Anybody growing vegetables in the Rockies?

Yes, gumbo, that is one of the foods I said I liked in the South. I grew some Okra a few years ago, didn't have very many recipes but tried it a few times and I do like fresh home grown okra.

Never saw or heard of the kind of garlic chives you are taking about and showing us the really pretty picture of it growing in your yard. i have lots of common chives, because once you have it started it is like dill, comes up all over the place.''

Thanks for the nice comments, yes I do have great views of the area, from the yard and any room in my house.

Donna

Oriental garlic chives are pretty and do spread like regular chives. They are easy to start from seed, or if you D-mail me I would be happy to send you as start.
Betty

Garden_Mermaid, one of the reasons we ended up 60 miles E of Reno is... The City is an hour away, a grocery store 1/2 hour away - but the launch to the 16 mile long lake is 7 minutes away. There is very little snow, although we are frozen most of the winter. Not good for insulating plants, and we have to water trees in the dead of winter, go figure, but it makes driving and such not too bad. If you can keep them hydrated and give them some shade cloth, looks like most any veggies you want will grow around here,too. (Oh, you have to give them soil, too). People are nice, although there are several bumperstickers arround that say, "We don't care how you did it in California." I laugh when they say there is a traffic jam - that usually means we have to slow down to the speed limit! Nothing like 101 on a Friday afternoon!

Speaking of chives, I planted a few cloves of store-bought garlic and put it in a pot in the kitchen window this summer and clipped them to use like chives. I'd never done that before, and found they were very yummy. By the way, I've never really gotten in to cooking. Most of the veggies I've grown in the past were snack food right off the vine, never making it near a kitchen counter. But I've not had room for more than just "snack food" in a long time, and I've found that I am suddenly interested in cooking and preserving (I have ALWAYS been interested in EATING :-) Pretty, tasty and easy to grow - sounds like my kinda plant!

I've just placed my first garlic order this weekend and will be planting out one 4x8 bed of various hardnecks & softnecks & an elephant to see what likes it out here. I bulb each of:

* basic elephant
* Inchelium - softneck, artichoke type
* Chesnok Red - hardneck
* Siberian - hardneck, asian purple skinned
* Music - hardneck, porcelain type
* Persian Star - hardneck, purple striped
* Silver Rose - softneck, silver skin
* Spanish Roja - hardneck

I'm thinking I will use the smaller cloves for cutting greens. The cloves in the windowsill didn't get enough light, and while they were entertaining and yummy, there wasn't much production from them.
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Gumbo, real good gumbo - a person could sell their soul for such... mmmmm, getting hungry!

Maybe we should of had stickers 20 years ago that said "We don't care how your did it outside California". Perhaps there would have been less plundering of the state by people passing through and sucking the local communities dry. The factionalism is really sad.


Does Lahontan still turn over once a year (algae from the bottom suddenly rising to the surface)?

I've read not to mulch iris. The iris farm near here says as much too. I'm personally not a fan of hte lovely things.

Uncomposted wwodchips: They take nitrogen only at the fine interface between them and the soil- and it is only temporary. They don't make it disappear, they make it bond with their carrbon and break off of the wood. Diggin in a lot, mixed into the soil will need a nitrogen foil to counteract it. (Like Steve said with manure) I imagine, Betty, that your Potato crop failure had to do with softrot or somethign else. When plants lack nitrogen, they don't up and die, they go yellow and stop growing.

Donna, It looks like a spot of floor has fallen out of heaven and crashed lightly in Washington. It is open to let the spirit sail, eh?

This is a grand veg talk. I wish every Sunday were like this. I see ideas being thrown all over the place. Just great.
Kenton

I'm getting hungry just reading this too. Sausage gumbo.... Yum. I've had a dutch oven dish that incorporated a spicy sausage with cabbage and a large assortment of other veggies that I'm sure a bit of Okra would work in as well. I can see me trying Okra now along side my Artichoke. By the by anyone with some advice on overwintering an Artichoke plant. Do ya think a thick layer of mulch would work? Seems like that's what I've heard folks do with some of the bananas and palms and they pull through.

