The first of each New Year brings the excitement of seed catalogues to gardeners across the United States. Some have found their way to my Arvada address. The ones from states afar are great for browsing but local catalogues are great for seeing what you can grow right here.
It would be fun to get some of everything, but not necessarily very practical. You need to consider what you have for planting space. Do you have a few large planters or a small square foot garden, possibly you have space for more? Plan how much to purchase in seed with space in mind. You need to give the plants space to grow.
Consider what you want to eat. Radishes are easy to grow but if you do not like them why bother taking up the garden space? Do you plan to purchase plants or starter plants of some sort? Save your money for the plants in this case. Will your eating habits include a weekly trip to the local Farmer’s Market or purchasing a CSA Share (Community Supported Agriculture?)
According to the Farmer’s Almanac the Denver area has a 157 day growing season. The season is April 30 to October 4. Anyone who has lived in the area a few years will tell you that there was 13.5 inches of snow in May 1978 and there was 7.4 inches of snow on top if ice in September of 1995. In other words a gardener must keep watch on the weather in any individual year to have a successful garden. The length of an individual year’s actual growing season will limit what you can grow. Ideally you want to have harvest in August and planting time is about Mother’s Day.
Two local favorites for seed that is locally produced are Botanical Interests and Abbondanza Farms. Botanical Interests is in Broomfield, CO and their 2012 catalogue is out. The website supplements the catalogue and both are worthy of your time. If you have ever been to the Saturday boulder Farmer’s Market you have likely seen the Abbondanza display of seeds with their produce. Waiting until the Farmer’s Market starts might be later than you want to acquire your seeds. The solution is to visit their website. Some of it appears to be out of date but their knowledge and stock of seed is current. Drop them an email with your contact information and now you have another local source of seed.
As the snow falls on your garden beds it is never too soon to think about the spring plantings.
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