Federal Dam, Minnesota, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
On paper, cabbage, cranberry, turkish rocket, and collard greens all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in Federal Dam, no two yards are alike.
A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single Federal Dam lot. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data around Federal Dam — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Federal Dam — the short answer
Federal Dam, Minnesota: USDA zone 4a, about 164 days between hard freezes, across 1K acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 4a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 1
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 12
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~164
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- City area
- 1K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 4a is Federal Dam's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Federal Dam's 164-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Federal Dam
Each reading below is measured for Federal Dam itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredFederal Dam runs about 164 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.
There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.
Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredFederal Dam sits in USDA hardiness zone 4a.
The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.
Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.
USDA PHZM 2023
The kind of country Federal Dam is in
Federal Dam sits in the Northern Lakes and Forests — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. That is read at Federal Dam's own centroid rather than borrowed from Cass County.
What Grows in Federal Dam
Every plant below cleared Federal Dam's own zone 4a and its 164-day season. Each card opens that plant's Minnesota profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Federal Dam?
Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 3; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 1 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 12 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Late in the year the fall bench takes over — quick greens, radishes, and garlic that repays you next summer.
What's on the federal record near Federal Dam
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Federal Dam. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Riverside Quick StopUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- Montes GarageUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- Tonga Boat LaunchUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- Winnibigoshish ResortUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.2 mi
- Johnson Lumber CoUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.2 mi
- Four Seasons ResortUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.2 mi
- Sugar Point ResortUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.7 mi
- Mcardles ResortUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.8 mi
- Big Winnie StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.2 mi
- Hi Way MobilUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.2 mi
- Birch Ridge ResortUnderground Storage Tanks · 9.4 mi
Measured from Federal Dam's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.
Environmental Intelligence
The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Federal Dam.
Total Sites
11
within ~10 miles of Federal Dam
Risk Level
Low
Highest-severity
11 underground storage tanks
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Federal Dam
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
Check your specific parcel in Federal Dam
Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Federal Dam average
Your land is one point inside Federal Dam
Everything above resolves to Federal Dam as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 1K acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at city scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better local average.
Your Lot vs the Federal Dam Average
Federal Dam Average
- ●USDA Zones 4a, averaged across Federal Dam
- ●One soil character for all of Federal Dam
- ●Frost dates read at Federal Dam's scale: May 1 to Oct 12
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Federal Dam's 4a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Federal Dam
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Federal Dam, Minnesota — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Federal Dam averages can't show:
We read public map data around Federal Dam — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Federal Dam average
How we know this about Federal Dam
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this city’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Federal Dam’s own record; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at city grain anywhere on this page — there is no city-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.
Common questions about Federal Dam
When does frost risk typically end in Federal Dam?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Federal Dam typically lands around May 1, 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 22.
When is the first frost in Federal Dam?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Federal Dam typically arrives around Oct 12, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 28, so the watching starts about Sep 12 — about 164 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Federal Dam?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Federal Dam sees about 164 frost-free days — roughly May 1 through Oct 12, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 22 to Sep 28, about 129 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Federal Dam?
The federal record around Federal Dam is light — 11 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (11), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out — and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. Growing food here starts from a strong position; a soil test before new food beds settles any site-specific question.
How do I protect my plants from frost in Federal Dam?
From about Sep 12 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 12 (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 12. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Federal Dam's scale — its 4a band and its 164-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Federal Dam's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
What this page reads at Federal Dam’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at Federal Dam's own scale — its own ~164-day season between 28°F freezes, the 1,414 acres it covers and 11 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Federal Dam's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Federal Dam's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about May 1 and Oct 12 and the ~164-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 11 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Federal Dam, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Federal Dam's boundary and the 1,414 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4a and a ~164-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Federal Dam's own centroid, the Northern Lakes and ForestsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Federal Dam's 1,414 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Cass County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Cass County
- The growing challenges every Minnesota grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Minnesota
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Cass County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Federal Dam's 1,414 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Federal Dam you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,414 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any Federal Dam-wide figureread your own land →
More in Minnesota
Wider growing context
What grows across MinnesotaFederal Dam sits outside our named growing regions, so Minnesota as a whole is its closest context here.