Rutholive that is a great place... I have to sigh as I look at your pictures. I'm hoping to have a similar set up in 10 or so years. That's the dream anyway.

Back to the question of elevation and such... I garden at 4800' elevation on the top of a ridge between three valleys with an average annual precip. of 18.5". Wind is definitly an issue here as well. This is why I positioned the garden where I did in the yard. We have 6' tall fence around the back as well as previously existing siberian elms(hate these), wild plums, wild roses and an assortment of other native shrubs. The garden is protected further by the 12' tall Garage on the North and an old barn/lean-to on the South. I started out with a little 8' x 8' piece and have added raised beds a little at a time and mounded the soil and organic matter(we have rabbits and chickens) and used leftover supplies to make it look a bit organized. We've also screened most of the dirt in the raised beds as well. This was one of the most rocky sections in the yard. The dirt here is a clay loam that I have learned to appreciate for it's water retention. I just have to be careful though not to work it when it's wet. I HATE the little dirt clods this produces... as such this is another reason the soil got screened. Oh well, live and learn. I also have a makeshift drip system that I use to irrigate in the evenings when I get home from work. As far as mulching goes I really only mulch my peppers and tomatoes with black weed cloth. I'm always worried that organic mulch around the plants will encourage the bill bugs and earwigs. They're already a big enough problem as it is. The chickens enjoy them though.

Lol, kmom! Mulch, mulch, mulch that's too funny. You realize now I'm going to think of this everytime I mulch a plant from here on out. We've learned the hard way that mulch can make all the difference. Trees and Shrubs are mulched immediately as are the ornamentals. We planted a Kentucky coffee tree in the back that almost died. My DH tilled in a bit of compost and added a ring of mulch and it's now actually starting to look like a tree.

I've never had any luck with carrots. I've had a couple get big enough to eat but they were bitter and I've not tried them since. Cauliflower is another crop that has never done well for me. I'm waiting now on my second sowing of bush beans and beets and will be planting some spinach and mache shortly. I need to harvest the rest of the brocolli since this is the time of year I start to see aphids on it. Once I see them I can't bring myself to eat the brocolli. The garlic chives are also just about to bloom. I'll have to give them a try in the kitchen as well.

I agree with Kenton. Great info here. I'm so glad we have this forum now.

Aly_UT - what time of year did you plant your carrots (the ones that were bitter)?
They usually sweeten up with cold weather.

Anyone else planting the old fashioned, traditional winter root vegetables like parsnips, rampions, salsifies and burdocks?

Yes Okra in Gumbo is what I had hope for and now I can do it. My Louisania friend that I went to baseball games, tatoo parlors, and ACDC concerts made the best gumbo I have ever had. I miss him. He used to play bass guitar for Iron Butterfly. Quite the guy to go to games and talk about life.
Donna thank you for reminding me about my loss of my garlic chives. I need to plant some more. Very delicious! Nice arial of the garden spot. Too much concrete near the garage. LOL

Steve you are right about too much concrete out from the garage and was a poor job to start with, so now cracks all over. I have a good excuse , all was poured, planned etc, while I wassuffering from the need for my last of 4 hip joint replacements. Now I can't afford to have it broken up and replaced. But people who visit like my large turnaround area.

My plan was to have a arial photo of my house and yard every 5 years, but since the last one 6 years ago haven't had the opportunity for more shots. Both companies must be out of business.

I had really good carrots last year and this spring from the ones left in the ground and covered. this year the darn bunnies and quail either ate the tiny plants or the quail made dust holes in the carrot row, so not many left.

You have done a remarkable job with the garden with all those hip problems. Wow. You must work at you garden day and night to keep ahead of all of your planning. Great Job Donna!

Thanks Steve, Well yes I do spend a lot of time out in the garden, when it isn't too hot. Can't take the heat any more. Yesterday when the sun was directly overhead, and shining rather than disapated by smoke, the temp. got up to 89 degrees and I was not out in the garden.

