..read more

Planting garlic cloves in mid to late October will help get roots established before the ground freezes. Shoots may not emerge from the soil until the following spring. Separate the individual cloves no more than two days before planting. I like to use organic hardneck garlic from Johnny’s Seeds and cloves harvested from the summer (one wise community gardener uses the largest cloves she harvested so that she is propagating larger cloves over time). Plant them with the base of the clove 2-3 inches deep with the pointed end up. Row spacing may vary, but spacing 4 inches apart within rows is sat ..read more

I’ve been researching vintage fashion for gardeners and found this image. This year I’m growing collards to make this outfit for my sweetheart ..read more

“Spring when the world is mud-luscious when the world is puddle-wonderful” e.e. cummings ..read more

When spring arrives, I can’t wait to work in the garden, but when is it too early? The USDA hardiness zone map breaks the United States into zones based on average minimum winter temperature. That is, the coldest temperature we are likely to see each winter, on average, for a given location in the country. This is critical information for choosing landscape trees and shrubs since winter cold is one of the main determinants of where plants can survive. In Michigan, our hardiness zones range from 4a in the western Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, to 6b in the southeast and along the ..read more

As a new community gardener, I made several mistakes in planning my haphazard garden plot last summer so I’m taking time during the winter months to work on a better plan for the upcoming season. One planning resource I’ve been using is the book “The New Organic Gardener” by Eliot Coleman. Eliot has been a market gardener for over 40 years and is quite knowledgeable about effective intensive organic gardening. One area of garden planning I want to work on is plant rotation. Descriptions of the benefits of crop rotation can be found in the earliest agricultural writings of the Romans. Firmin Be ..read more

Welcome to our new website and blog! We’re still under construction. Stay tuned for new content ..read more