Time to Winter Water

We are experiencing (yet) another dry winter here in the Pikes Peak area, and that means we get to participate in that unique western (or southwestern) gardening experience, winter watering.

When I first bought my house here, it never occurred to me to put out the sprinkler at any point between October and May. Hence, after our second winter in the house, we lost half of the backyard – the half that was never shaded by the garage or the trees. Since then, I’ve learned that many plants in our area need to be watered during dry spells in the winter.

Why Water in Winter?
Yes, our plants are mostly dormant over the winter, and so it can seem strange to water when they aren’t actively taking up and transpiring water. So why do we do it? Well, even though the tops of most of our plants are looking pretty dead right now, they still (hopefully) have live roots in the soil. Those roots aren’t taking up water, but if the soil around them is dry, the soil will slowly take moisture from the roots, drying them completely. So, when we winter water, we’re actually watering the soil!

 

Hybrid Vegetable Seeds – Where Do They Come From?

A friend asked me a question last summer that kind of blew my mind. “If we can’t expect seeds from hybrid tomatoes to ‘come true,’ then where do they get hybrid seeds from year after year?”

Now, I definitely knew (or thought I did) what a hybrid was, and I had a canned answer for anyone who asked how hybrid varieties were made (well, breeders cross two varieties to come up with a new one). But I realized I hadn’t really ever understood the nitty gritty of hybrid seed production. I intended to hunker down and do some research, but it kept falling way down on the to do list until I started perusing this year’s seed catalogs, considering the varieties I wanted to try. When I order Sungold seeds each year, the seed company doesn’t have to continually grow the parent plants and cross them to get new seeds, right? That would be terribly labor intensive and it seems the seeds would be ridiculously expensive! Well, as it turns out, that is exactly what they do. If you’re curious to learn more, read on!

 

It’s Not Too Late! You Can Still Get Some Bulbs in the Ground

My gosh, it’s November already! Perhaps you have a bulb order sitting in your basement that arrived weeks ago or you’re eyeing those sale notices coming from online bulb sellers and wondering if it’s too late to plant bulbs. Have no fear; you still have time!

This is a marvelous time to take advantage of deep discounts on remaining bulbs. Ordering from reputable online bulb sellers is a good way to go as the bulbs haven’t been sitting out in bins in heated big box stores or even garden centers. They’ve been kept chilled, just waiting to be packed in a box and shipped out. (You can also have more confidence that you are actually getting the bulb varieties you want – bulbs tend to hop around in those open bins.) Any bulb order you place now will likely come very quickly, and you should make time within a few days of receiving them to plant them. Yes, you still have time, but not that much time, so don’t delay.

 

So Long, Tomatoes

It seems that only yesterday we were picking our first ripe tomato of the season. Now we’re looking at vigorous vines still full of green fruit and wondering… how long will the warm weather last this year? Is there will time for these to ripen? If not, when should we pick them? How should we store them?

It’s early October, with warm, golden days and crisp nights, and frost could come at any time. In fact, October 10 is the average first frost date in Colorado Springs. (If you live higher than downtown, subtract one day for every 100 feet in elevation over 6,035.) This means that in any given year, your garden has a 50% chance of seeing a frost by October 10.

 

75 Ton Manure Stimulus Event! Oct 15, 2011

Well that got your attention, didn’t it? (And you’ll notice we don’t have any manure pictures…well maybe if you look reeeeeally closely at that field…)

This is a joint venture between Colorado Springs Utilities and Ranch Foods Direct to benefit Project COPE. Project COPE provides utilities payment assistance to families and individuals struggling financially due to a personal crisis or emergency. Project COPE is the only local organization that dedicates its entire funding to utilities payment assistance year-round.

Here are the pertinent details:

 

Thinking of Planting a Cover Crop? Now Is the Time to Act!

Winter Rye

Those of us who contribute to this blog have been learning quite a bit about working with Colorado soils this year! We no longer feel confident (well we probably never did) picking up bags of “top soil” or manure or compost and adding them to our garden soils. (If you missed it, see Leslie’s terrific post on this topic: New Advice on Soil Amendments.)

Most gardeners feel pretty good about adding compost they’ve made themselves to their vegetable garden soils. In our area, though, we rarely encounter gardeners who have tried out another homemade soil amendment, cover crops or green manure. A cover crop is a plant that is usually seeded in early fall (mid-September is best in our area but you can plant through mid-October) and then watered so it sprouts and grows before the first hard freeze. If it gets tall, it is mown to keep it from going to seed. It goes dormant (or even dies) after a hard freeze, and it then provides mulch over the bed during winter and the roots provide aerated soil next spring when it is time to plant. (If it did not die and greens up in spring, it may have to be treated with herbicide or removed so it does not compete with your vegetables in the growing season.) Green manure is simply a cover crop that is hardy enough to survive the winter and is tilled into the soil in the spring. (Note that both cover crops and green manures can be planted in the spring if you have enough space in your garden to give up an area for the growing season to allow the cover crop or green manure to grow over the spring and summer.)

 

Fall Veggie Class

For all you die hard gardeners next month Larry Stebbins the director of Pikes Peak Urban Gardens (PPUG) will be giving a class entitled “Fall Veggie Class”.  This class is the first in a series of six classes Larry will present throughout the winter.  The “Fall Veggie Class”  will not only cover Fall Veggies, but also what worked and what did not work in the garden this year.

Just like the rest of the U.S. we have had some unusual weather to deal with this past summer.  First our May was cold and damp then came the heat in June followed by the rain in July.  It was a challenging year to be a Colorado Gardener.  Larry is a great speaker and just full of knowledge about growing vegetables here in Colorado.  Go to www.ppugardens.org to register and attend the class.

 

You Can Help Create a Wetland!

Here is an opportunity for a type of gardening that very few of us have probably ever done! How often do you get the chance to create a wetland? Well you can volunteer and help Colorado Springs Utilities improve Fountain Creek by planting trees and shrubs to create a stable wetland on Saturday, September 24. The volunteer event runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. A bit more info and contact information can be found on the project’s flyer. Fountain Creek Wetland Volunteer Flyer

 

Elms for the Pikes Peak Region

Fall is an excellent time to plant new trees. Why not consider an elm?

An elm?!? What??

Elms have certainly gotten a bad reputation, and people rarely think of them when needing to plant a new shade tree. Dutch elm disease has wiped out nearly 100 million American elms in America since 1930. In addition to its American elms, Colorado Springs also has many Siberian elms growing in the area. This tree’s reputation as a “trash tree” is well deserved. It is highly vulnerable to damage by elm leaf beetles, succumbs to bacterial wetwood, plants thousands of volunteer seedlings annually, and drops twigs whenever it is stressed (and it is always stressed).

 

Growing Vegetables in Containers

Don’t let a lack of space stop you from growing fresh vegetables. Even if you only have a small yard or live in a condo or apartment you can enjoy fresh and tasteful vegetables from your own garden. Most people think you need a big gardening space to grow your favorite vegetables, but you don’t. Picking the right type of vegetable and a variety of containers you can grow succulent vegetables too.

When choosing your vegetables look for varieties that will grow well in small places. Choose bush beans instead of climbers. Choose from the many determinate tomatoes out on the market. You are not limited just to determinate varieties, you can also grow indeterminate tomatoes like Brandywine, Celebrity, Better Boy and many more. With the indeterminate varieties will have to install a trellis. There are many dwarf varieties of vegetables on the market.