What Grows in South Jacksonville, Illinois

The last hard freeze (28°F) in South Jacksonville typically lands around Apr 3, 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 Apr 24.

The first hard freeze (28°F) in South Jacksonville typically arrives around Oct 26, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 12, so the watching starts about Sep 26 — about 206 days after the spring freeze cleared.

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, South Jacksonville sees about 206 frost-free days — roughly Apr 3 through Oct 26, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 24 to Oct 12, about 171 days.

The federal record around South Jacksonville is a meaningful one — 211 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (136), the nearest Brownfields record about 0.3 miles out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.

From about Sep 26 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 26 (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 26. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.