Three days of the week I am at the senior center, as this is my fourth year as pres. can't seem to find anyone to take over that position. After lunch several of us play pinochle, so then I don't get home until 2 or 3 pm. So that is what I do in the heat of the day.

Don't remember if I posted this photo of an area south of my house. The shrub in middle is Cornus Cherokee I believe.

Donna

IN th previous photo, the Cornus Cherokee Sunset was moved from other place 11 years ago, at about 3 or 4 years of age and 4 feet in heighth. I love that dogwood and didn't want to leave it behind. Back of the dogwood I planted 3 Pinus strobes, Eastern White Pine, to creat some shade and wind protection for the Cornus, seems to be working as the dogwood blooms fairly well each spring.

In the middle foreground is a clump of echinacea ??? Goldstrum and beside it a clump of Phlox paniculata The King.

Donna

What a lovely picture of yet another part of your garden, Donna. I need to get a disease resistant dogwood for my farm in Mississippi. Mine all have some disease, which I am told is prevalent in Mississippi. I understand you can buy resistant ones now.

That is such a lovely view. That clump of black-eyed Susans (rudbeckia?) is quite striking.

Thankyou for your kind commentsl. I think dogwoods do better here in the west than they do in the east, not so much disease.

The Goldstrum are colorful but I do have to keep after them with shovel as they really want to spread.

Sowing Spinach today. It's still in the 90s during the day, but the nights are getting closer and closer to the 40's... with luck, I will sow every few days for the next month or two and maybe something will find a set of temps that it likes! ... garlic should be here soon...

I planted spinach in late July and it is ready now. The only things I am planting are fall bulbs and small lettuce plants that I germinated in plastic 4 packs. They will keep us in lettuce until frost aprox. Oct. 15. I might do another small patch of arugula because it grows so fast. I have garlic that I grew this past year and will plant some of it. But I am enjoying eating it so much I am afraid, I might have to order more! This is just about the right time to plant it here.
I bet you are enjoying the cool nights.
Betty

Betty, have you tried growing mache (corn salad)? It grows quickly and apparently will only germinate when the days are getting shorter (or already short?). It's a quick growing, tasty fall and spring crop.

garden_mermaid,
Yes, I do grow mache. It is a very tender, tasty green. I plant it and I also let it reseed in some places. When it starts to come up, I plant more. That is how I get the timing right. I also grow chervil, except I have let it reseed for so many years that I never have to plant it anymore. It comes up by itself in my lily bed, in the spring before the lilies do much and in the fall when they are starting to die back. It is lovely in salads, like parsley, but with a nice anise flavor. I also sprinkle it on baked chicken dishes just before serving. You never hear about it in the US, but in France in came in all the salads I ordered when it was in season. Ah, the glory of a variety of salad greens and fresh herbs!

I love chervil! I just bought another plant at the farmers market to add to the fall bed.
If you like mache, you might like to try rampions. These are one of the old fashioned (medieval) winter root crops, like salsify, that were traditionally eaten in the late fall and winter. The rampion tops look and taste like mache, but it has a root that resembles a radish in shape. Rampions are called Rapunzel in German. This is the plant that Rapunzel's mother had such a craving for that her father went into the witches garden to harvest. They are often called ramps in old English literature.

Scroll down towards the bottom of the Gourmet Greens page to see them.
http://www.felcopruners.net/Gourmet%20Greens.0.html

Wow! I have read about rampions, but never tasted them. I will have to give them a try. I am also familiar with Gourmet Greens. They have fascinating stuff.
But I have another German green for you. It is ramson, or Bear's Garlic. I first tasted it while visiting a friend in Heidelburg, Germany. She had wonderful bruscetta with a sort of dark green covering on top, kind of like pesto. It was heavenly. She had learned about them from watching Turkish men go into the hills near her house to pick them wild. Later they appeared in her grocery store as a very expensive item. Basically she bought some and made a pesto out of them and spread them on a sliced baguette. She has also picked them wild. She says you know when you have found them because you smell garlic. The pesto was outstanding. I immediately wanted to know what they were. We had a big translating session and looking-up-on the web session and this is a summary of what we found:
http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Alli_urs.html
I ordered the seed from J.L. Hudson. I haven't planted them yet, but am planning to put in a few before winter.

