Posted: 2/18/2013 9:35:04 AM EDT
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To start I have spent some time in the homestead section but I figure this would be a even better place to ask my questions.
My wife and I have zero expirence on gardening. We have about 1-1.5 acres to work with in genesee county and we just want to start small. I have a lot of old semi truck tires I thought about using for potatoes and a few other things. But is there a good book or website for Michigan vegetable growing. What I'm looking for is a good source from start to finish to learn when to plant things and how to actually grow them. Again I'm a complete beginner. Any help is appreciated. |
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I'm in the same boat. I just inherited a house with a very sizable garden and now need a crash course in gardening. I plan on continuing what had been previously grown here (Corn, Pumpkins, Green Beans, Squash, Zuchini, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Peppers and maybe some herbs).
If I get any good answers I will let you know. |
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First of all you guys need to get your soil tested.
Go here & find your Zone:USDA Plant Hardiness zone map For the Beginner Gardener there are a couple of ways. Find your local Extension Office and find out about the Master Gardener Program in your area. MSU EO Go to your local nursery, not Lowes or HD! Talk to them. Anyone in your area that gardens? They can be a good source, just don't take up their day. Get the All New Square Foot Gardening: Mel Bartholomew and go to the site: SFG Use Hybrids seeds to start and then go to Heirlooms. |
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I've had a 25'x35' garden for the past 15 years. First off, +1 on getting your soil tested and adjusting the ph and adding the right amount of nitrogen/fertilizer to get it right. This makes a huge difference. Soil. Go to your township recycling center and see if they have a compost center. I live in Ypsilanti township and residents get the first 2 cubic yards free, but you have to shovel it yourself. They will use the loader only if you have a trailer. After that it's $12 a yard. Non residents can get it for $15 a yard. This stuff is pure gold for the garden. Even at $15 a yard, it's far cheaper than the $3.00 bags sold at home centers and nurseries. You don't have to do your whole garden with the compost, just dig a hole, and mix in a full shovel full of compost for each plant. Whatever you do, NEVER put in raw manure in your soil. The worst mistake I ever made was putting raw horse manure I got for free in the soil in the fall. I thought correctly that It would break down over the winter and give great nutrients in the soil. It was incredible stuff for growing plants, but the problem is that weed and grass seeds pass right through the animal and stay in the manure. I provided the near perfect growing conditions for the transplanted weed seeds and they were horrible. ONLY use composted manure a few years old. Trust me on this. Weed control. I hate weeds and this WILL take up the majority of your time and generally piss you off if not controlled from the beginning. After planting the seedlings, I place soaker hose down, put landscaping cloth on top of the entire garden, then cover with straw. This knocks the weeds off, keeps the soil moist, and greatly minimizes water usage. I even put an electronic multi-zone timer that automatically waters twice a week through the soaker hose cause I'm lazy.  Bugs. They will destroy your plants if not controlled. I spray with Sevin using only 1/2 the recommended rate mixed with regular dish soap once a week in the beginning (and after every rain), then stop with the Sevin 3 weeks before harvest, but still spray with dish soap. Read up on Jerry Baker's garden tonics for the soap proportions with water on your sprayer. His homebrew garden tonics/fertilizer work very well without all the nasty chemicals. Soap is great for killing bugs because bugs breathe through the pores in their exoskeleton, but when soap is in water, the surface tension of the water is broken and water soaks right into the tiny pores and drowns them. One problem I had with tomatoes was the typical end blossom rot. My ph the high content clay soil was not acidic enough and there was not enough calcium in the soil. Start gathering eggshells, then grind them up. Soak 2 cups ground eggshells in a quart of vinegar for a week, then add a 1/4 cup of this mix in each hole for the tomato plant. Throw in a handful of Ironite, available at the home center, in each hole also to give the plants all other required minerals. |
Here is just an example of how well the soaker hose, landscape cloth, and straw method works. Last summer was brutal for heat, and many gardeners complained of how their plants were ruined. Except mine  . It was one of my best years.Below are pictures of my favorite sweet peppers, Giant Marconi. One day I harvested 32 lbs of them. I had 18 plants. Here they are before they turned red.  Had to stake them up from such high yield of peppers. That's my wife in the hat.  The harvest one day  |
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A bit more info on protecting your garden from 4 legged pests. In one of my pics above, you can see rabbit guard fencing stapled on 2x6's on end. The problem is rabbit guard fencing only works on fully grown rabbits. I had to further reinforce my perimeter defense with one foot tall chicken wire with 1" holes with the fencing. Only that stopped them. The first year as a garden newbie, I tried plastic garden fencing because it was cheaper than wire. The bunny #$#@#'s chewed right through it. I swear they were sitting in my garden at night mocking my foolishness. |
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You newish to gardening and growing stuff guys, have a resource that is already paid for...and one of the best in the world.
