Food Garden Life Show: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping
A Zone-4 Garden in St. Paul, Minnesota
/29:27/S3 E58
We head to Minnesota to chat with Mary Schier, the editor of Minnesota State Horticultural Society’s magazine, Northern Gardener—a magazine dedicated to gardening in USDA Zones 3 and 4.Schier is a Minnesota gardener and the author of 'The Northern Gardener, From Apples to Zinnias, 150 Years of Garden Wisdom.'She gardens in St. Paul, where she crams as many plants as possible into her urban lot. Schier says that St. Paul is an urban heat island, so creative gardeners often try to push zone 4 limits.Schier says that when it comes to growing fruit, it’s very important to take the time to research varieties well suited to cold zones. For example, the Evans Cherry does very well in Minnesota. Sweet cherries do not. Another important tip in cold zones is not to start seeds indoors too early. Schier only plants out her tomato transplants on June 1—so she works back from that date and starts her transplants later than gardeners in warmer zones.
Are you thinking of growing a potted olive tree? Or maybe you already have one…but you’re still waiting for olives. Olive trees are tough as nails. They can take more cold than many people realize. And they’re really beautiful, too. Put these all together, and you have a great potted plant for a cold-climate garden. In my new book, Grow Olives Where You Think You Can't, I tell you everything you need to know to successfully grow an olive tree in a pot!
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We head to Minnesota to chat with Mary Schier, the editor of Minnesota State Horticultural Society’s magazine, Northern Gardener—a magazine dedicated to gardening in USDA Zones 3 and 4.
Schier is a Minnesota gardener and the author of 'The Northern Gardener, From Apples to Zinnias, 150 Years of Garden Wisdom.'
She gardens in St. Paul, where she crams as many plants as possible into her urban lot. Schier says that St. Paul is an urban heat island, so creative gardeners often try to push zone 4 limits.
Schier says that when it comes to growing fruit, it’s very important to take the time to research varieties well suited to cold zones. For example, the Evans Cherry does very well in Minnesota. Sweet cherries do not. Another important tip in cold zones is not to start seeds indoors too early. Schier only plants out her tomato transplants on June 1—so she works back from that date and starts her transplants later than gardeners in warmer zones.
