June Garden Update

Pumpkin Patch update!

There's a lot growing on! We transplanted all of our pumpkins at the beginning of June due to the winter storm in May. We are growing all of our heirlooms as usual but we are growing some exciting hybrids so we can update our photos and videos. The hybrids include Blaze F1, Hooligan F1, Gooligan F1, Black Kat F1, Casperita F1, Orangerita F1, Mint Prince F1, Jade Knight F1, Colorado Sunset F1, and Dark Knight F1, Sleepy Jack F1, Specter F1, and many more. We are also growing more Thai Rai Kaw Tok and Yokohama so we will have fresh stock after October.

We will showcase more of our pumpkins in the July update. :)

Sunflowers Galore!

We are wanting to update photos and videos for all of our sunflowers this year so we are growing all of the following: Earthwalker, Lemon Eclair, Strawberry Lemonade, Strawberry Blonde, Butter Cream, Pinot Noir, Plumb, Teddy Bear, Mammoth Sunflower and Chocolate Cherry.

Harvest time!

We are in zone 5a,b so we are always behind some other folks in the warmer zones, but so far we have been able to enjoy cabbage, kale, several kinds of lettuces, radishes, and kohlrabi.

Yedikule Lettuce, Boston Bibb, Big Boston, Bronzed Beauty, Oak Leaf, Blond Paris Island, and Romaine.

Early Purple and Early White Kohlrabi

Organic Red Russian Kale, Merlot Lettuce, French Breakfast Radishes, Caramel Spinach, Mayan Jaguar Lettuce, Bloomsdale Lettuce, Red Cherry Radish, and Bok Choy.

Other Growings on...

Some volunteer wildflowers, a volunteer tomatillo plant, money plant seedlings, a birds & bees wildflower mix, and our tomato garden.

Local Wildlife...

We have garter snakes all over the place. We love these little guys as they help with the bad bugs, and they deter rodents. They love the water and we always try to keep a dish of fresh water for them in the garden.

We will have more updates soon! We like to remind everyone we are home-based so while we don't have a physical location for folks to visit, we enjoy sharing our blog so you can see our operation and what we have grown. One of our goals is to procure a piece of land where we will be able to grow more varieties and have everyone come visit us.

Winter Storm In May!

How to handle wind, frost, and cold temperatures when you have already put your transplants in the ground.

Growing up in Colorado, the weather is always a surprise. We often tell folks who move here to keep an umbrella, winter coat, and shorts in their car since the weather is usually an absolute wild card. We had just direct-sown several seeds as well as putting many of our transplants into the ground and out of nowhere, we were hit with a winter storm. The nights were down to 28º(F), and we had several inches of snow. This happened 3 years ago to the day, but we weren't anticipating any more frost or snow as the 10-day forecast hadn't reflected any danger until the storm came out of nowhere. We were able to make it through the 4 days cold front with minimal loss. Here are some tips on what to do if this happens to you.

---

Container Gardening

While we do grow a large variety of plants every year, we block off the majority of our property for our pumpkin patch. We use over 120 containers for various tomatoes, chilis, eggplant, tomatillos, beans, etc. This may be larger scale than the average garden of course, but the same information applies. When you see cold temperatures coming you have a couple of options for your containers.

The first and easiest solution is to bring your containers inside. Plants can still survive with little to no light for a bit so it's safe to bring them inside, even if you don't have a south-facing window. Since we had so many, we utilized our garage space. We would open the garage door to allow natural light when the daytime temps were warmer or used our fluorescent garage lights when it was too cold to do so.

Take out containers, Tupperware, and plastic cups.

All of these are an absolute must for gardeners in colder zones!

Whenever we order takeout, we wash and save our clear plastic to-go containers. There is a Thai place near us we adore, and we order soup often. These containers are clear plastic and hold about 38-40 ounces of soup. When snow, frost, or even wind are in the forecast, you can cover your plants with these. In essence, these act as a mini-greenhouse for each plant. The sun will go through the plastic and generate heat inside the container, while the container holds in the heat, much like the inside of your car may be hot when you open your car door on a warm day.

We had our plants covered with containers, clear Tupperware, and solo cups during this storm. They were able to stay frost-free and warm enough to survive once the days warmed up again. The only caveat to this is to remove these in time. Once the days get warmer and the sun comes back out, the temperatures under your containers can elevate quite a bit. Solo cups won't get as warm as quickly since they are usually colored, but any clear container will heat up quickly. If they aren't removed once the sun comes out, the plants can actually bake inside. If this is a concern, you can cover the plants with protective containers, then put a blanket or tarp over them to provide shade. You can also use this method for your container garden items, we opted to bring ours in as we didn't have enough protective containers for all of our plants.

Tarps, mulch, and burlap

Tarps, mulch, and burlap can all be used to cover raised beds and containers. The key is to make sure that all sides of the tarp are tucked in or held down in some way to keep the warmth in. We will have some more updates now that the weather is warm.

What other helpful hints would you offer those who may encounter winter weather conditions during gardening season?

Chili Transplants!

---

The chili transplants are finally planted! It's been unusually hot for this time of year, and these guys are feeling the heat. They are still in their infancy, but they'll bounce back. We are growing the following: Pumpkin Spice Jalapeño, Trinidad Scorpion Chili, Pasillia Poblano, Market Poblano, Anaheim Green Chili, Aji Amarillo Grande, Aji Amarillo (small variety), Mad Hatter Chili, Purple Beauty Bell Pepper, Organic Glow Pepper, Red Hot Cayenne, Red Hot Cherry, Red Hot Habanero, and Peruvian Lemon Drop. We use tomato fertilizer for our chilis since they can benefit from a lot of the same ingredients the tomatoes do. We use an organic 5-10-10. We also top dress with manure.