Betty, we know this one as Wilderknoblauch (wild garlic) or Waldknoblauch (forest garlic)! My mom is from Thüringen, an agricultural state in Germany with alot of forests and countryside. I'll have to phone my aunt and let her know that folks in NM are growing this. She'll get a kick out it. I never knew one could get seed for this.

I am glad your relatives will get a kick out of it. I thought it was amazingly delicious. The seeds were hard to find, but it got easier once we got it translated from German to English. I will have to tell my German friends about this. They, too, will get a kick out of the fact that I am not the only person who cares about this plant. Julia, the friend who introduced them to me, was amazed I didn't already know about them.
Betty

Betty, it would appear that there are a lot of people who care about this wild garlic of the woods. It inspires festivals throughout Appalachia in the spring!
http://www.cosbyrampfestival.org/

Apparently both the Bear Garlic allium and the Rapunzel/Rampion campanula have at various times been referred to as "ramps".

GM,
What a great article that was. I had heard bits and pieces of info about ramps and ramsons etc. for a while, but this this article ties them all together and adds more. I saved it for future reference -- sometimes the web sites die and the info is no longer available. I am thinking I may have to wait until spring to start mine. Hudson says freezing may help them germinate. I will probably do that then plant under lights in Feb. or March. I can't wait to see if I can grow them. For me the trick will probably be keeping them wet enough. sounds like they might make a good spring flower as well.
Thanks.
Betty

It's Spring, It's Spring! Iris reticulata are done blooming. Daffodils are poking bits of green above the sand. Sooooo - it must be Veggie planting season in The High Desert!

Garlic planted last fall is sprouting. 29 peas for the first week's planting are in the ground. Going to start my tomatoes, peppers and basil indoors today! So exciting! I think I'm rejuvinated and 8 years old again, today!

kmom,

Im so happy its spring too. I planted my sugar snap peas, scallions, lettuce, and spinach in the ground already. I already started the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants inside. I have strawberrie bag but i need to put them in a different place. We have squirrels and birds here that im sure will eat them up if i put them out into the open garden. I started dahlia's from seed and just transplanted them into bigger containers.

I love spring!

Lilly

'Tis the season!!! Snow peas, carrots, radishes, gr onions, spinach going in this afternoon or manyana. Toms, eggplant, hot peppers planted last Thurs and germinated while gone. Start everything else in a couple/few weeks. Still have to clear grass and get the two new raised beds in for the toms, eggplant and squashes. All the herbs sowed a few weeks ago are going gangbusters except the chamomile(only 2 germinated). Going to look for onion sets(prefer the walla walla) and taters today. Can't wait for fresh, garden veggies.

We have to wait until end of May here in Montana to plant. I buy established tomatoes, eggplant, cukes, squash, peppers, but I have great Asparagus, Rhubarb, and ever bearing strawberries.

Oops, should have said sown. I've got all the maters and such in the basement under lights. Doing brandywine, beefsteak, souix, and riesentraube this year. I only did hybrids(best & big boy and sweet 100s) last year, and the boys got to 8 feet and very bountiful. Figured I'd try the heirlooms this yr.

My experiment (for me) this year of starting a few tomatoes very early is so far looking good.I planted seeds of Sweet Baby Girl, cherry tom. from Parks, and Mortgage Lifter. Seed planted Jan. 27, 07, and potting up when ready. Now are in 1 gal, or 2 gal. pots. All have bloomed in the gh. and have been hand pollenated, and the Sweet Babies have tiny tom. on the plants.

Peas, radishes, various lettuces, and spinach are planted and should be showing up soon.

Donna

Oooo yum! Donna, your tomatoes sound great. Mine got planted about mid March and are now well into true leaves. I want ripe tomatoes in June, which is pretty unusual where I live.

