Business people, politicians and educators all talk about challenges these days. No one has problems any more, only challenges.
Front Range vegetable gardeners have their own set of challenges. Small lots that limit garden space, notoriously poor soil, late freezes and early frosts, more hail than anywhere else in the country and midsummer heat among them.
All of us look for an edge to help make our gardens attractive and productive, and that comes in the form of small secrets, time-honored learning and good old common sense about what – and sometimes how much – to plant.
Here are a few random tips that you might find useful.
1. Zucchini
Plant only one zucchini and one yellow summer squash. More than that will take too much space and provide more squash than your family will tolerate. Planting only two will reduce the number of late-night stealth squash dropoffs on neighbors’ porches.
2. Cucumbers
Cucumbers grown on either a string or wire trellis attached to a wood fence will save garden space and be easier to find and pick since they will be near eye level. If pollination is a problem (challenge!) due to a lack of bees, plant one of the seedless varieties like Sweet Success that don’t require pollination.
3.Lettuce
Leaf lettuce, closely spaced, in an area of no more than 2 feet square will provide all the salad a small family needs.
Plant it early and, after you cut it the first time, plant another patch the same size. After the first patch is cut twice more, the second patch will be ready for harvest and you can reseed the first patch and start all over.
If you don’t cut it too close to the ground the lettuce will regenerate quicker. Using this method you will have lettuce all summer no matter how hot it gets.
4. Melon
If part of your yard is covered with landscape rocks, that is a good place to plant cantaloupe or watermelon. Clear away an 18-inch square area down to the dirt and border it with bricks or edging to keep the rocks from encroaching.
You can put in about four melon plants and watch them go nuts, spreading out and taking over that part of the yard. They love the heat from the rocks, and the rocks will keep the fruit off the ground where it might otherwise rot.
5. Carrots
If you have a considerable number of carrots still in the ground as cold weather approaches, dig a 12-inch- deep trench in a part of your garden that will receive winter sun. Put a layer of sheet plastic in the bottom, then dump in your topped carrots.
Put another sheet of plastic on top and cover the trench with at least six inches of soil. Whenever you need a bag of carrots you can dig them up all through the winter. The top couple of inches of soil may freeze, but the carrots will be cool and safe underneath.
6. Tomatoes
When the temperature reaches into the mid-90s for several days in a row, which is all too common in recent years, tomato blossoms won’t set fruit. If you drape sheets of cheesecloth secured by clothespins over your plants, the small amount of shade provided may be enough to allow the tiny fruits to start growing.
7. Okra
Fried breaded okra is a delicious, although not very healthful, treat. Okra is considered to be a plant grown in the hot, humid South. You can grow okra in Colorado but it won’t tolerate cool weather, so wait until at least the first week of June to put in your plants.
Make sure they have full sun. Four plants is all most people want, and I have seen them grow 6 feet tall. Freeze some in zipper bags for use in gumbo or soups in the cold of winter.
8. Garlic
An organic-farmer friend taught me this. Plant garlic in the fall, and it will appear in early spring. When it is harvested, if the cloves are smaller than the ones you planted, don’t despair.
Instead of buying and planting large cloves again the next fall, save some of your small cloves and replant them. The following year your cloves will be much larger.
Why does this work? We don’t know, but it does, so does it matter?
These are little things I have learned over the years. Some I have thought of myself, and others were passed on from other gardeners. All of us need all the help we can get to overcome our Front Range gardening problems … I mean challenges.
Gerald Miller is a master gardener who lives in Pueblo.
