Gardening questions

momtomany · #1 04/12/10, 08:56 AM

I haven't planted a veggie garden in a long time.

We just bought land last fall, and the area for the veggie garden is hugely overgrown.

I need to pull out the too low and broken fence that the deer hop over, and rototill it and make new fencing.

Any ideas on timelines for planting in Michigan (Washtenaw County)? Or ideas how to figure it out?

It's been a long time since I did this, and I keep feeling like I'm late....(excepting that last cold spell).

Also, any good "realistic books" to help if I have questions? My neighbors are not gardeners, and we aren't too close in proximity. Nearest gardner is down the road a ways, and lives alone. Not real comfortable approaching the gentleman(though I'm sure he's fine) on my own.

Thanks! Sue

momtomany · #2 04/12/10, 09:04 AM

Also, my questions come up because the local men's club doesn't do rototilling until mid-May. I was hoping they could do my garden, but that is utterly too late.....right?

ronbre · #3 04/12/10, 10:35 AM

i'm in Michigan zone 4/5 and you are not too late..

cool weather crops should be in like peas, but you still have time for them if they aren't in..and your tender crops shouldn't go in until Memorial day weekend

ronbre · #4 04/12/10, 10:37 AM

another thing..you also can plant your cold weather crops for a fall crop here..rather than a spring crop..sometimes fall cold weather crops do better here than in spring anyway..

go ahead and get it tilled in may and put in your tenders, (corn, beans, squash, melons, cukes, etc)....if you have a shadier spot go ahead and try some of the cold weather crops..last year mine grew all summer cause it was cold, had lettuces all summer till fall and peas in July

otherwise put the cold weather crops in to mature before winter in the fall

Wolf mom · #5 04/12/10, 11:03 AM

Why not get a jump start on your garden by starting seeds indoors?

Call your county extention service to find your last spring freeze date & your first fall freeze dates. That's your best planting guide. You can set starts out earlier by using wall-o-waters, row covers & other things.

The New Seed Starters Handbook Nancy Buble

Seed-Startng Primer and Almanac Rodale Organic Gardening Book

Seed to Seed I forget who it's by.

There's 3 good books out by Eliot Coleman, (who lives in Maine) that I'd also recommend.

It's amazing how innovative vegie gardening has become in the past few years. Best to you.

Macybaby · #6 04/12/10, 11:34 AM

I live in the southern part of South Dakota, more zone 5 than 4. I always have good intentions but normally don't get my garden going until the first week of June.

And I still manage to get a good crop of peas each year.

geo in mi · #7 04/12/10, 12:36 PM

May 15th to Memorial Day for most things, but watch out for frost warnings and be prepared...
geo

Mrs.Swirtz · #8 04/13/10, 03:31 AM

If you patch the broken spots in the fence you can then tighten it by taking a pair of pliers and twisting the wire a 1/4 turn on every strand every several feet. This might sound like work but it really isn't. Patching it takes the longest. I tightened a 1/4 acre of fence in about 45 minutes. It will look almost brand new. I used to have a horse that would walk the fence (step on it) and make big holes (big enough for a 300 lb hog to fit through. She would also reach over for the greener grass. The fence in most spots was little over knee high. I tightened it like I said and it straitened right up and was tighter than it was when I put it up.

Backfourty,MI. · #9 04/13/10, 05:54 AM

When I use to live downstate I always could get my garden in the 1st or 2nd week of May.
Since we've moved north I HAVE to wait till the end of May & then still the crazy late Freezes & frosts Have killed alot of what I planted even planted that late & covering them the last 2 years. Last year I only lost a few things.

Good luck with your garden, alot of hard work but so much satisfaction when you see what you did with your own hands! Nothing better than homegrown produce either!

7thswan · #10 04/13/10, 06:32 AM

I burn my garden off. The ground is too wet to till here. I have a permanite place for the peas,so they can be planted early. You still have plenty of time. Do you really need the fence? The deer don't come near my garden, but it's fenced against the chickens and dogs. I'll be planting mid-May.

Wisconsin Ann · #11 04/13/10, 08:04 AM

Get it tilled and ready to plant. Been decent weather in the midwest recently, so you should be able to get into the garden and get it ready.

Plant peas and beets as soon as you get it tilled. Being int he ground when it frosts won't hurt them. Do wait until at least Mid May to plant most things.

Start some tomatoes and peppers inside

In a few weeks, when you can transplant them, you'll have nice little plants ready to go.

highlandview · #12 04/13/10, 08:18 AM

Go to the Old Farmers Almanac website and you can enter your zipcode for planting dates. http://www.almanac.com/

Callieslamb · #13 04/13/10, 08:49 AM

I am in SW michigan. I only have onions out right now. The peas...well, they are waiting on something to show their little heads. Hopefully, this week I will get the lettuces, spinach, broccoli and cabbages out. If you are going to start your own from seeds - better hurry! There's just enough time to start tomatoes.

