Week 17: 4/21/2024 - 4/27/2024
Amending soil, preparing for planting, preparing for Colorado spring unpredictability
Each week, this newsletter will contain three sections:
How things are going
I will share an update on my garden as a point of reference for how my weekly tasks are adding up and looking.
What to do this week
Here I will present the 3 - 5 things I am planning or doing this week.
Resources
A deeper dive into information and perspectives that are inspiring or informing my gardening.
If you are coming to this newsletter mid-season, please take a look at the posts from the past few weeks to get a sense of context for where we are at this week!
Reminder: Bring your seedlings to swap, share, barter, sell, giveaway, and meet your fellow neighborhood gardeners. May 4th, 10am - 12pm, Curtis Park, at the corner of 31st and Curtis, we’ll be at the picnic tables!
Week 17: 4/21/2024 - 4/27/2024
How things are going:
Summer planting time is almost here, and with it, rain, snow, wild swings in temperature, threats of hail, actual hail, and dry spells. At this point, our daily highs and lows are high enough overall, that I have taken off my plastic season extension covers. Even in the snow we had this week. The cold hardy crops in my beds are not threatened by brief dips to freezing. The wind did more damage to my lettuce than the cold and snow have.
However, as I plan to plant out my summer crops this coming week, I will have the plastic covers ready to protect them from any freezing temperatures. While they might survive brief exposure to below freezing conditions, this will stress the plants, slowing their start.
To get the beds ready, I am laying down a layer of compost. I generally follow a no-dig method, so I don’t till my soil. I want the roots of the previous seasons of plants to remain in the soil, creating a structure for the bug and bacterial life to thrive. Successive layers of compost rot down into the ground, year after year, delivering slow releasing nutrients that plants and the soil life need. This is a long term approach to building beautiful soil, but I like to think of my gardening efforts as something I will do for years.
However, if you are just getting started, especially if you aren’t using raised beds, your soil may be too full of clay to simply take this approach. It might be wise to till in some amendments, at least for the first season. Here is a great walkthrough of preparing Colorado soil. I highly recommend this guide. It provides a very clear explanation of the different reasons to amend your soil, different amendments needed to achieve different goals, as well as timing.
I also am preparing my hail covers. These will drape over my plastic hoops, like the greenhouse plastic, but unlike the plastic, I will feel comfortable leaving them over my summer crops continually. Unlike the plastic, the mesh covers will let air flow freely (important to prevent disease). If you want some peace of mind that your garden is covered, this may be a good thing to build before your plant out your summer seedlings.
One thing I have done this week to prepare my summer seedlings is hardening them off. Each day, I slowly exposed them to outdoor conditions. The plants react to the increased wind exposure and sunlight, adapting to become strong enough to survive outside. By next weekend, the plants will have been exposed to a full day outside, and I will plant them in my beds.
Our predicted last frost date is May 4th this year. However, as you may know, it is important to have precautions in place to protect your plants from the likely possibility of that prediction being wrong.
All that being said, since you will likely need protection no matter when in May you plant your summer crops, you might as well plant them earlier, giving them a longer season. This is what I plan to do in the coming week.
I have also started tracking the weight of my harvests. So far it has just been lettuce, which doesn’t weigh a lot, but is producing a lot!
What to do this week:
The time is now! You should be thinking about when you will plant out your summer seedlings in the next two weeks.
Here’s what to do:
If you haven’t yet, make sure your soil is ready for your plants!
Add a layer of compost (1 - 2 inches deep) on top of your garden.
If you are just getting started, and your ground feels stiff and compacted, and looks to be full of clay, you should likely do some light tilling in of fresh compost to the soil. This will make it easier for the roots to grow.
Figure out where you are going to buy your seeds and seedlings and set aside time to do this.
Make sure you have things needed for planting
Fertilizer
Shovel
Labeling stakes
Permanent marker
Determine what your frost and hail protection plans are and have the materials needed ready to go as soon as your seedlings are in the ground
Next week:
Planting seedlings
Resources:
Resource 1
A great beginner guide for getting started with gardening in Colorado. Some very helpful tips!