gardening in Duluth (Bemidji: cost, garden, safe)

[bonnie jean]

Hello,

I may be pursuing a job in Duluth.

A big concern of mine is growing vegetables there. From what I can acertain, Duluth is in Zone 4b? Am I correct?

What is your safe date for planting tomatoes? Do you start them indoors to get a jump start?

Thanks for your help.

[newcastle]

Plant indoors in early march and by late May and June you can plant outdoors. I plant tomatoes outside in June and do just fine. If you have a small glass greenhouse you can get along really well. They can be custom ordered and cost around 1000 bucks, but you really don't need one if you seed your plants.

The farmers market in Duluth has tomato plants and other vegiies every Saturday. Yes, we are zone 4b, but the closer you are to the lake, you can get away with some plants that do well in other warmer zones. Many hybrids have been grown to do well in the cold here. Lake Superior Graden Center would eb a good choice for more info.

[bonnie jean]

Thank you Newcastle.

[golfgal]

Not Duluth specific by my Grandpa always had a garden in Bemidji that he planed from seed-might have started tomatoes early but everything else he planted from seed and it grew in fine. He planed most of it for the deer that came but he did save the tomatoes for himself.