Pumpkins are ready to harvest when the stems are dry and the skin resists penetration by a thumbnail. Light frost is not damaging to pumpkins but they should be harvested before a hard freeze. To harvest, cut the fruit from the vine with pruners or loppers. Leave a long, intact portion of the stem attached.…
Harvest garlic when the green tops turn brown and die down. It typically takes 90 to 100 days for spring-planted garlic to reach this stage. Pull up and let dry for a couple of days. You can trim the leaves off before curing if you don’t cut into the bulb. To cure, spread the garlic…
Root vegetables grow very well in Colorado, even in higher elevations where long-season vegetables have little chance of success. Carrots, beets, turnips and rutabagas can be harvested at any size, making them ideal for short-season areas. Radishes are notable because they mature in 30 to 45 days, making them the king of fast Crops. Root…
Why not consider growing more than lettuce when planting salad greens in your Garden? Spicy greens like arugula, cress and Japanese mustards, can add variety to what can otherwise be a ho-hum salad. Many of these are easy to grow in the spring and mature in a very short period, usually between 20 and 60…
Today, kale is grown as much for ornamental purposes as it is for a vegetable and plate garnish. The most common vegetable kale grown in America is the frilly, blue-green type. Typical varieties include Vates Dwarf Blue, Scotch Curled and Squire. Other culinary kales are frilly and blushed with red. Common varieties include Ragged Jack,…
Growing onions from seed is economical, and seed-started onions don’t send up flower stems as often as transplanted bedding onions do. An onion’s flowering process ruins the quality of a bulb onion. In northern Colorado, onions grown for winter storage will begin to form bulbs as summer days get longer, usually in July. When shopping…
American Gardeners plant pumpkins to carve or paint as jack-o’-lanterns, bake into pies or display for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Pumpkins are warm season vegetables that do well in low humidity and usually grow in any average soil. But, they won’t tolerate wet, poorly aerated soils. Pumpkins need a lot of room and full…
Collards grow to a height of three feet and are well known as a Southerner’s delight. They grow best in cool weather and fertile soil, and require abundant moisture. You can transplant collards into your early-spring Garden to produce a midsummer crop, or you can plant them in midsummer and harvest them from fall to…
Immature chile peppers are green chiles, and, when left on the plant, they ripen and become red chiles. The spicy, hot taste of a chile depends on how much capsaicin is produced. The variety of chile plant influences this, but so does air temperature and Gardening practices like fertilizing and watering. Capsaicin is concentrated…
Leafy vegetables are easy to grow. They contain more vitamins and minerals and less calories than any other vegetables. Most grow well under cool conditions and can be eaten at any stage of maturity, which makes them ideal for regions with a short growing season. Salad greens and cooked greens are leafy vegetables. Not all…
Leafy vegetables don’t have extensive root systems. Therefore, Gardeners must be concerned with the condition of the top six inches of soil. For best results, add one and one-half inches of compost or well-rotted manure to the soil, and work it in well to a depth of six inches. Vegetables require high nitrogen levels, so…
Cool-season vegetables are uniquely adapted to Colorado’s climate because they are able to withstand light to moderate frosts, adding a month or more of Gardening time at the beginning and end of our growing season. At higher elevations, they’re the only vegetables that grow successfully. Among the cool season vegetables there are five that live…
