Just like the rest of the U.S. we have had some unusual weather to deal with this past summer.  First our May was cold and damp then came the heat in June followed by the rain in July.  It was a challenging year to be a Colorado Gardener.  Larry is a great speaker and just full of knowledge about growing vegetables here in Colorado.  The attached  flier provides all the information you will need to know to register and attend the class.

When choosing your vegetables look for varieties that will grow well in small places.  Choose bush beans instead of climbers.  Choose from the many determinate tomatoes out on the market.  You are not limited just to determinate varieties, you can also grow indeterminate  tomatoes like Brandywine, Celebrity, Better Boy and many more.  With the indeterminate varieties will have to install a trellis.  There are many dwarf varieties of vegetables on the market.

When choosing your container, how it looks is no big deal to your vegetables, just make sure it is big enough for the plant that you stick in the container.  Look for containers that are 10 wide and 12 inches deep.  Your larger plants like tomatoes and cucumbers need containers that are about 20 inches wide.  Make sure the container you choose has good drainage.  There a lot of commercial type containers sold in magazines and on the internet like “Earth Boxes” that are great for growing vegetables.  Alas they are expensive unless you can find one at a yard sale.  I have used half whiskey barrels, 5 gallon black plastic containers leftover from my many purchases from local nurseries.

Once you determine what you are going to grow and have picked out the container make sure you purchase a good potting soil made for containers.  Just like if you were going to grow your vegetables in a regular garden bed, soil is a key factor in your gardening success.  When growing vegetables in containers you must pay more attention to watering.  Plants grown in containers tend to dry out faster and vegetables require regular watering for them to thrive.

Like your vegetables in a regular garden they require fertilizer to grow and thrive.  If you use a water-soluble type you should fertilize every time you water.  Since you have to water your plants in a container more often the soluble type fertilizer tends to leach out.  A better choice would be a  time released pellet fertilizer.  This type of fertilizer usually lasts between 3-6 months depending on the manufacturer.

You have decided on what vegetables you want to grow.  You have a chosen your container, planting mix and what type of fertilizer you are going to use.  It is now time to plant your vegetables.  You plant your vegetables in your containers the same way you would plant them in a regular garden bed.  Vegetables like radishes, carrots and beans you can directly sow them in the container.  Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant use transplants like you would normally do in a garden bed.

Growing vegetables in a container is limited only by your imagination.  Don’t let your space confinements deprive you from growing fresh, delicious vegetables.

This spring has been one of cold temperatures with little moisture.  Now the temperatures are rising fast, what is a gardener to do to ensure a healthy and productive vegetable garden?  The answer may be just a short drive to your local nursery or your favorite gardening catalog.  Garden fabric has many valuable uses in the garden at a very minimal expense.

• Protects your plants from the cold and wind
• Protects your transplants from harsh conditions while acclimating to the outdoors conditions
• Protects your plants from diseases and bugs
• Helps to moderate the soil temperatures

There are a number of different garden fabrics in the market, you must decide what you are trying to accomplish.  Are you trying to keep your plants warm or cool?  Are you trying to protect your plants from bugs?  Or are you trying to protect your transplants from the wind?  Once you have decided what your mission is you can start shopping for the correct garden fabric.

An all-purpose fabric cloth can usually meet the typical gardener’s requirements.  It can protect your plants down to a certain temperature, keep the bugs out and provide protection for your newly planted transplants.  Make sure you read and understand the manufacturer’s fabric cloth’s description.  It is a good idea to keep a variety of fabric cloth on hand  so you can adapt as the season changes.

In the early spring you are looking for a fabric cloth that will protect our plants from cold temperatures.  Some fabric cloths provide protection down to 24 degrees while letting 70% of the sun rays penetrate.  It also allows the rain and overhead watering to penetrate.

Come summer you are looking for a fabric cloth that will keep your cool weather crops like lettuce from getting overheated, becoming bitter and finally bolting.  At the same time you need a fabric cloth that will keep insects like the carrot fly and cabbage root fly out.

