Backyard Agrarian

Has it really been a month since my last post!  To catch you up real quick:  Rain, sun, heat, rain, more sun, more heat.  lot more heat and rain.  The outcome:  summer - and a wet one!  Up here summer means lots of fresh greens - lots of lettuce varieties, kale, chard, and peas.  (early season crops at lower altitudes).  

The herbs like cilantro, dill, chives and oregano have long since bolted.  Oregano now has bright purple flowers topping off long stalks.  The parsley however is going strong and the mint is finally starting to send up new mint shoots.  (I know some people hate mint because it is so invasive... but that just means you haven't tried my fresh mint mojitos!).  

Chamomile grows well in rocky dry soil but even better in well prepared and regularly watered beds.  A great addition to your rock path or seating areas because it releases its sweet calming scent. Use it as a tea, fresh or dried, or in your bath water for delicious smelling natural relaxation concoction. 

 Add the dimension of smell to your edible garden.  

This is my first season growing potatoes.  A friend had extra seed potatoes and passed them along to me.  Most people prefer to get certified seed potatoes to be sure they do not have disease.  I'm not sure I believe this is necessary and will probably try to save potatoes from this year's harvest to sprout and plant next year. 


Potatoes grow incredibly fast!  Tons of greens shoot up above the dirt within a couple of weeks and keep growing and growing.   have not yet piled additional dirt along the stems but will do that in the next few days. 


i was worried that all the heavy rains that came right after planting would rot the potatoes.  I think my soil was well drained enough that this did not happen.  


I planted the potatoes directly in the ground and there is no screen under the garden plot.  I'm hoping the rodents stay away, but I see a rodent hole right next to the row of taters, so i'm a bit worried.  For now, so far so good. 

I planted Bibb and Romaine lettuces along with kale from seeds outside on May 8, 2009.  These are all considered cold weather crops that can be planted well before the last frost date. 

In the past, at this altitude, I have protected the seedlings from the cold and closed the cold frame at night.  (You could also cover with floating row covers or hoops).  This year, I decided to test the timing of growth without doing any season extending practices.  

We have had a cool and very wet spring s far.  The greens have been very slow to get going.  They were very small during the hail storm last week and were crushed.  

However this week, we had several hot days and the greens are FINALLY starting to take off.  They have totally recovered from the hail storm.  

For comparison, lettuce is bolting in Boulder this week, after a prolific early season harvest in every garden I have seen.  

See the picture below.  My greens are planted inside this cold frame, but I have left it open all season so far.  It's main function right now is to protect plants from wind (which are strong) coming through my yard and from animals.