In mid-April I'm going to be moving into a flat in Madison, Wisconsin
that has several raised veggie gardens in the back yard, as well as
blackberry bushes, pear trees, an apple tree, and grape vines. I'd
like to keep this up while I'm living there, but know nothing about
gardening. Are there veggies that come back every year or do I have
to start from scratch? When do I plant different vegetables (zuchini,
lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, onions) and should I use seeds or what?
Do I have to do anything to the fruit besides pick it?


I live in west central Wisconsin. If the blackberries and grapes are
wild, you won't have to do anything with them except pick the fruit.
If they are a domesticated variety, you will probably have to do some
pruning. I don't know much about pear and apple trees. Sorry.

I don't know about Madison, but in this part of the state, we
"generally" feel that we're past frost by the end of the May (you're
about 200 miles south). A few years ago, however, a hard freeze we had
in mid-June was very hard on all of the corn.

Plant lettuce and onions first. We usually plant our onions (from
sets) the first part of May. Lettuce is a cool-weather plant and does
better when it's planted earlier (also the first part of May). If you
buy tomato plants, set them out at the end of May, unless you're
willing to cover them if frost is predicted. If you start tomato
seeds, you can do that indoors now or in the next few weeks. Carrots
won't germinate well until the soil is warm so you might be better off
waiting until toward the end of May. In this area, this is true of
most vegetables started from seed. If you plant them too early and the
soil is cold, they'll just sit there and will rot in the ground, or
they'll wait until the soil warms up and THEN they'll sprout (lettuce
is somewhat of an exception). (Peas are somewhat of an exception, too,
and seem to tolerate cooler temperatures.)

Good luck with your new garden.

LeAnn

http://ruralroute2.com