Hi Everyone,

I'm starting up my first vegetable garden this year! The garden pre-exists, but we moved here in late fall so I'm not sure what fall preparation was done. Can any of you give me some spring vegeatable bed preparation tips? I bought some organic compost and deweeded some this past weeked. Should I remove all the left-standing veggies from the previous year? Will any grow again this year or should I just pull out the old and get ready for the new?

Unless they put garlic in for you, or one of a few herbs(oregano, chives, parsley) I would say yank it. Till in your beautiful compost to about 6-8", and you should be good. I know our last frost date on the front range in 5b is May 15, and I just put in my carrots, onion sets, radishes, and trying potatoes this year. I put in some lettuce's, but not all, as it may still be a touch early.

I am not in the Rockies, i am in the low (4300) Sierra Nevadas but i grow a huge veggie garden. I just found this thread and will read back through it, but indoor starting is a must here!

I'll find some pictures of last years garden and post them. I think with enough care most things in gardening are possible.

We are having an early spring here, i have peonies and delphiniums coming up everywhere and a few thousand bulbs blooming, crocus and about half the daffs are already done and gone. Is everyone else having such an early spring? Most of my fruit trees are blooming or done blooming, tulips everywhere. I am just waiting for the nasty cold snap that will turn everything black...

tombak, thats what we got last night. When I went to bed, the temp. was 29, so I knew it was going to be a long cold night. Had moved inside or covered up almost everything that I was afraid might get frosted, but forgot my nearly in full bloom Wisteria bonsai, I don;t even want to go look at it. I did walk by my pretty Corydalis Geo. Baker, was laying on the ground but i think the blooms will straighten up. At 6:00 am it was 24 degrees and now at 8:00 it is 29 . I haven't uncovered anything yet. The wind machine fans are still running in the pear orchard that is about a mile south of me.

Hope you escape severe cold.

Donna

Tomaaak, I think you're my neighbor... rabbits and chipmonks feasted on the crocus and tulips, but the daffodils are doing well. Ones in tubs or raised beds are about done; ones in the ground are about mid way, depending if they are north or south of a wind/sun breaking structure.

My tomato and basil starts are ready to go out, but I too, am awaiting that one last sub-freezing day in late April or early May. Hard to believe it will come with today near 80, but although the trees are flowering in Reno, my little dinky orchard is just starting to bud - I hope they hold out and wait. I'm putting the seedlings out for increasingly long periods of time during the very late afternoon, but I'm still wary of putting anything major out. I'm thinking I might set out a (probably sacrificial) pair of tomatoes and a pair of lemon basils... peas are up, but the wind keeps blowing sand over them. So they are probably 5 inches tall, but only 1 1/2 inches pokes out of the sand... garlic is loving this weather. I'm really wanting to start my zucchini and yellow squash (indoors in peat pots) but I don't want to start them too early - only want to keep them indoors a few weeks before they go outside. Fencing is going up - or I know the rabbits will win the war.

Tombaak, this is going to be only my 2nd summer in the High Desert - any suggestions on what to grow? My toms grew like crazy last year but had a difficult time setting fruit. I think I'm going to put them under shade cloth this year.

One thing I have learned - full sun on a plant label does not necessarily mean full sun in the High Desert!

Buona fortuna, everyone!

kmom, you could try using Wall O Waters around the tomatoes when you plant them out. We did that in Tahoe. It snowed on them a few times but the WOWs kept the plants from freezing. It gave them a headstart so that the toms would set fruit earlier.

I planted onions and peas. I will be planting carrots sometime this week. My garlic is up about 5'' from the fall planting.

Got my toms and eggplant potted up from their seedling beds, still a month or so to go before getting them out. I had planted out my cold weather veggies (snow peas, carrots, gr onions, etc) the weekend before that surprise deep freeze last week. Still nothing in sight, and expecting 2-10" of snow Thur eve and Friday (depends on the upslope, or not). I'm getting tired of lost weekends in the yard. My garaged is full of plants starting (cannas, hostas wintered over, daylillies, etc). Oh well, never really did like mother nature, that cantankerous witch!!!