Plains of Colorado

[janet2802]

My family and I live in Elizabeth, Colorado which is 40 miles southeast of Denver. We have 20 acres and are raising three daughters, horses, dogs, cats, chickens, and one beloved husband. We are in the process of figuring out what to plant. Last year, we had a "starter garden" with seeds we started inside in peat pots. They did pretty well and we decided not to plant so many zuccini. We are going to do something similar this year, but on a larger scale.

 

[digitS']

I know a fine gardener who lives not far from you, Janet.

Here are just a few tomato and pepper varieties she has had success with.

Tomatoes: Big Beef; Neves Azorean Red; Skorospelka; Bloody Butcher

Peppers: Giant Aconcagua; NuMex Joe E. Parker

She suggests no peppers or tomatoes that are listed for more than 75 days to maturity.

Hope this helps.

Steve

 

[janet2802]

Wow! Thanks, Steve! That is perfect way to start. I am so excited about getting out in the garden to start the planting. My husband just put down last year's horse manure and tilled it last night with more to do today.

 

[DouglasPeeps]

Hello! It is nice to see others from Colorado on here. Janet, we are just west of you in Franktown. Out here, that is almost like neighbors. We have always been gardeners, both my husband and I. It is something that we love to do together. But we just recently moved out of the "city" and on land. Even though I am a seasoned gardener, I now have new worries about wildlife. So, I am in the early planning stages right now. We moved here the middle of last summer, so I only had potted tomato plants. They did very well. My goal this summer is to have: tomatos, squash, zuccini, onions, potatoes, beans, and pumpkins. Pumpkins are my favorite. We have always grown pie pumpkins and I process them and freeze them for the winter for pumpkin pies, muffins, and breads.

Janet, what other things will you be planting this year?

 

[5azsisters]

I can remember growing up that we always stopped in or around that part of CO on the way from TX to WY to buy canelope. They were HUGE and oh so good.

Jacie

 

[janet2802]

Pumpkins! Never thought of that. We are planting (or thinking about) are tomatos, potatos, zuccini, squash, lettuce, corn, beans, and maybe strawberries. My concern is with the winds blowing through and no real coverage or protection that they might not grow real well. My husband wants to plant corn down one side of the garden where the neighbor's driveway is because of the dust they kick up when they drive by. But a half acre is a lot of space. Hubby just finished tilling the first round before this latest storm hit with a thin layer of horse poop, but not sure what else to mix in with it. I am concerned that the soil is not rich enough to grow anything besides weeds. What do you use?

 

[COgirl]

Hi Colorado Folks, we live on the plains kinda outside of Falcon, we are SW of Elizabeth by 40 min or so..... Janet the only problem I have had with growing corn is it LOVES water and I never seem to give it enough thus getting smaller ears but they still taste great. The wind is a real issue, peppers sweet or hot really seem to suffer in the winds I use walls o' water on my peppers and tomatoes with good results, leaving them on the peppers for the season, just rolling them down and my tomato plants are usually 6ft tall and I get LOTS. Green beans have done well for me if the winds cooperate. This year I'm doing potatoes, yellow and zucchini squash, peas, green beans, red sweet, serrano and cubanelle peppers, brussels sprouts and various herbs. Of course just as everything is looking gorgeous it seems the hail comes lol, I have been beaned quite a few times running out to cover the gardens. I will probably start planting in 2 weeks or so. Have fun experimenting and seeing what works for you.
Kim

 

[farmerlor]

Howdy Neighbors!!! I'm out here in Kiowa. When we first moved here I was so upset about this soil-who can grow anything in this stuff (I'm from Iowa where the land is gardening heaven)? Anyway, we've patiently added and amended the soil year after year and we bought a greenhouse to mitigate the damage from all this wind out here and we finally are having some success at growing stuff. I specialize in heirloom tomatoes and peppers but we grow most everything as we have a whole LOT of kids to feed.

 

[COgirl]

Hi farmerlor, gosh I haven't been on in a long time, nice to see someone else from the plains. I'm trying heirloom tomatoes this year and putting up a greenhouse, with the hopes of being able to grow some lettuce and greens all year round. I am also going to give sweet potatoes a shot. Any greenhouse advice you would like to give?

 

[farmerlor]

We built our own greenhouse (kinda sorta). A guy who ran a commercial set up was going out of business so we bought the steel hoops which we drove into the ground and then covered with a plastic cover from one of those greenhouse supply places. Husband built wooden frames for the ends for doors and ventilation and we were all set-up and ready to go. This greenhouse is about a hundred feet long so too big to be practical for supplying produce all year long with heating costs the way they are but husband already has a much smaller frame for a glass greenhouse which HE says he wants to use for an orange tree but which I will probably use for my favorite lettuce mix and keeping some tomatoes.
Below is pic of greenhouse: