What Grows in West Kootenai, Montana

The last hard freeze (28°F) in West Kootenai typically lands around Apr 27, 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 18.

The first hard freeze (28°F) in West Kootenai typically arrives around Oct 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 25, so the watching starts about Sep 9 — about 165 days after the spring freeze cleared.

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, West Kootenai sees about 165 frost-free days — roughly Apr 27 through Oct 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 18 to Sep 25, about 130 days.

The federal record around West Kootenai is a meaningful one — 41 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (18), the nearest Mining record about 0.7 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 9 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 9 (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 9. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.