North Country Gardening, tips for gardening in cold climates

Local Horticultural
Services:

Burdock Farms: Country
greenhouse/gift shop featuring
annuals, perennials, hanging
baskets and native plants.10485
S. Maple Rd., Dafter,
906-632-1370.
WWW.Burdockfarm.com.

Country Road Greenhouse
In-season annuals and perennials
fill several greenhouses. 11718 S.
M-129 Bruce
Township.906-635-8090.

Creekside Herbs: Hard-to-find
plants and unique gifts. 752 N.
Blind Line Rd, Cedarville,
906-484-2415.

Green Thumb Lawn and Garden
Center Full service garden center
for annuals, hardy perennials,
trees, shrubs, supplies and
accessories. M-129 Cedarville,
MI.906-484-2214

Gregory Gardens: Quality, hardy
trees, shrubs, and perennials for
the area. Also, 1
hanging baskets and other great
finds.3290 E. Nine Mile Rd. Sault
Ste. Marie, MI.906-632-1041.

Parmer's Farm Market: Great
selection of annuals, perennials
and hanging baskets; plus mulch,
landscape pavers, lawn ornaments
and more. 3471 I-75 Bus. Spur.,
Sault Ste. Marie, MI 906-635-0117.

Pickford Feed. Pickford,
Michigan. Kristin stocks some good
varieties of vegetable seed for this
locale. They also have quality
plants and a chance to buy some
things the others don't have, such
as granular fertilizers in large
quantities, straw for mulch and 3.5
cubic ft. bales of
germination/potting mix.

Links and events of local
interest:

Sault Area Garden Club

Northern Wild Plant & Seed
Cooperative: Information
on growing and obtaining
native seeds and plants.
Looking for new members.

New to gardening?
Here's help:
First Vegetable Garden

Meet the Farmers!

Did you know that most of our food travels on average 1500
miles before it reaches our dinner table? Fat chance you'll
ever know anything about the folks who grow your food. Not
so with the food you buy at the farmer's markets in the EUP.
Meet the people who grow your food. Articles by Leslie
Askwith.

Beaver Creek Farm
Andrea and Karen Kucharczyk
Oasis Gardens
John and Cindy Dutcher
Shelly Thompson

Want to be on a mailing list to receive information and a
schedule for the Farmer's Market? Simply email
lucasj@MSU.edu.

Get Your Fresh Greens!

If you're interested in eating fresh greens, not trucked several
thousand miles and drenched in pesticides, then join the folks
in the area who are purchasing their greens from Mark
Blackwood in Rudyard. Mark provides a variety of greens to
perk up your salads, not the same old fare you find in the
super market. I know, I've tried some of the greens coming out
of the hoop houses in the area. These folks are growing fresh
greens year-round in unheated greenhouses. Furthermore,
they don't douse them with pesticides. If you're will to "go for
the greens," that is take turns driving out to Rudyard for
healthy food, then contact Leslie Askwith at
leslieaskwith@hotmail.com or dial (906)635-2921.

Good News for Ash Trees!

Unfortunately, we've lost over 15 million ash trees in Michigan
alone over the last 7-8 years. Only a relatively few have been
lost in the EUP, though. However, many are still at risk. Now
there comes a product, which will be sold under the brand
name "Tree-age" that can be injected into ash trees to save
them. This product was recently tested by MSU and shows
great promise. If you're interested in using this product it
requires a certified pesticide applicator to inject the tree. If
interested, contact me or Jim Lucas at the MSU Extension
office.

Volunteer Opportunity

Creekside Herbs owner Wendy Wagoner is looking for
volunteers to help maintain the botanical sanctuary garden
and trails at Creekside, which she describes as a place of
inspiration, magic and beauty. This is a good way to learn
more about gardening and nature. For more information,
click on Creekside.

Go Native, Get Wild!

We just spent a weekend in January cleaning native seeds
while the snow whirled around outside. The Northern Wild
Plant & Seed Coop is offering native plants and seed for
your flower beds and wild areas. Wildflowers are a good
choice for gardeners. They're low maintenance, attract
butterflies and other native wildlife and darn pretty. For more
information or to order, contact Dusty King, at 635-1278. By
the way, the co-op members got together one day last
summer and planted a native garden at the new park on the
corner of Ashmun and Portage in downtown SSM.

North Country Gardening
Tip:

To grow a large "head" of
broccoli, pinch off the lower
florets as they start to form.
Broccoli will continue to grow
individual florets into fall.

For short season zones (zone 4
and below), purchase seeds for
plants that mature in less than
70 days. This is especially true
for things like tomatoes and corn
that need time to ripen on the
vine and stalk. My favorite corn
variety is Northern X-tra Sweet,
my favorite and dependable
tomato is Celebrity. Both are sold
in most popular seed catalogs.
With our short seasons, we need
plants that mature quickly and
set fruit.

Studies now show that you don't
have to waste time "teasing" the
roots of transplants before planting
them out. This is especially good
news if you plant a lot of annual
bedding plants each year. Just pluck
them out of the cells and stick them
in the ground!

What is our hardiness zone and
why is it important? We're about a
zone 4 across most of the Upper
Peninsula where I live. From my
experience it is risky planting zone 5
plants up here, especially if you
spent a lot of money on them.
Check the zone rating before you
buy.

Food for Thought

Check out my book reviews on books
by Amy Stewart and Michael Pollan.