March and April are frustrating months for gardeners in west Michigan. If you’ve been dreaming of getting your garden in the ground, but you look out the window and see snow in your yard, then now is the perfect time to put your dreams on paper. Every successful gardener has a list of what they want to grow that year so that they know they'll have the space for every plant. Are you new to gardening and wonder what grows well here in Michigan? Well wonder no more; here are the basics: Most summer gardens here in Michigan have the staples of cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini. Sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, and green beans also grow well here. If you are looking to plant earlier than mid-May think lettuce, snap peas, kale, and carrots. Your options for vegetables are really endless, which makes gardening in Michigan very exciting! Do you have fruits on your list this year? Strawberries and blueberries do well in Michigan. Cherry and apple trees are also Michigan staples. Watermelons and muskmelons also do well if you have a large enough area or grow smaller varieties up a trellis. If flowers are more your passion, then you are in luck too. Zinnia, marigolds, cosmos, salvia, sunflowers, and petunia are all beautiful annuals (they come up once, then die). If perennials (they come up year after year) are what you are after try coneflowers, Lenten roses, black-eyed susans, allium, sedum, Russian sage, or asters. Once you know what you want to grow, map it out, put it on paper. Then when the weather starts to improve, its time to get dirty. Happy gardening. West Michigan yard farmers: For questions on gardening, or if you'd like to go organic in your garden this year, drop Master Gardener Corey Veldheer a line at Corey@GoodSweetEarth.com. We also offer a Garden Consultation Service to help you navigate through an entire growing season; for more info click here.
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As we look out at the snow-covered fields of Zeeland Township, MI, on this cold February morning, it’s hard to imagine any living critters in the soil surviving the frozen west Michigan winter. But somehow they do! And come spring, the microbes, worms, beetles and fungi will erupt with new activity, helping to produce new life on our farms and in our yards. But how cold is too cold for the survival of soil life? Can microbes live in the Antarctic, where air temperatures regularly linger around -50 degrees Fahrenheit? The answer is– surprisingly– yes! From the Soil Science Society of America: Soils located in polar regions are unique to those found elsewhere, as they contain permafrost. Permafrost is a thick subsurface layer of soil that is frozen year round. In Antarctica, during the coldest parts of the year, the entire soil system is frozen solid. Because of this, the soil is actually very dry, like in deserts! If this is true, wouldn’t it be impossible for living creatures to survive there? Antarctica surely looks like a lifeless, barren area… Amazingly, there is life in Antarctic soils. Even in these extreme environments, scientists have been able to find soil microorganisms alive and thriving. What scientists have found is that these tiny organisms are able to survive by living in microscopic films of water that stick to soil particles (adherence). The bond energy between water molecules and soil particles is so great that it prevents the thin layer of water from freezing, even at extremely low temperatures. Microbes live in this unfrozen water, which allows them to stay alive even during the long deep freeze of winter. These microbes aren’t just surviving, either. During the winter, they are still consuming organic matter, “exhaling” carbon dioxide (CO2) and maintaining their populations. They are actually alive, not even hibernating! You may wonder why scientists are willing to spend their time researching soil microbiology in such remote areas. Studying organisms in extreme and inhospitable environments like the Arctic and Antarctic allows scientists to make inferences about life on other planets. This type of research is also important for understanding how cold ecosystems function now, and how that might change in response to global climate change. Scientists are already starting to observe increased microbial activity in the polar regions. As temperatures rise, microorganisms are predicted to consume more soil organic matter, which could lead to the release of even more CO2 (a greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere. Most of us don’t live in Antarctica, but in the northern parts of the hemisphere, it’s pretty cold in February. If you think you’ve got it bad, try to be inspired by the mighty polar microbes. They are some pretty tough organisms, and because of this, they can teach us very much. At Good Sweet Earth, in order to more effectively treat lawns and gardens naturally and organically, we believe it’s important to fully understand soil and all of the life found within– even if that soil is found at the South Pole! That’s why we are members of organizations like the Soil Science Society of America. If you would like to put our knowledge and expertise to work in your yard this year, get in touch with us at Office@GoodSweetEarth.com. Or check out the products and services we offer. The temps are cooling, and many of our garden crops are done for the season. Our kale and peppers are still producing, and of course there are the fall root crops that grow well into the fall (carrots, beets, radishes, horseradish), but for the most part, we need to start shutting our garden down for the year. And that means preparing things for next year. Here are some things you should be doing right now to make sure your garden (and your soil) are ready to roll next spring:
