Colorado Mountain Gardener

What I Do In My Garden In Early Spring
By Ed Powers, Jefferson County Master Gardener

It is early April and I am about to start my flower seeds inside in my seed area. At the same time, I am thinking about what to do with my 24 feet by 4 feet raised gardens. I live at approximately 8,000 feet and my growing season can be rather short.

My experience has taught me that some plants must be bought in containers, while others can be grown by seed in my seed area. I prefer to buy tomatoes, squash and peppers to transplant. I prefer to direct seed beets and rutabagas.

I begin working in my two raised gardens by:

• Raking and turning my gardens.
• Adding new soil and compost.
• Adding chicken fertilizer. I find this to be a great starter fertilizer.
• After the last frost, I will turn my water and hose nozzle on. 

Raised garden bed

Because I live at 8,000 feet with a lot of wildlife, I need to protect my raised gardens. I do this by covering them with bird netting, which seems to work. I replace my bird netting at the start of a new garden year. I also cover my garden top with a piece of clear plastic roofing to protect it from hail.

Two raised garden beds

I plant my cucumber seeds and flower seeds indoors in early April. As the seed plants grow, they will be moved to larger pots. I will continue to grow the seed plants until late May when I will move them outside during the day and back indoors at night until early June, when I will plant them in the ground.

By the end of April, I plant my rutabagas, beets, carrots, radishes, and potatoes in the garden. 

Raised garden bed 

Reference CSU Garden notes