for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before swiss chard goes in. What follows is Minnesota’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Minnesota — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Minnesota — 59,092 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 172 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Minnesota carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Minnesota
Severity Distribution
across Minnesota
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Minnesota, two things run higher than the national average across Minnesota — CAFO (1,010 sites) and Brownfields (29,697 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties where legacy soil contamination (heavy metals, PAHs, petroleum compounds) may persist.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Check EPA brownfield remediation status — many sites have completed cleanup with institutional controls.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Swiss Chard in Minnesota
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Minnesota growers also need to think about:
Extreme cold (zone 3a: -40F) limits many species
Short growing season (100-140 frost-free days)
Heavy clay soils in the Red River Valley
Growing swiss chard here specifically
Swiss Chard grows its edible leaves in the soil itself, so on any of Minnesota's 59,092 documented contamination sites it can carry up lead you'd then eat.
Keep swiss chard in raised beds of screened clean soil and confirm your parcel's lead level before the first crop. How to handle it →
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Minnesota grower, not just swiss chard — is covered on the Minnesota growing guide.
Timing shifts within Minnesota
Minnesota isn't one climate. In Lake County, the last hard freeze (28°F) holds until about May 14 — roughly 23 days later than the recorded state median — so plant swiss chard to your county's window, not the statewide date.
Swiss Chard needs about 160 days of frost-free season to complete its cycle. 74 of Minnesota’s 87 counties give it that outright. The tightest that does is Aitkin County at 160 frost-free days — 0 to spare. Below that line you are transplanting or extending the season, not direct-sowing.
Across Minnesota’s 87 counties the frost-free season runs from 137 days in Lake County to 199 days in Ramsey County — a spread of 62 days, which is why a single statewide planting date misleads. The median Minnesota county sees 174 frost-free days, leaving swiss chard about 14 days of slack on a typical parcel — room for a second sowing where the season runs long.
County last-freeze dates and frost-free day counts: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F freeze (earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost"). Swiss Chard's 160-day requirement: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database (minimum frost-free days). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Minnesota Cooperative Extension
For Minnesota-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for swiss chard, the canonical source is University of Minnesota Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Common Questions About Growing Swiss Chard in Minnesota
When can I plant Swiss Chard in Minnesota?
Minnesota's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 19 and Apr 30, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 10 and Oct 17 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Swiss Chard is frost-tender — its killing temperature is 32°F (FAO ECOCROP — the point where cold damages growing tissue, not a winter-survival floor) — so wait two to three weeks past your site's last hard freeze, when light frost has also stopped, before planting out.
Can Swiss Chard mature before first frost in Minnesota?
Yes — Swiss Chard matures in 55 days (Growable Ground Plant Database), and Minnesota's dependable hard-freeze-free window runs 163 days (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020), leaving 108 days of margin. Plant once the last hard freeze has passed — two to three weeks later for anything tender — and it ripens ahead of the first fall freeze.
What hardiness zone is Swiss Chard grown in across Minnesota?
Minnesota spans USDA hardiness zones 3a-5a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Swiss Chard carries a range of zones 2-11, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Minnesota site have?
A typical Minnesota site sees ~174 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Swiss Chard needs 160+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date. In cooler counties like Lake, the freeze-free season runs shorter than the state average, so verify your own county's window.
How should I amend the soil for Swiss Chard in Minnesota?
Swiss Chard prefers pH 5.5-7.5 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That sits in the common-ground band across Minnesota soils — a 30-minute soil test from a local Extension lab confirms it for your specific site.
Will Swiss Chard actually grow on my specific land in Minnesota?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores swiss chard against your address's exact soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Minnesota
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores swiss chard against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Minnesota swiss chard averages can't show:
We read public map data around Minnesota — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Minnesota swiss chard average
Explore More
Growing guides for swiss chard
Explore Minnesota county by county
Minnesota carries 87 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for swiss chard there:
Where else swiss chard grows
Swiss Chard's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Minnesota in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Minnesota
Minnesota has a growing page for 747 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Analysis by the Growable Ground research team, grounded in USDA PLANTS, USDA NRCS SSURGO, NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020), and named Cooperative Extension sources. How we know →
Cite this dataset
Kirchick, M. (2026). Growable Ground Plant Database [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21435643
Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21435643
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