If you have any questions about preparing your garden space for next year, get in touch with us. We will also be happy to come out and condition your soil for you with Living Worm Compost, peat and make sure it’s ready for winter. We will also help you prepare it for action next spring, complete with crop planning. Just shoot us an email or call 616-594-0693 or email Corey at Corey@GoodSweetEarth.com to set up a free consultation. Garden prep, soil maintenance, crop consultation…it’s what we do! Here’s a challenge more and more yard farmers are considering these days: Feed your family for a year on things you grow. What exactly does that mean, though? Well, it could mean a number of things. Some people attempt to go the pioneer route: Only eat what you grow. Obviously, this is pretty hardcore. Unless you’ve got space to raise livestock, this option means you’re going vegan. It probably also means you’re not going to be eating many carbs (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), unless you can grow enough grain to make dough with. Other people go the route of only eating the fruits, vegetables and herbs they grow. This option means they can still purchase other things, like meat, dairy, bread, etc. This is entirely doable. Our family hasn’t quite made it to this point yet, but every year we’re getting closer and closer. What we aren’t able to grow, we try and buy from a local farmer. Unfortunately, our family is addicted to bananas, which means we still do have to buy some produce from the grocery store. But if you’re ready for a challenge, this is something that, with a little planning and sacrifice (and enough space), a backyard gardener in Metro Detroit could probably do. It would mean eating more things in-season, and also learning how to preserve foods (like corn or tomatoes or basil) so you could enjoy them in the winter. The third option is something of a hybrid between the other two options. Basically, you eat only what you grow– or what you can trade for. I first heard about this in the Novella Carpenter book “Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer.” Ms. Carpenter, who lives and farms in Oakland, CA, spent a year only eating what she raised (in the book, she had chickens and other livestock, so meat and eggs weren’t a problem), but she also allowed herself to trade her garden bounty to get things she couldn’t raise. She was hankering for a fish dinner, for instance, and so she traded some of her produce to a local woman who caught and fried up fish and sold it out of her kitchen. The challenge, with this option, is obviously finding someone with something you want who is also willing to trade. If you’re interested in growing enough food in your garden to feed your family, here’s some information on how much you would need to plant: Asparagus: about 10-15 plants per person Beans (Bush): about 15 plants per person Beans (Pole): 2-4 poles of beans per person (each pole with the four strongest seedlings growing) Beets: about 36 plants per person. Broccoli: 3-5 plants per person Cabbage: 2-3 plants per person Cantaloupe: figure on about 4 fruits per plant (estimate how much your family would eat) Carrots: about 100 seeds per person (1/4 oz would be plenty for a family of six) Cauliflower: 2-3 plants per person Collards: about 5 plants per person Corn: start out with 1/2 lb. seeds for the family and adjust as needed Cucumbers: 3-6 plants per family Eggplant: 3-6 plants per family Lettuce: 4-5 plants per person Okra: 3-4 plants per person Onions: 12-15 plants per person Parsnips: 12-15 plants per person Peas: about 120 plants per person Peppers: 3-5 plants per person Spinach: about 15 plants per person Squash (including Zucchini): about 10 per family Sweet Potatoes: about 75 plants per family Tomatoes: about 20 plants per family Turnips: about 1/4 lb seeds per family Watermelon: about 1/2 oz. seeds per family Obviously, you would have to adjust the list according to your family’s likes and dislikes, and substitute the “dislikes” with more of the “likes,” but as far as quantity, you would probably need to keep things pretty close to what is listed above in order to make it through the year. Maybe you don’t have the space for such an endeavor, or the time and energy, but it’s still fun to dream about living more self-sustainably — like the pioneers did! So a fourth option may be to just pick one thing off that list– tomatoes, for instance– and vow that the only tomatoes you and your family eat for the next year will be the ones you grow. And if your tomato crop craps out? Well, let’s just say you won’t be having many red sauces on your pasta. But if it all works out, and your tomatoes produce enough to feed your family for the year? Mission accomplished, and pat yourself on your pioneer-like back! If you live in West Michigan, we offer a garden consulting service, where a Master Gardener will walk you through the growing season, from planning to planting and all the way through harvest. Email Corey at Corey@GoodSweetEarth.com if you'd like more info on this service. Okay, so autumn rolls around and your yard is covered in dead leaves. What do you think when you look out your window at this scene? A. Ugh! An afternoon wasted raking and bagging those darn things. B. Ugh! There goes my money into the hands of the neighborhood kid who will end up raking and bagging those darn things. C. Yes! Free fertilizer for my lawn. If you answered “C,” then you have the mind of an organic yard farmer. Congratulations! I was just out taking care of the layer of dead leaves on my lawn, and by “taking care of” it, I mean I was running my mulch mower over them. And as I’m doing it, I can’t help but be amazed that trees actually give us FREE FERTILIZER! And to think– people actually rake their leaves into piles and put them in bags for the trash men, and then they waste money by buying and applying insane amounts of dangerous toxins (like Scotts). How backwards are we as a society when the norm is to dispose of real fertilizer (that is given to us free of charge) and waste money on chemicals that actually damage our lawns. Anyway, the mulch mower chops the leaves into tiny bits, which then break down into compost and feed the grass. And if your lawn has been pumped full of beneficial microbes via Worm Tea all season, as ours has, then those chopped up leaves will break down into food for your grass in no time flat. And when they get broken down, it allows the lawn to store up carbohydrates for the winter, making it stronger and quicker to green up in the spring. Now, honestly, mulching your leaves isn’t going to be enough nutrients to feed your lawn for the season, but it’s still silly not to mulch them into your lawn. One, it’s easier than raking them into the street or putting them into piles. Two, it’s better than having trucks pick them up to put them into community compost piles. And three, like I said before, it’s a free source of nitrogen. If you don’t have a mulch mower, just take the bag off so that they get chopped and returned to the turf. It may take two or three passes to adequately chop them up, and it’s still good to run a rake over the turf afterward in order to spread the mulch around and make sure it falls through the grass blades to the soil below. And here’s a tip for mowing in general: You should be mulch mowing all year long. Take that bag off your mower and let the chopped-up grass clippings (as well as leaves from the trees) fall to your turf and feed your grass. It’s absolutely silly to bag that stuff up. It’s free fertilizer, for Pete’s sake. |