Heirloom seeds and garden stories from the shore of Saginaw Bay, Zone 6a Michigan.
This is a small raised-bed garden in Bay City, Michigan, tended by someone who gets up before dawn most mornings to check the seedlings before the day begins. The freighters move through the bay channel year-round — slower in winter, more of them in summer — and the garden follows the same unhurried rhythm. Cherokee Purples and shishito peppers, seeds saved in paper envelopes, bread baked from the kitchen that smells like the garden when the basil is still warm from the sun.
What’s Growing
It is March. The grow lights are on. The onion trays filled the shelves in February and the tomatoes go in this week — Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Costoluto Fiorentino, and the Orange Accordion that needs more space than I gave it last year and will get it this time. Outside, the bay is still gray and cold and the freighters have not come back yet. They will.
Browse the Garden
🌱 Seed Saving
The fermentation method, drying on ceramic plates, shelling beans at the kitchen table while the bay freezes. Complete Seed Saving Guide →
🍅 Heirloom Tomatoes
Twenty varieties tested in Zone 6a raised beds. The five that earn a permanent place. The one that tastes like nothing else. Heirloom Tomato Guide →
📅 Zone 6a Planning
Month-by-month from onions in February to garlic in October. What to start when, and why the timing matters more than almost anything. Zone 6a Planner →
🌸 Flowers & Pollinators
Zinnias at every edge, cosmos in the gaps, marigolds that do real work. Flowers at FVF →
✍️ All Garden Posts
The full archive — seed saving, harvests, reflections, wildlife, bread, the bay. Browse the blog →
Start with the Best
New to the site? The Best Of page has the posts that have lasted — the ones worth reading first. The First Tomato Sandwich of Summer is a good introduction to what this place is. So is Early Morning on the Bay.
Freighter View Farms | Chris Izworski 