Hi gamebird. I'm sure you'll get lots of helpful responses to your post. And probably a variety of answers.

1) I'd wait and not worry too much unless the eyes start rotting.

2) Plant your corn in the ground. There's no need to start it indoors. You could put some out about mid-May (although there's the chance it will get frosted - it could get you some earlier corn) and then the rest about Memorial Day. You can plant some later, for a late crop too, if you want.

3)If the forecast is, say, 36 or below for the low temp, cover the plants. You can use things like ice cream buckets, milk jugs, the pots you've bought perennials and other large plants in, buckets, and so on. No need to spend money on the fancy stuff. In a pinch, a little tent made of newspaper will usually even do the trick.

4) I couldn't see adding sulfur or pine needles for most garden crops. But, I'm ashamed to admit, I've never had a PH test done. Compost is good stuff though.. really, really good stuff :-)

5) I just swap my garden end for end. One part I put the cool weather crops in (radish, lettuce, endive, onions, peas and so on) and the other part I plant tomatos and peppers and so on. Then the next year, I do it the opposite way around. I don't know about the tomato/potato thing. I'd never read that and I haven't grown potatoes in years. I just don't have enough room.

Good luck with your veggies! I hope they all turn out well for you.

Thanks for the answer. I hope others chime in too!

Oh, I've got a question back - you say go ahead and plant the corn in the soil. I think that's a good idea, now that you mention it, so I'll get successive harvests. But at what point do I give up on the seedlings I'm trying to start indoors? They're doing very poorly. They've just gotten up to a tiny bit to an inch high and now they seem to have stopped growing. When I buy them in packs from the nursery, they're three or four inches tall. One of mine even seems to be withering up and dying! Is the compost mix too rich? Am I watering too much or too little? Or are they just cold and not getting enough light?

I"ll only tackle the crop rotation part. I used to grow my tomatoes in the only sunny spot I had, the same place the previous owner did for 30 years. What I did was remove some soil and each year I would heavily amend or cover the old soil with 3 inches of compost-soil blend. Then it's is necessary to mulch well to prevent the soil from splashing your fruits as alot of soil-borne diseases do the most damage to fruits. I didn't remove soil every year, just occasionally. Not perfect, I'm sure, but it seemed to work. You might try square foot gardening, there are books on it. It might make it easier to rotate.

For the corn- it is probably not warm enough for them- in your house or outdoors just yet.They also like hot feet and sunny bodies- so probably not bright enough either- both of those factors can stress a plant/seedling- and compounding it with damp- on an already stressed system seems to bring discouraging results.
I have made these observations with many of the seedlings I have started indoors- it does seem if I can get them warm enough- the other two factors don't matter as much- the same goes with if I can get them bright enough.
I usually start sweet corn in the garden bed when the soil is warmer- but I do start ornamentals such as the variegated japanese and the indian corn indoors to have them ready to sell to others to grow on-
Maybe if you put them out on bright sunny days and brought them in in the evening- or protected them some how in the evenings they might improve-

Hi Gamebird.

I have a one-page illustration on how to rotate in a small plot from my book, "Your Minnesota Kitchen Garden", but dont know how to post it. Let me know, how to get it to you.

Luddene

There was a thread about rotation on the Organic Forum recently that surprised me. I thought rotation was essential, but the people who posted on the thread disagree. Here's a link to the thread.

You can email me something at game_bird AT hotmail.com

I suppose I'll put grow lights on my "wish list", but I likely won't be buying any of that stuff until next year (the garden has a budget and it's nearly there). Hm... maybe the husband will buy me one for Mother's Day? :)

I'm really worried about this cold snap we're having. I've put milk jugs with the bottom cut off over the two basil plants, but I haven't covered anything else. I guess tonight I'll put planting pots over the tomatoes and peppers. I read that if they're exposed to too cold of weather it stunts them. Is that true?

I think they grow slower in cold weather, but I've never noticed that it stunted them once it had warmed up. Maybe someone else knows for sure.

Hey, shoplights at Menards are only about $10 a pop and they work just fine!

Hi gamebird,
I'll just address #3: and I hope it's not redundant, but I don't see anyone addressing it directly. I hope your peppers and other plants that are already in the ground do okay, but for next year, peppers, especially, like the warm weather. I plant my tomatoes around the last weekend of May if I can, but I don't put my peppers (or eggplant) in until the first or even second week of June until it really warms up and weather is "stable". If your pepper plants make it, yes, they could be stunted because I'm sure they are so stressed out right now because they are cold. Experience is our teacher though, right? I know it's hard to wait with the spring planting sometimes -- we all get so excited. Keep covering them with milk jugs or buckets. And hey, if you've never had anything fail/die in your garden, you're not gardening!
Sally