The temperatures where you live are still good for applying fertilizer to your lawn. You can apply fertilizer, technically until the lawn is dormant. However, since the Scotts Turf Builder Winterguard was applied to your lawn on Nov. 8th you will want to wait just a little while longer to apply your Lesco fertilizer because the Turf Builder Winterguard has a six week residual. So you have to wait about 4 more weeks before fertilizing again.

Cheyboygan's frost dates are 5-30 (last) and 9-25 (first). Traverse City's dates are 6-9 and 9-17. You are between them. Of the two, Traverse City's is the shortest season, so unless you have something that makes your area colder than that, those dates should be relatively safe for you. Just keep in mind that the frost dates listed for ANYWHERE are just averages, they aren't engraved in stone. Keep an eye on the weather report, and if a frost is expected, run out and cover your seedlings (except for cole crops, which should be okay). Or, contact your most-local Cooperative Extension Service and ask: Phone: 517-355-2308 Toll Free:1-888-MSUE-4MI (1-888-678-3464) Fax: 517-355-6473 (their email address info was having problems) Sue

the last frost.. is usually a week after i decide to plant my most tender plant... Very funny Ken :). you should be well enough introduced to the vagaries of mother nature.. to understand.. that no governmental information is not going to give you an 'good' answer ... I disagree completely. Knowledge is power Ken! And I think such data (weather stats) is best collected and then disseminated via a gov't agency. Having said that I cant find these #s! Up here the Victoria Day long weekend (the holiday is the Monday preceding May 25) is considered the weekend for which most annuals get planted. But clearly this is arbitrary. And given this apparently late spring I want to get my tender plants in the ground as soon as possible ...but I dont want to be reckless. So having knowledge of the "average last frost date" for my location would be useful and worthwhile.

Hope I'm not too late to add my 2 cents! :-) Here's a little humor for the day . . . An internet search turns up many devices that help women attain urinary freedom, and some that promote the more natural approach. See the following articles written by a registered nurse. http://otoh.org/mirror/restrooms.org/standing.html http://web.archive.org/web/20021201123416/www.restrooms.org/problems.html A serious internet search will demonstrate ZERO danger to using urine, whether to activate the compost pile or to dilute as directly applied fertilizer. I can't find any documented information that germs and pathogens will be spread, only opinions and fears. Even caution about withholding urine fertilization for a certain number of days before harvest seems to be only opinion. I'm an engineering tech, so I might be approaching this situation a little differently than others: 1. It requires gallons of drinking water to flush--water I pay for on my water bill and collected from somewhere for drinking use. And don't talk to me about low-flow toilets. The joke is that there's a sign posted in the restroom stating "Low-flow toilet. Please keep flushing until the paper goes down." 2. Gallons of water flushed add to the burden of treatable waste at the sewage facility 3. Excess algae grows in our waterways from nitrogen NOT removed in the treatment process before discharge 4. Why pay for limited nutrient, refined fertilizer when I make my own? 5. Making my own garden soil is a step toward self-sufficiency Personal compost activator. I like the sound of that. BTW, I'm doing an experiment. I have a compost pile that is about 5' in diameter, about 3' high. For the past week I've been adding ALL of my daily urine output to the pile. I add it at least twice a day, so it is always relatively fresh. There is no olfactory evidence whatsoever. :-) One more comment: I image that those who master the technique in the link above with proficiency to write their name in the snow in BLOCK letters will have tremendously strong "kegels." Skirt