Once your vegetables are up and producing you want to protect them from those varmints looking for a free meal.  How many times have you gone out in the morning for some fresh strawberries for your cereal only to find the birds have beat you to them?  All you have to do pull your fabric cloth back pick the vegetables you want and cover them back up.

Fabric cloth is easy to install.  You can just loosely lay it down on top of your plants and as they grow the cloth will remain on top.  Ah but we live in Colorado where those nasty Chinook winds blow everything from here to Kansas.  One way to keep your fabric cloth here in Colorado is install hoops over your vegetables and attach the cloth to the them.  Or you can just put dirt on the cloth that hangs down the sides or stake it with some garden staples.

Here is an example of a more permanent method of covering your crops.  It is very sturdy, allows moisture in and keeps bugs out.  It takes about 20 minutes to build and can be used time after time depending on the strength of fabric cloth you use.  This one was built with UV Spun-bonded Polypropylene – 1.25 oz/sq.yard- approx. 10 mil.

No matter what type of fabric cloth you decide to use the ultimate end is to harvest good looking, tasty vegetables from your garden.

While doing your Spring cleaning in your garden not only be vigilant with your cleaning, but also look for overwintering insect eggs.  One in particular is the Mantids or you may know it by its commonly referred name the “Praying Mantis”.  If you are fortunate enough to discover one do not destroy it.  The Mantids are one of the best beneficial insects to have in your garden.

There are at least six species of mantids found in Colorado.  Mantids are ferocious predators that feed on  a variety of insects, including the pests that want to destroy our the plants in our garden.  Mantids come in various sizes from over 3″ to 1.5 inches.  They come in colors of green and brown.

The most prevalent species found in Colorado is the European mantid the true Praying Mantis.  This variety is rather large, exceeding three inches when full grown and comes in green or brown forms.  This variety can easily be identified by a “bull’s-eye” under the fore leg.

Mantids are some of the most well-recognized and distinguishably of all the insect groups.  The front grasping legs are what captures everyone’s eyes when they spot a mantid.  The legs are well-designed for grasping and holding their prey.  They also have this uncanny ability to turn their triangular-shaped heads in order to see in all directions.

Mantids survive our cold winters as eggs.  The eggs are laid in masses, known as oothecae.  The oothecae is covered in a foamy material making them look like a “packing peanut”.  They are attached to solid surfaces such as buildings, dried plant life, or in my case my central air conditioner unit.

Generally the eggs hatch in late spring, or earlier depending on the weather or if they are located in a secluded warm area.  Once they hatch the offspring called “nymphs”  feast on small gnats, other insects or sometimes cannibalizing on other nymphs emerging from the egg.

Survival is a major factor with mantids, so the use of camouflage and concealment play a vital role in their existence.  Their protective coloration allows them to blend in with the surrounding vegetation to avoid predators, but also to conceal themselves from their prey.

They also display a rocking behavior, in which they make rhythmic, repetitive side-to-side movements.  This rocking movement allows them to resemble vegetation swaying  in the wind.

Us as gardeners can encourage mantises as a form of biological pest control by not using toxic pesticides in our gardens.  So when doing your spring cleaning in your gardens keep a keen eye out for the mantids oothecae.  You could have a natural and free insect control in your garden.  Not a lot of gardeners are fortunate for mantids to take up residence in their gardens, but don’t be disheartened mantids eggs can be purchased from garden catalogs and some nurseries.

Spaghetti Squash usually takes between 90 to 100 days to reach its maturity, depending on the variety.  You can tell it is ready to harvest when the fruit has turned a deep yellow color, and the rind is hard.  Another way to make sure it is ready to harvest, is your fingernail to test the hardness of the skin.  You want to make sure it does not give anywhere on the fruit.

Once you are satisfied it is ready to harvest, cut the stem leaving about 2″ so as not to damage the skin.  Leave the squash in a warm location for about a week so the skin can harden and cure.  Once cured store the fruit in a cool, dry area with temperatures between 50-55 degrees and low humidity.

