Week Five- Starting from Scratch: the Absolute Beginner's Guide to Gardening

Week Five: Planting Frost Resistant greens

Timeline: As soon as the ground can be worked and then additional plantings every few weeks until winter.  I started this step in late April.

This week we are going to talk about plants that thrive up here in high elevation. 

Lettuce

Broccoli

Kale

Carrots

Cabbage

Chives

Peas

Radish

Swiss Chard

Spinach 

These plants are awesome because they can survive snow and frost. My friend Bek planted kale in her window box last winter and had it grow very slowly all winter. Very. Slow... but it still stood up to 40 degrees below zero temperatures! 

In both my deck garden and my plot garden, I will be planting (have already planted) lettuce, kale, spinach, swish chard and peas. Chives are already coming up in my garden from a previous gardener. 

I have chosen not to do cabbage, carrots, radishes or broccoli. Kyle and I found that we are not huge fans of radishes. Carrots, cabbage and broccoli take too long for our needs this summer. Also, when you can buy a bag of carrots for a dollar at the store, it is hard to justify the cost and time. 

Step One: 

Make Even Rows. 

Tie a piece or twine or rope to a steak and stretch it across your garden. Make a line in the dirt under the rope. Make sure to read your seed packet for planting depth.

Step Two: Get Seeds 

Step Three: 

Plant Seeds in pre-made line and cover with soil. Press down.

Step Four: 

Water and watch them grow.

Step Five: 

Repeat steps one though four every two weeks for continual harvest all summer.

This photo was taken last July. Just some inspiration to get in the dirt and play:) 

Let me know if you have any questions! Up next week: Deck Garden Set Up!

Week Four- Starting from Scratch: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Gardening

Week Four: Transplant Basics

Transplants are a way of life in Steamboat Springs; people come and go with the seasons. My first year in town I had about four groups of friends that left before the year was up. For a Midwestern girl who grew up with a solid un moving community, it was hard. If you are new to Steamboat, let me know! I will be your friend, I am not going anywhere. 

Six years later, I find transplants quite exciting. You never know who you will meet tomorrow. I was here for three years before Kyle even moved here. You never know:) 

Back to gardening.

Transplants are necessity in high elevation gardening. tomatoes, squash, zucchini and peppers do not have a real chance over 6,000 feet if they are not started inside and then transplanted.

Timeline: As soon as you can buy seedlings or as soon as our seedlings are bursting out of their cups. 

In Week One we went over starting seeds in a Dixie cup. To revisit that step, click here. 

Note: Week Four's tutorial is specifically geared towards deck gardeners, feel free to transplant your plants directly into the ground if you are in a warmer climate. 

Step One: Have something to transplant, ether buy or plant your own! 

In early February I planted cherry tomatoes and black krim seeds. I plant smaller variety tomatoes because big Tomato variety just don't have enough time up here to develop. Now they look like this:

Step Two: Don't Disturb the roots! 

Tomatoes (and the other veggies listed above) do not like to have their roots disturbed. That is why we use Dixie cups! you can just carefully peal away the bottom and plant. Way WAY cheaper than buying peat pots! 

Step Three: Haul out that prepared container from Week Three. 

Remember to put styrofoam in the bottom! I will be placing this tomato on my deck once it stops snowing in April or May. You know that they say "April snowstorms brings May mud slides"...oh wait.  

Step Four: Plant the Bottomless Dixie Cup!

Don't worry about the cup part. You can take it out in a week or so or leave it in! The roots can get out though the bottom. Just make sure you water thoroughly as the water has a few more feet to go now! in a few weeks we will add some fish emulsion or other compost to boost its production. Easy Peasy! 

Step Five: Plant, Water, Repeat.

Repeat the above steps with squash, zucchini and peppers. Take a look at my over flowing zucchini and squash! They also need to be transplanted! 

Let me know if you have any questions! Up next week: Planting frost resistant greens

I post a new blog every Tuesday! 

Week Three - Starting from Scratch: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Gardening

Week Three

Which way is North: Layout and soil preparation for a new deck vegetable garden

Did anyone else get winter blues when the snow storm hit this past weekend? I was at a conference in Denver enjoying 70 degree days with full sun and green grass on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It. Was. Glorious. I sat outside after the sessions and drank a refreshing gin and tonic and let the sun warm my face (wearing sun screen of course). 

On Friday it took a turn for the worse. By 1pm we were driving back into the mountains and I could have sworn that it was the middle of January. How could it be so beautiful in Denver and then less than three hours away get a foot of snow over night. sigh. Kyle did say it made for the best snowboarding day off his life on Sunday. At least one of us had fun. I looked longingly at my snow covered garden and wished for summer. 

OK, enough of a snow pity party! 

Container Garden Prep! 

This is what I have to work with. If I can make this tiny deck into a small vegetable garden, so can you!

Timeline: This step starts as soon as the night time temperature of the deck is above 28 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step One:

Make a Plan: Where to Place Planters

Our deck faces North West. That means we are going to get afternoon sun and no morning sun. As you can see in my super high tech and artistic graphic below (insert awkward cough), plants need to be arranged from most sun to least sun. Tomatoes and peppers need much more sun than greens, so they go where the most sun will hit them. 

The  amount of sun and the space of your deck will dictate what you can plant. I am using 5 gallon buckets  for the tomatoes, peppers and beans. That way I can still put a trellis of some kind up for them. I will also be using this awesome box that I bought for $4 at the dump salvage yard (Panting it will come later) for squash and zucchini.

Sunshine

Most vegetables require at least 6 hours of sunshine. If your deck has less sunshine, consider planting salad greens and herbs.

Step Two:

Soil (a fancy word for dirt)

Unlike plot gardening, containers need a lighter soil mix to do well. Buying a container mix usually does the trick. The container mix does not compress like normal top soil, which is a big advantage in pots.  

Get your containers ready to plant. Put Styrofoam (or cans or old milk jugs)  in the bottom of your buckets to make them lighter and to make sure they have good drainage. I found these for free at the local dump. 

These are ready to receive a transplant and be moved to the deck. It is still a little too cold for them to go outside, so I am going to hold off on transplanting for a few weeks. 

Hint: put your planters where you want them to be permanently so you don’t get stuck lugging around heavy pots of soil around your house.

Step Three:

Water

Small containers dry out more quickly and will need daily watering. 

Vegetables need consistent watering to do the best. If you know you will forget, try a self-watering system. Kyle had the foresight to think about laying plastic down before placing the plants. So our down stairs neighbors would not get their lawn furniture soaked with mud every time I watered. I will post pictures of the set up in the next few weeks. 

Step Four:

Fertilizer

I have never used much in the way of fertilizer other than some organic fish emulsion. However, in my research on urban deck gardens I have learned that containerized pants get much less nutrients from the soil then regular pot gardens. Every time you water your plant, you wash away some of the nutrients. More on this when we cover transplants next week!


Let me know if you have any questions! Up next week: Transplant basics 

I post a new blog every Tuesday!