I'm in the high rockies of Colorado, and this year I am determined to make a garden work. My little town is really more "high desert" as it has a pretty low snowfall, and is very, very dry. We get a lot of Spring weather activity though, as we are close to the continental divide, and it could snow as late as June. I come from Louisiana, where you can pretty much throw anything in the ground and it will be amazing, so this has been a huge learning curve over the past 5 years.
What I've got going so far, all inside under grow lights still currently. I started everything from seed this year, which is new for me, but has been so fun to watch everything grow. I had about a 99% germination rate, which I'm stoked about!
- 12 San Marzano tomato seedlings
- 6 cherry tomato seedlings
- 2 trays of baby greens (I'm thinking of putting these outside soon, since they can handle a little cold)
- 1 tray of Sage
- 2 trays of Italian basil
- 1 tray of Thai basil
- 1 tray of oregano
- 1 tray of thyme
- 1 tray of cherry peppers
- 1 tray of jalepenos
- 1 tray of Rainbow Chard
- 2 trays of Lacinato Kale.
- 6 beautiful zucchini seedlings
I'm also planning to sow directly into the ground some more baby greens, kale, rainbow chard (later) and spinach.
I just acquired 4 large rectangular wooden beds that will be perfect for the greens, herbs, etc. I've placed them on the south side of my house which gets TONS of sun, and is regularly 15 degrees warmer than the actual temperature outside. I also have a raised bed that I'm planning to put the zucchini, peppers, and whatever else I decide to plant later in the summer. The tomatoes of both varieties will be in big 5 gallon buckets, as I've read they do best there. I love the ability to bring them in the garage if we get a random late cold snap.
The biggest hurdle here besides the 40+ mph winds, the cold, the late snow, the dry air, etc haha...are our millions of town deer, who eat everything in site and jump any fence they see. I'm really hoping to out smart them this year, but that is definitely the thing I am most worried about!