What Grows in Long Lake, Illinois

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Long Lake typically lands around Apr 13, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about May 4.

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Long Lake typically arrives around Oct 27, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 13, so the watching starts about Sep 27 — about 197 days after the spring freeze cleared.

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Long Lake sees about 197 frost-free days — roughly Apr 13 through Oct 27, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 4 to Oct 13, about 162 days.

The federal record around Long Lake runs heavier than most — 952 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (496), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 miles out — so test the soil before planting food in the ground, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well in the meantime. Even here, proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what's recorded and where.

From about Sep 27 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Oct 27 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Oct 27. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.