Do you plant a vegetable garden?

In these tough economic times a growing number of people are doing just that. Those with minimal property living in towns and cities are even going so far as to tear up their grass and plant a garden in its place. Record numbers are being set by the seed companies for quantity of seeds sold as people everywhere plant gardens. Not only does having your own garden save you money at the grocery store, it also guarantees that you know everything that was (or was not) put into the soil to grow those vegetables. Myself, I like to only use compost and water to turn out fantastic veggies from our garden. Ever since I read "The World Without Us" (particularly about the study of how long non-organic fertilizers remain in the soil) I have refrained from using chemical fertilizers.

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Upper Peninsula gardeners practice patience

I'm a lower peninsula gardener and I sometimes rush things a bit to see how early I can get stuff growing in the garden. I would fail miserably if I was growing a garden in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The Ironwood Daily Globe has an article about how residents of the U.P. cope with the much shorter growing season. Most folks start their plants indoors and transfer them to outdoor cold frames in order to get a jump on the June 15th deadline that marks the last day for a killing frost in the U.P.

As if the weather isn't a big enough obstacle, Yoopers must also contend with herds of hungry deer and wild turkeys chomping away the fruits of their labor. Strands of electric wire keep most deer away, but not the turkeys.

You have to be a dedicated gardener in the U.P. I tip my hat to them and salute them with my trowel.

Top 10 Fall gardening tasks

Well, kids have gone back to school and the air is decidedly cooler. Hints of color are appearing in the tops of trees and our garden's production is slowing down once more. About the only plants still producing in our garden are our zucchini plant and tomato plants. The garden was, like summer, fun while it lasted. Now the fall cleanup and maintenance must begin to ensure another great gardening season for next year.

With that in mind, I have compiled a Top 10 list of things you should do for your garden this fall.

1. Now is a good time to start planting perennials and spring bulbs.
2. If you do not have a compost pile, get one started with the leaves you rake out of your yard. I do this every fall and then add coffee grounds and other vegetable waste throughout the year for a wonderful loamy soil that can then be added to our raised beds.
3. Till up your soil and mulch it for the winter (again, another good use of leaves).
4. Now is the time of year to divide your perennials and move them if you so desire.
5. Have your soil tested and perform whatever recommendations are made.
6. Add compost (if you have already been composting all summer) to your various beds.
7. Encourage your existing pumpkins, melons, and gourds to ripen up before frost by pinching off existing blossoms and the ends of vines.
8. When the daily temperature no longer makes it up to 65 it is time to pick your green tomatoes, wrap them in newspaper, and let them ripen indoors.
9. Pull up your no longer producing vegetable plants. This helps prevent disease and insects.
10. Put your strawberries to bed for the winter in November by mulching them with straw. The best time for this is after a few hard frosts have caused the leaves of the berry plants to lie flat.

There you have it. With all of the maintenance you need to do in your garden this fall, you will be gardening well into November.