Store the fruit in single layers with the fruit not touching each other to lessen the chance of rot.  Under these conditions the fruit can be stored for up to six months.  The storage could be a basement, unheated garage, or root cellar.

For more ideas on how and where to store them check out Colorado State University (CSU) Extension Fact Sheet #7.601.

A couple of weeks ago I went back to PA. for my niece’s wedding and was delighted to see all the green trees and blooming flowers and shrubs.  I forgot how beautiful it can be in PA. in Spring.  The lilacs, azaleas, and ornamental trees were in full bloom.  I have attached a few pictures to show the beautiful scenery.Once the week was up it was time to head back to CO.  I was anxious to see the Rockies again, but more important to see if the plants had started to bud out.  As we flew into Colorado Springs, I could see from the air that the grass was still brown.  It was great to be home, but I was depressed to observe that the trees had just started to bud, the shrubs were just starting to green up and the lawns were just starting to green up also.

The landscape has finally started to get greener and the shrubs are blooming, but every now and then “Old Man Winter” raises his nasty head for one more swipe at us before he is long gone.  Springtime can conjure up a lot of visions in one’s head, but “Springtime in the Rockies” can conjure up nightmares at time.

So all you gardeners out there who are biting at the bit to plant those tender vegetation, be patient the time will come soon.  One thing I have learned from living here, do not try to rush planting those tender treasures for you may have to go buy some more.

You can eat Swiss chard just like spinach.  Either in a fresh salad or cooked.

Like all vegetables Swiss Chard loves full sun, though it can tolerate some shade.  Additionally it prefers well-drained soil with lots of organic material, it does not like acid soil.  It tolerates infrequent water better than spinach, but performs and tastes better with regular watering.

You can either start Swiss Chard indoors or direct seed in your garden in early Spring.  Your seedlings can be transplanted when the temperatures stay above 30 degrees.  It can take a light frost.  Sow the seeds 1/2 to 1 inch apart, in rows three feet apart.  Eventually thin the seedlings two to three inches apart.  Germination can take from 1-2 weeks.

When planning where to plant it choose wisely.  One planting will last you the entire growing season.  You can harvest it all summer long by just picking the outer leaves.  It matures in 55-65 days.  As the weather turns cooler in the fall, this is the time when the leaves are the tastiest.  Utilizing a cold frame you can have Swiss Chard up into December.

Insect problems are fairly uncommon.  Occasionally you will get some aphids, but they are easily dismissed with a stream of water from your garden hose.  Just discard any affected leaves on the plant.

“I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring.  Who can resist the feeling of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature’s rebirth?”

-Edward Giobbi

If you haven’t cleared the dry, previous year’s growth yet, now is the time to do it before the new green plant growth emerges so you don’t damage it.  In my garden just about every plant has new growth emerging, like the Sedum ‘Autumn Joy” (Stonecrop) you see on the left.  So I must finish the last bit of Spring cleanup.  Some of the warm weather ornamental grasses haven’t started to green up, but you can go ahead and cut them back now.  One of the plants I have learned the hard way to wait longer on cutting back is the Coronado Hyssop.  I cut one back to early last year and the stalks that I left acted like straws and allowed the Spring rain to go straight to the roots and it died.

I am hoping this year we do not get a late freeze like last year, because it killed the flowers on my Crabapple Tree and Forsythia Bush.  The Crabapple Tree has started to leaf out and the Forsythia Bush does have some flowers on it.  The majority of my plants are poking their little heads up through the mulch, but they are about a couple weeks behind last year.  Maybe that will be good and allow them to safely bloom without the fear of a late hard killing freeze.

I found this quote while surfing the web and found it very appropriate for how the weather has been throughout the country. “March is  a month of considerable frustration-it is so near spring and yet across a great deal of the country the weather is still so violent and changeable that outdoor activity in our yard seems light years away.”

-Thalassa Cruso