Michiganders...when to plow

Hi. I just bought a Dearborn 2 bottom plow for my 8N. I know that I should have opened up a garden last fall but I just moved to this home and did not have the plow until a few weeks ago.

With the weather the way it has been in Michigan this winter, it has either been too wet or too cold (frozen ground) to plow.

What are some "rules of thumb" for ground conditions to plow and with the way the weather has been in Michigan, when would you think it would be OK to plow?

not from Michigan but my ROT is when the soil does NOT stick to the tires.

pic. last oct.

Usually it's about the 1st of May before
we plow here.
Prior to that the soil is too cold so
seeds won't grow much anyway.
I plow the gardens for a couple of my
cousins. I usually shoot for the first
weekend in May and they get things planted
within a couple of weeks.
And yes, as Steve says, no plowing if the
soil sticks to your tires.

Thanks guys. I had heard that about the soil sticking to the tires. Didn't know if there were others about temp or time of year or another other variable.

The way it is going here, I don't see it drying out for quite some time. I still have standing water in areas.

When I moved in last fall, I pumped down my pond so my neighbor could dig out the cattails around the edges. I lowered the pond about 6-8 feet (1/8th acre pond). I thought it would take a while to bring the level back up. In January we had a melt and within 2 days, the pond was overflowing. I'd been overflowing ever since then.

Weather dictates for the most part. May 20 is my rule of thumb for gardens, after threat of frost is gone, but some things like peas can be planted in April. We Michiganders know all too well Mother Nature is on her own schedule. Late March and April usually bring the monsoons so once fields are no longer wet you can plow. If land hasn't been worked in years, plow, disc, spring tooth. Some fellas run a cultivator first but whatever you do scout the land good for obstructions like stumps, boulders, car parts, Jimmy Hoffa, et al before you start. Once you begin an annual routine, you won't need to plow every time. Run a disc harrow to bury the overgrown crops/weeds and it is good to seed once ground is worked up. I disc my deer/turkey plots every spring and fall planting buckwheat in spring then rye, wheat, rape, brassicas in the fall. Fall is when the garden gets disced under as well. Food plots get planted no later than May 30 and September 1 or Labor Day.

[i:654c4848f0][b:654c4848f0]<font size="4">Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)</font>[/b:654c4848f0][/i:654c4848f0]<table width="100" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"><tr><td height="25" colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC0000"></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td></tr></table>

Thanks Tim.

I took my back blade off on Friday night and hooked up my drawbar to move the drag discs out of the way. I thought it had somewhat dried up and the area I'm looking to plow is on higher ground. Boy was I wrong. Now I have ruts to fill end, didn't even make it back to the garden area and with the rain we got over the weekend, the standing water is back up to where it was when the snow melted. I don't see me getting back there anytime soon.

So I took the left rear tire off and have it in the shop getting what I hope to be just a new tube.

Looks like it'll just be driveway maintenance for the next little while.

Gosh, around here, almost nobody plows in the spring. "Plow in the fall, or not at all".