My favorite book: Dick Raymond, "The Joy of Gardening". Great info on each veggie/pest. No expensive stuff.

I have not had good luck with the MI Extension service. In fact, I have never reached them by phone, despite trying over and over.

I found a chart on the internet years ago...if you will PM me and send me your home email, I will email it to you as an attachment. I will not SPAM you.....

On the chart, you figure out your last and first frost day. Use the last frost date as your OO date. To either side of the OO - you label the chart in 10-day increments. Follow the line of each date down and it shows what you can plant when for your area. I love it since it is adjustable for your location. it is easier to do than I can explain. It is a 15K file and a simple word table. I only wish I could give credit to where I got it, but it was years ago.

Maura · #14 04/13/10, 11:54 PM

I wouldn't till. I'd get the big stuff out, mow if you have to, then lasagne garden.

If the ground is wet, it is cold. If it is cold, you're not going to get growth on what you plant and they will be stunted. Go to a garden center and ask the sales people when you should plant. That's about as local as you're going to get, knowledge wise. The zone maps are nice, but there are pockets that are a little warmer, a little cooler, because of the lake effect.

Laura Zone 10 · #15 04/14/10, 06:45 AM

Back Yard Homesteading
Back issues (at the library) of Mother Earth News, Backwoods Home, Grit, Hobby Farms, and other like minded magazines.

ShawneeVt · #16 04/18/10, 08:29 AM

"The Vegetable Gardener's Bible" By Ed Smith. Published by Storey Books. At $25, it's an investment--but a very, very good investment.

Good luck w/ your garden

--shawnee at echo valley farm in vermont

soulsurvivor · #17 04/18/10, 12:50 PM

Never hurts to get the ground ready and that's always where the major sweat work comes in, so nice to have cooler weather for that. We've worked all week on our garden soil with plowing under the cover crop and then tilling the dirt and mixing in the compost. Now it's going to sit and breathe for a few weeks before the major planting happens. We planted the onion sets and also have lettuce, cabbage, and peas planted. But the major planting won't happen here until Memorial Day or after, and we're further south of you. So you're ok with your timing. With some of our tomato seeds, we're going to direct sow those in the ground somewhere around the middle to end of June, timing it to produce a fall crop before first frost. We did this last year and had great success with our fall tomato crop, actually best tomato production we've ever had.

fatrat · #18 04/20/10, 09:36 AM

I used to live in Washtenaw County. Safe planting time is usually no sooner than the last week of May. The corn farmers will plant sooner but corn can be planted sooner because the growing point of the seedling is below the ground and protected from frost and the hybrids they use are treated with fungicides. For your garden in Washtenaw County I'd wait until the last week of May at the soonest. Of course you can plant sooner some years but you never know for sure and the last week of May is the earliest safe date. We had a neighbor when I lived in Oakland County that would plant early May but he would often have to replant due to frost. Of course there are things you can plant earlier if you want such as cabbage, brussel sprouts, and broccoli.

deb_rn · #19 04/20/10, 09:39 AM

I live in zone 4 and planted my carrots, beets, peas, kale, onions a couple weeks ago. I direct seed broccoli and cabbage and it does better than the starter plants from the greenhouse. These aren't bothered by a little frost.
Debbie

FarmboyBill · #20 04/20/10, 02:10 PM

Id burn it off if I could, then keep it tilled for the rest of the year. I have/had Johnson grass growing in my mkt garden so thick I quit gardening it and hayed it instead. This year, I burnt it off early, then plowed it, and have disced it around 2doz times. Now, I disc it one day, and run the rollar/packer over it the next so as to break up clods. It is as clean as a brown golf course. JG roots go down deep tho, so im staying after it till AUG when there will be 2 days by the signs that are good for killing brush ect. Then Ill get ready for a fall garden.

If you dont think you can have a fall garden, then id just keep it clean till winter and then sow it to rye grass and let it over winter and be ready to go next spring. U say your on a new place, so, there ought to be many other things you can do to get the new place ready while your keeping your garden area clean and weed free.

Another thing you can try, is get it all PLOWED/tilled DEEP under and plant Buckwheat on it. Buckwheat has hollow stems, and when it grows a foot or so high , turn it under(makeing sure none goes to seed), Its great for rebuilding up the soil. BUT, If you cant get the brush, weeds, taken completly under, so that the buckwheat, or rye has a good chance of seeding itself and growing up ahead of the stuff you put under, then I wouldnt waste my time or money in doing it, as the weeds will resprout and choke out the seed.

Also, sounds like you need to get your own tiller, as your going to need to keep that garden clean for a long time till the roots finally give up and die out. As long as the roots can get a leaf to form, then they can live. As long as you can keep that from happineing, they can draw in moisture, and in time they will die.