The more folks that participate and take part in the various county extension programs, the better. The Garden side of the house is horribly under utilized. The Garden info is good, but don't be shy about looking into the resources for us Ag types as well. The overlap is there. Moo U extension Good on ya for digging in and growing stuff! |
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What county are you in? Edit - missed it the first time. Genessee county, southern MI, earlier spring and first frost end of September or early October.
What is the soil like, in general? Wet, dry, clay, sand, loam? What tools do you have at your disposal? Do you have a neighbor or friend with a rototiller? What do you like to eat? Since you are starting small, only plant the things you really like. Snap peas are easy to grow. Plant them early, and you should be harvesting some by late June or 4th of July at the latest. Carrots and radishes can be planted together, also early. Radishes will all be harvested by the time the carrots come up. Tomatoes are expensive to buy large plants. Small plants generally do OK, but if you get to the point of planting several (We planted 30 or so each year) they are easy to start from seed, indoors, in 10 oz plastic cups, with a standard shop light about 1 inch away from the leaves. Buy tomato plants this year if you like to eat tomatoes, try some from seed next year if you want more than a few plants. Squash is prolific and was easy to grow. Pumpkins also. They like rich soil. Add zuchinni, summer squash, and cucumbers to this list. I did not have much luck with melons or eggplant, my soil was too sandy. Same with corn. I had poor luck starting peppers from seed, but they grew well, and I would get a whole flat of various kinds - bell, sweet banana, Hungarian wax, and assorted hot varieties. Onions are easy to grow from sets. Garlic is the same way but you plant it in the fall. If you like asparagus, get the plants started this spring. Same with berry bushes and fruit trees. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
| I use the ashes from my wood burning stove as fertilizer. Rain barrel for watering. Many plants don't care for chlorine or fluoride. Weeds suck, but I don't mulch much. Wood chips in the tomato garden adds acidity. Jerusalem artichokes, blue Scottish curled kale, and hops are great. Get some perrenials going and change up the annuals to prevent disease. I'll have a ton of Jerusalem artichokes that you (or anyone) can have come spring. Just plant them and wait a year and they grow like crazy. |
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I'm hoping this year to finally get my rain barrel on an automated pump system. I tend to travel for work during the summer months, so my friend usually waters my plants for me. But I can't always rely in him.
If you're near Detroit, check out Eastern Market for starter plants come spring. There's a few vendors who sell heirloom varieties, and pretty cheap. IIRC, a pack of 4 for $1.50. |
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Quoted: I'm hoping this year to finally get my rain barrel on an automated pump system. I tend to travel for work during the summer months, so my friend usually waters my plants for me. But I can't always rely in him. If you're near Detroit, check out Eastern Market for starter plants come spring. There's a few vendors who sell heirloom varieties, and pretty cheap. IIRC, a pack of 4 for $1.50. Coleman's Farm Market in Ypsilanti has a huge variety of heirloom vegetables for sale in the spring. They have two locations in Ypsi. |