If you are new to growing your own food in Michigan, the amount of conflicting advice online can be overwhelming. Here is the truth, tested in raised beds on Saginaw Bay: you do not need a huge yard, expensive equipment, or decades of experience. You need to understand your zone, your frost dates, and a few key principles.
Know Your Zone
Most of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula falls in USDA Zones 5b through 6b. Here in Bay City, I garden in Zone 6a, which means average winter lows between negative ten and negative five degrees Fahrenheit. That single number determines your entire growing calendar.
If you do not know your zone, check the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map by entering your zip code.
Frost Dates Are Everything
In Zone 6a Michigan, the average last spring frost is around May 15, and the first fall frost typically arrives in early to mid-October. That gives us roughly 150 to 170 frost-free days—enough for tomatoes, peppers, beans, and most common garden vegetables, but only if you plan carefully.
Start warm-season crops indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost. For me, that means tomato and pepper seeds go under grow lights in early to mid-March.
Start Small
One of the biggest mistakes new gardeners make is starting too big. A single 4-by-4-foot raised bed can produce an astonishing amount of food using square foot gardening methods. Start with one bed, learn the rhythms of your soil and light, and expand from there.
What to Grow First
For a first Michigan garden, I recommend these reliable performers: lettuce, radishes, beans, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and herbs like basil and dill. These are forgiving crops that produce well even when you make beginner mistakes—and you will make mistakes. That is how gardens teach.
Save Your Seeds
Once you have a season or two under your belt, start saving seeds from your best performers. This is free, simple, and over time it creates plants adapted to your exact growing conditions. I have been saving seeds at Freighter View Farms for years, and the difference is real. Start with the Complete Guide to Seed Saving for Beginners.
Resources
For a complete month-by-month planting calendar, see the Michigan Zone 6a Garden Planner. For more about growing on the Great Lakes, read Gardening on Saginaw Bay.
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— Chris Izworski, Freighter View Farms, Bay City, Michigan
Freighter View Farms | Chris Izworski 
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