Forest County, in Wisconsin, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
Among the crops suited to this profile: cabbage, cranberry, cilantro, and collard greens. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.
Forest County lies within the Northwoods (Northern Wisconsin) — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Forest County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Forest County, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. 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 Forest County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Forest County — the short answer
Forest County, Wisconsin: USDA zone 4b, about 146 days between hard freezes, across 649K acres.
- USDA zone
- 4b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 11
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 4
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~146
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 649K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 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 4b is Forest County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Forest County's 146-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Forest County
Across a year, Forest County accumulates about 1,498 growing degree days above 50°F, about 652 fewer than the middle Wisconsin county — no other Wisconsin county banks fewer. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Forest County
Across Forest County, the ground is predominantly Spodosols, where Padus, Stambaugh, and Wabeno are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a silt loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 5.1–5.9, strongly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group B soils.
Soil order
Spodosols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
24%
Hydric soils
25%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Forest County
The USDA soil survey maps 37% of Forest County as well drained — but another 60% drains differently: 24% moderately well drained, 23% very poorly drained.
Padus is the most extensive named soil at 18% of mapped acres, then Stambaugh (10%) and Wabeno (10%).
Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.
What this means for growing in Forest County
Each reading below is measured for Forest County itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Drainage
MeasuredThe dominant soils across Forest County are well drained, in hydrologic group B — ground that drains quickly.
The upside is soil you can work early in spring and roots that never drown; the cost is that fast-draining ground dries out fast and leaches nutrients away before plants can use them.
Work in compost and mulch to hold moisture and feed, and water more often in short doses than deep and rarely.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Forest County runs about pH 5.1–5.9, on the acidic side.
Blueberries, potatoes, and rhododendrons thrive in it, but most vegetables start locking out nutrients below about pH 6.0 and grow pale and stunted no matter how much you feed them.
A measured lime application raises pH for the crops that need it — but test first, because the right rate depends on your own soil, not the county average.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Wet ground
MeasuredAbout 25% of Forest County is mapped as hydric — wetland — soil.
If your lot falls in one of those pockets, a standard in-ground bed will fight waterlogging all season, and roots that need air will struggle.
Check how your own ground drains before you dig; raised beds or moisture-loving plantings turn a wet corner from a problem into a niche.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredForest County runs about 146 days between hard freezes — a short growing season.
Long-maturing crops like melons, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can run out of runway before the first hard freeze, ripening late or not at all.
Lead with fast-maturing varieties, and stretch the season on both ends with cold frames, low tunnels, or a greenhouse.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
The kind of country Forest County is in
Forest County sits in the Northern Lakes and Forests — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. One consistent ecological setting across the whole county.
What Grows in Forest County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Forest County's own USDA zone 4b and its own 146-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Wisconsin profile.
Is it too late to plant in Forest County?
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 13; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 11 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 4 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Short seasons reward decisiveness — quick-maturing varieties late, hardy greens under cover, and next year’s garlic in the ground before it closes.
What gets applied to farmland in Forest County
USGS estimates 1,397 lb of Glyphosate on Forest County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (1,243 lb) and Metolachlor-s (899 lb).
Farmland across the whole county, not any one lot. Check your address for the site-by-site record.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Forest County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Forest County — 329 documented sites across 6 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 8 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed). Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
There's a meaningful federal record across Forest County — worth a look before you plant food, not a reason to hold back from growing. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. A soil test before new food beds is the sensible precaution here, and the map shows exactly which sites sit where, so you can see what's actually near you.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What's on the federal record near Forest County
Closest first, across Forest County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- GERALD L VORASUnderground Storage Tanks · 750 ft
- PICKEREL LAKE GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 750 ft
- Roland JansenUnderground Storage Tanks · 750 ft
- ROBERT BARTHOLEMEWUnderground Storage Tanks · 750 ft
- FR-37/14E/28-0311Nitrate · 1.2 mi
- NEWALD LANDFILL/NICOLET NATIONAL FORESTSuperfund · 4.2 mi
- FR-38/14E/32-0016Nitrate · 4.5 mi
- FOREST COUNTY HWY DEPTUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.9 mi
- FR-37/13E/28-0299Nitrate · 5.0 mi
- Town Of ArgonneUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.0 mi
- PINE LAKE PUB & CAFEUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.0 mi
- RONALD BROOKSUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.0 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Forest County'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 Forest County.
Total Sites
329
across Forest County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
8 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Forest County
Severity Distribution
across Forest County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Forest County, two things run higher than the national average across Forest County — Superfund (8 sites) and Nitrate (160 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Superfund: Superfund sites represent the most severe contamination in the federal system.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Check your specific parcel in Forest County
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 Forest County average
Your land is one point inside Forest County
Everything above resolves to Forest County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 649K 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 county 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 county average.
Your Lot vs the Forest County Average
Forest County Average
- ●USDA Zones 4b, averaged across Forest County
- ●One soil character for all of Forest County
- ●Frost dates read at Forest County's scale: May 11 to Oct 4
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Forest County's 4b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Forest County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Forest County, Wisconsin — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Forest County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Forest County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Forest County average
How we know this about Forest County
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Forest County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Forest County
When does frost risk typically end in Forest County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Forest County typically lands around May 11, 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 Jun 1.
How long is the growing season in Forest County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Forest County sees about 146 frost-free days — roughly May 11 through Oct 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Jun 1 to Sep 20, about 111 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Forest County?
The federal record around Forest County is a meaningful one — 329 documented sites, mostly Nitrate entries (160), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 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.
How do gardeners stretch the season in Forest County?
With about 146 frost-free days between hard freezes, Forest County rewards the classic extension moves: floating row cover buys roughly two to four extra weeks at each shoulder — on this season that is a working window nearer 174 to 202 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the May 11 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.
Everything above is measured at Forest County's scale — its 4b band and its 146-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Forest County's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Will It Grow Here?
Zone fit is the first question — each answer below reads Wisconsin's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Forest County’s own scale
8 of the readings below were taken at Forest County's own scale — its own ~146-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 329 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Forest County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Forest County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~146-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Forest CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 329 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Forest County's boundary and the 649,129 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4b and a ~146-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Forest County sitting wholly inside the Northern Lakes and ForestsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Forest County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Wisconsin grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Wisconsin
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Forest County — the ~146 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Forest County's 649,129 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 329 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Forest Countyread your own land →