Gambling on MN weather......

20 years ago

Most of my garden is either in buckets/tubs or improvised raised beds made of tires, stock tanks, and whatever other big thing I have laying around that will hold dirt.

These are in a fairly sunny location, rather protected from north and west wind. As such, they can be pretty well thawed out when we still have a foot of snow in places. I'm kind of on the north slope of a hilly area with miles and miles of low flatland (peatbog) to the north. The native soil is very dense clay that stays a wet and cold soup FOREVER (no drainage whatsoever), until Mid-may, when there are about three days when it can be "worked" before it becomes hard and dry like concrete and the weather gets hot. (Hence my raised beds and containers filled with very old rotted horse manure.)

On the back of all the seed packets of cool weather veggies, it says to plant "as soon as soil can be worked". Well, this soil in my containers "can be worked" pretty darn early, but do I dare plant anything THAT early? I've not had very good luck in the past with this type of seed when I've waited until later in May to plant. This is totally ridiculous. How can anybody NOT be able to grow "cool weather crops" in north-central MN?!?!?!?!?!

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Comments (4)

Julie
20 years ago
Hey there Sephira-
It sounds to me that incorporating some winter sow tactics to you raised beds would be an easy transition. I think anything that is cool weather like peas could be sown any time-as long as they don't stay real wet and rot instead of germinate- and for those that need warmer weather-like tomatoes and peppers- try a plastic drape. It could act like a hoop house or mini cold frame. I think there is hope- you might just need to get creative!
Best of luck to you-
Julie
jel48
20 years ago
Hi Sephira. My husband thought I was nuts... but then again, I'm originally from Nebraska and used to planting things early :-) (or maybe I AM nuts)... Anyway, I put in radishes, lettuce, and onion sets on April 3rd and 4th last year, moved cabbage seedlings to the garden April 23rd, and planted peas on April 24th. I'm in southern MN, so if you're in the northern part of the state, that might be a bit early for you. We have a raised garden bed (only about 8 inches) and by the time it's thawed, then dry enough to work, it's generally plenty warm enough to plant the cool weather crops.

Oh yes, everything that went in last April did fine.
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lfellow
20 years ago
I plant stuff on the first day of spring (3/20) on the south side of my house (full hot sun)- and it does just fine. People think I am a lunatic until they see lettuce being harvested by 5/1-
bitterwort
20 years ago
I consider it a rite of spring to plant a few seeds in my large outdoor pots on the first sunny day that I can poke my finger down close to an inch in the soil in the pots. My theory is that seeds are cheap, and planting something on that first nice day is worth the risk of failure. I've done this successfully with lettuce, radishes, kale, mesclun mix, and peas (sweet peas too). Depending on the winter, that date can be March 15 or later, although one warm winter I planted a few things on February 15 (I'm in Minneapolis). When it works, I get an early start (peas and radishes) and/or healthy transplants for other spots. These plants (and Swiss chard to some degree) can tolerate cold, even freezing temps IME, when they're small. If my attempt fails, I'm out a few seeds, but I have a chance to repeat the rite on the next nice day. If seed supply and cost aren't an issue for you, try a few planting a few seeds early. Great fun!