Veggies for the northern Great plains

Hi all,

I'm visiting My stepson here in north eastern (Plentywood) MT. All the snow has finally melted and the lake ice has started to melt. The USDA zone here is #3. We have broke ground on his new garden and I am wanting to know what are the best vegetables and herbs to grow this far north.This is his first attempt at gardening here in MT. We made a trip to Walmart Yesterday. A 3 hour drive each way. I picked him up some Burpee seed packets (Green Gem hybrid summer squash,Early Prolific Straightneck squash and sweet 100 tomato) Can anyone suggest others that do well in zone 3.

thanx everybody

 

There are a lot of vegetables that will do good but you have to make sure that you don't put them out too early. The ground really needs to warm up before planting them or it will likely end in plants that don't grow much at all.

I am in zone 8-9 and even though a lot of places have already been able to put their plants out I am a good month away from even being close with as cold as it has been.

If you can find some, try some radishes and peas early as they like cooler weather and then when the lows are over 50F regularly then you can start the zucchini and tomatoes outdoors. I do highly recommend you start the tomatoes early indoors though so they have a chance to develope a huge root base before moving outside. I have started a few toms indoors already and will be doing my second transplant soon. I won't be moving them outdoors for a good month except to harden them off when the sun finally comes out. I won't even consider starting my cucumbers and zucchini until the middle of this month or later and then move them outdoors in mid to late May if not later.

As far as herbs, start anything you want to grow indoors ad then move it outdoors when the weather is much warmer. http://herbgardening.com/growingoregano.htm
That is a really good site for herbs to grow and how.