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What I Learned Growing 20 Heirloom Tomato Varieties in Michigan
Read more: What I Learned Growing 20 Heirloom Tomato Varieties in MichiganLast season I grew twenty varieties of heirloom tomatoes in raised beds at Freighter View Farms. It was too many. I will do it again next year. Here is what twenty varieties taught me.
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Why I Garden
Read more: Why I GardenThe bay was flat the morning I finally understood why I do this. Early June, the light not yet committed to the day, and I was standing at the edge of the raised bed with coffee going cold in my hand.
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Companion Planting in a Small Michigan Garden: What Actually Works
Read more: Companion Planting in a Small Michigan Garden: What Actually WorksThe tomatoes and basil go in together every year. Not because a gardening book told me to — because I tried it once and could not imagine doing it differently. Here is what actually works in a small Michigan garden.
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What to Plant in March in Michigan: Zone 6a, Under the Lights
Read more: What to Plant in March in Michigan: Zone 6a, Under the LightsMarch in Michigan is when the real work begins — not in the garden, but under the lights. The ground is still frozen, but downstairs on the seed-starting shelves, the season is already underway.
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Composting in Michigan: How I Build the Soil at Freighter View Farms
Read more: Composting in Michigan: How I Build the Soil at Freighter View FarmsThe best soil at Freighter View Farms did not come from a bag. It came from the compost pile — a slow, unglamorous heap of kitchen scraps and garden waste that turns into the richest growing medium I have ever used.
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Michigan Frost Dates: When to Plant and When to Worry in Zone 6a
Read more: Michigan Frost Dates: When to Plant and When to Worry in Zone 6aTwo dates run the show at Freighter View Farms: the last spring frost and the first fall frost. In Zone 6a Bay City, those dates are roughly May 15th and October 10th — and everything else flows from there.
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Raised Bed Gardening in Michigan: Why I Garden Above Ground
Read more: Raised Bed Gardening in Michigan: Why I Garden Above GroundEvery bed at Freighter View Farms starts above the ground. Not because raised beds are trendy — because they solve the three biggest problems Michigan gardeners face: cold soil, wet springs, and a season that is never quite long enough.
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Square Foot Gardening in Michigan: Growing a Lot in a Small Space
Read more: Square Foot Gardening in Michigan: Growing a Lot in a Small SpaceIn 200 square feet of raised beds in Bay City, Michigan, I grow enough heirloom tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, herbs, and flowers to eat from June through October. Square foot gardening is how.
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When to Start Seeds Indoors in Michigan: A Zone 6a Timing Guide
Read more: When to Start Seeds Indoors in Michigan: A Zone 6a Timing GuideIn Zone 6a Michigan, the last frost falls around May 15th. Everything about indoor seed starting — when to begin, how long each crop needs — works backward from that single date.
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A Year in the Garden: Freighter View Farms, 2025
Read more: A Year in the Garden: Freighter View Farms, 2025Every season ends the same way at Freighter View Farms — seeds on the kitchen table, the last tomatoes going soft on the counter, and the bay turning gray. Here is the 2025 season in full: the successes, the failures, the lessons.
Bay City · Zone 6a · Saginaw Bay
Chris Izworski · heirloom seeds, raised beds, and the slow weather of the Great Lakes
Hello,
I’m Chris
Freighter View Farms is my small raised-bed garden on Saginaw Bay: heirloom tomatoes, seed envelopes, spring trays under lights, and the slow work of learning one piece of ground.
Start here if you are new, or walk into the garden notes and see what the season is doing.
In the beds now
Come back with the season
I send garden notes when there is something worth carrying back from the beds.
