Gardening on the Rise in Michigan
Some have called it "Pandemic Gardening." With so many employees in Michigan still working from home, heading out to work in a garden has become quite therapeutic. There is nothing I enjoy more than eating foods that were grown in my own garden.
If you are new to gardening, Michigan State University offers a great resource to help you out. The school offers toll free hotlines for gardening in Michigan. Your call will be answered by a gardening expert. The same goes for lawn and soil issues.
Growing up our neighbor had fruit trees in his backyard, and folks from MSU came to his place a number of times when he was having issues with his trees.
If you want to get a head start on planting this year, you could start your seeds indoors. Mid-March is a great time to plant some vegetable seeds like peppers, broccoli, eggplant and cabbage.
One piece of advice I will give you is to try your best to plant after the last frost. I have fallen victim to to this before. On my part it was just bad planning.
There are many vegetables you can plant earlier than others. They are referred to as "cool-season" vegetables. These green colored veggies are lettuce, peas and spinach. Hold off on planting some other vegetables because they do not hold up well in the cold of early spring.
Holding off on planting until Memorial Day is still a pretty good rule to stick with. You can always plant a bit earlier, just keep an eye of any frost expected in your area. When mulching in your garden use about 2 inches of mulch at the base of your planting. This will help in keeping an even soil temperature and will also help to save water.