What to Plant in April for Zone 5b (Psst, that’s you Mid Michigan)
So we’re just six short weeks away from our Last Frost Day here in Mid Michigan.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions from people about what they should plant and when. I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time (ahem, a couple months ago…) but haven’t been able to get to it…
UNTIL NOW.
Here it is for you Zone 5b peeps. That is my fellow Mid Michiganders, as well as Northern Indiana and Illinois plus a few extra places in the Midwest and East Coast. If you’d like to find out exactly what growing zone you are in check out this website. It has an easy to read map that shows you exactly what zone you are.
Now if you are in say, Zone 5a or Zone 4b and even Zone 6a, you can also plant these seeds with very little worry. Half a growing zone away isn’t too much different to stress.
Need to know how to plan a garden for YOUR family? Check out this post!
While it may be too late for some things such as onions, peppers, brussel sprouts, and leeks there is still SO much that can be planted.
First things first though…
When is our last frost date?
For those of us in Zone 5b it is May 10th.
What does this mean?
The last frost day is the day that you have pretty much no worry of a hard freeze happening again for the growing season. But this IS the weather we are talking about and the weather does whatever the weather wants so keep in mind that sometimes weather happens and we lose some crops to frost. Such is the gamble of gardening and farming.
Now that we have established our Last Frost Date lets look at the calendar…
As I am writing this it is almost April (it is March 28th to be exact). So we have to determine how many weeks we are away from our last frost date.
We look at May 10th (our last frost day right?) and count the weeks back to today.
That makes, at the time of this writing, us about 6 weeks from the last frost day.
Great! That’s plenty of time to get growing 🙂
These seeds will obviously have to be started indoors. I don’t know about your ground, but mine is still frozen. So indoors we go!
My favorite way to start seeds is with these peat pods or with these compostable pots filled with organic potting soil. But next year I’d like to try out these compostable mesh bags!
You can start seeds in any manner of fashion but if you want some ideas check out this post from Original Homesteading.
So what seeds can we start in April (or six weeks from our last frost date) in Zone 5b?
Tomatoes– Everybody’s (except mine) favorite. This is the perfect time to start tomatoes as it is right in the middle of the recommended starting time of 4-8 weeks before last frost date. Which means that if the weather isn’t quite warm enough in May, you will have a couple weeks of flexibility.
Spinach– You technically can plant your spinach in place a couple weeks before the last frost date but I like to give mine a little head start by starting it indoors for a few weeks then transferring outdoors a few weeks before the last frost date. I find that mine bolts too soon if I plant it outdoors in the garden.
Kale– Even if you don’t love kale you need to grow it. It is the vegetable that keeps on giving. It is so easy to grow and you can harvest SO much from it. This too doesn’t technically have to be started now but I find that I get a quicker harvest if I start it now then transplant in a few weeks once the soil has thawed. Kale is pretty cold tolerant and can be transplanted in the garden 2-3 weeks before the last frost date (so that means like Mid April).
Flowers and Herbs– Most flowers and herbs recommend starting them 2-3 weeks before last frost date then transplanting them after last frost date but I like to push the boundaries a bit. I don’t mind having to up-pot and having bigger plants to transplant-just be sure that they don’t get too root bound! I start my flowers like zinnias and marigolds about this time then up-pot if necessary around the end of April, then I put them in the garden Mid May.
If this list seems short to you, keep in mind that there is a lot more stuff to come for planting! Many things like peas, beans, carrots, beets, potatoes, cucumbers, and squash can’t be planted until the soil is workable and/or it is after the last frost date.
