When and Where to Start Seeds?

If you have space in your home, it is possible to start some of your seeds indoors to give them a head start.

Some veggies do thrive better when sown directly into the soil where they grow, so checking your packets is the best way to find where you can gain by germination inside or planting directly into your garden.

Cold weather vegetables actually prefer to be planted directly into your soil, and some taste better from growing in the cold.

Preparing Your Garden Site

As with any garden, it is advisable to prepare your garden before you are ready to plant your vegetables. In Colorado, this can mean choosing a location as much as preparing the soil.
As you have more challenges than regular gardeners, it may be worth starting smaller rather than being over your head and becoming overwhelmed.

One other thing to consider when starting a vegetable garden in Colorado is the wildlife that will make a meal of your vegetables. In specific areas, there may be deer so these will require extra precautions.

Denver backyard vegetable garden. Photo: 64MM

Due to the high altitude water evaporates faster, this can mean your vegetables may require watering more often depending on the weather. A useful guide is if the top inch of soil is dry your plants need watering. There is one way to help prevent your soil drying faster. A healthy layer of mulch around your plants will help to retain moisture for longer.

It should also be noted, if you are using raised beds as a means of growing, these will require more frequent watering as the soil can drain much quicker than in regular soil.

Soil Preparations: When you have chosen the areas for your vegetable garden, the soil has to be prepared. The following tips will help prime your soil ready for planting.

Remove all vegetation and weeds: Till the soil until it is loose. You can either use a dedicated machine or do this by hand. At the time of tilling and all the weeds have been removed, it is time to add compost or other organic matter. This adds many nutrients back into the soil in preparation. A useful guide is one inch to every four inches of soil.

Colorado soils can be high in alkaline and resemble clay; you might have to amend your soil with more organic matter to counteract this and lower the pH. Ideally, the pH should be around 7.

Raised Beds or Direct to the Earth?

Much of this is down to personal preference, yet there are advantages of using a raised bed than planting directly into the earth. The soil in raised beds heats up quicker and allows you to plant your seeds that little bit earlier.

Planting directly into the soil can be ideal, yet the aesthetics of your vegetable garden is precisely that. If you want something a little more pleasing to the eye, and more comfortable to work with. Raised beds can be the ideal solutions.

Raised vegetable garden. Photo: Jeff Pearson

These divide your garden, and you will have dedicated pathways leading in between all of the beds. If you see the need for protecting your plants, you can get quite creative in making plastic covers for your raised beds. This can help with both protecting your plants, yet they can improve the growing conditions. There are many ideas on the internet regarding designs, and many end up like miniature greenhouses.

As a result of earlier planting, your vegetables can have longer to reach maturity. This is a great benefit if you know you will have a shorter growing season than other areas. Another great benefit of having raised beds is you can eliminate the need of having to adjust the pH of your soil. You can fill the raised beds from the start with good quality soil and organic material.

The one downside of a raised bed is the extra cost of construction and excellent quality earth. Many Colorado gardeners mix them both and use raised beds for warm-weather vegetables and the ground for the cold weather vegetables.

Growing Seasons and Beyond

Due to the weather in Colorado, your growing season can be cut by weeks and in a worst case scenario up to months. Much of what is here is quite general, and to take the best advantage of your growing season length, even if you can extend it by a month at either end.

Stick to the cool season vegetables rather than attempting and finding you have been failed by the weather. There are more than enough plants that are semi-hardy and highly tolerant to frost to keep the most avid gardener busy throughout the growing seasons.

Extending your Colorado Growing Season: There are a few tips apart from starting your seeds indoors for some vegetables that can help to extend your growing season.

• Cover your soil with black plastic and/or mulch to help keep it warm. Make sure the black plastic has been perforated to help with irrigation.

• Use raised beds as a way to increase the soil temperature earlier in the year.

• The frost tolerant vegetables can be planted earlier as long as the soil is soft enough for roots to grow.

• Cool weather crops should be planted at the first opportune moment. This will need you to pay attention to the local weather for your region.

• By being creative and using old clean milk jugs, plastic cartons or plastic bags you can help to prevent frost damage. If you can spare the expense, you can also purchase frost blankets or row covers/ tunnels to help protect your vegetables.

• Hoop tunnels, cold frames, or a greenhouse make for convenient long-term solutions. Although they have a more substantial up-front investment, they can help to add months onto the Colorado growing season for your spring or fall vegetable gardens.