How does your garden grow ?

[wy-tex]

Anybody else gardening this summer? Here at 7,200 ft it can be a challenge. This year I have some heirloom tomatoes, patio tomatoes, various peppers , onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, radishes, basil and cilantro. All either in pots or a raised bed. Not bad for a small backyard. Our growing season is about 4 months, June- Sept., we can get cold and snow on both ends of it. I found out last year okra does not like the altitude here. I also have some cascade hops that look great on the fence. Last year we harvested and dried 6 pounds of fresh hops for our favorite local brewery.

 

[hoshour]

Nothing like garden-fresh, especially tomatoes. The stuff from the supermarket looks good but is practically tasteless.

Working two jobs, I don't have the time. My wife gardens a lot but it's all flowers and ornamental stuff. She does an amazing job, though. We actually have a lot of people stop and look at what she's created.

 

[7mag]

We are having cantelope and squash for dinner tonight so my daughter and i threw a handfull of seeds each in the garden since the traditional gardening methods arent working at all for us. Maybe this will work

 

[go_deep]

Carrots, radishes, peas, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and pumpkins. Were at 6,000, hit and miss sometimes, but the family enjoys it.

 

[Gr8bawana]

My neighbor has a garden this year and he has been giving us lots of tomatoes and zuchinni. You just can't beat vine ripened tomatoes for flavor. I've been given too many zuchinni though so I have started blanching and freezing them in vacuum sealed bags for the winter when they not available. We do like them but we can only eat so many.

 

[Fink]

We do about 15 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes as well as cucumbers, basil, chives and mint. We used to do more, but these are the ones we really like. Fresh tomatoes all summer are my favorite. Wife makes amazing pesto with the basil that we freeze in bags for meals all winter.
The mint is pretty solid in Moscow mules.

 

[ivorytip]

didn't do garden this year I enjoy gardening but just no time this year. I love salsa made from fresh garden harvest.

 

[Alabama]

Dang caterpillars always eat my tomatoes here. Squash, okra, and corn do well here at 400'. I've got a trick for you guys growing onions: spray them with round-up, they will turn out better

 

[ScottR]

Built these in May, stuff has started grow, our first garden ever. The people who owned the house before us didn't have the lines blown out so the yard is a mess. I will be working on that zone and reseeding when I get back.


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[Never in Doubt]

I got my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, zuccinni, cilantro, basil, green beans, beets, and cantelopes. Then there's the fruit trees, cherries, oranges, tangerines, lemons and apricots are done, but I have plums, peaches, and nectarine I'm picking right now.


Living in CA is nice

 

[amoor983]

I built a pretty cheap hoop house out of PVC. That would extend your season dramatically. Also cold frames for certain prized veggies. And, raised beds are awesome. I am building them for things like asparagus, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc. They should warm up faster and increase plant growth. I also use milk jugs around warm season plants early for warmth and wind protection. I wrap clear plastic around tomato cages when I plant them, it really increases early season growth. good luck! I can't believe you can grow hops! It is on my list to try.

 

[swampokie]

I have tomatoes, squash, and peppers. Im at 350 feet and I have issues with cutworms and squash bugs but the heat has been my biggest problem in the last few weeks. With temps near 100 every day the plants quit flowering and the fruits shrivel. Hopefully a little rain this eve but supposed to be right back to 100 in a couple days. Ive went from 5inches of rain every week to extreme heat since april but with any luck maybe a few will make.

 

[wy-tex]

Honestly the hops grow themselves. Just a little management for the bines and some water during our dry spells. It is pretty cool to taste them in a well made beer, they were used to dry hop a stout last winter.

 

[ScottR]

Came back from vacation and the peppers are budding.

 

[B&C Blacktails]

For heat and watering issues, I use two terracotta pots glued together and seal one of the drain holes. To create a type of reservoir. Bury it close to your plants it will keep your garden watered for two to three days. I think they're called ul las.

 

[SunnyInCO]

Got a late start this year and paying for it now. Plus it does not help when we keep getting hail storms in June and the plants basically need to start over.

I need to build some hail resistant overhangs for the raised bed gardens...you would think I would learn by now but the season always sneaks up on me.

 

[wy-tex]

Can' t tell you how many times I've covered mine when I was home for the weather.

 

[Slugz]

Between hail storms and hungry mule deer. I cant grow one. Need to invest in a small green house or start growing in pots up on the deck.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

I got back into gardening a few years ago after a many year hiatus. It gives me a feeling of self sufficiency not unlike putting a deer or an elk in the freezer.

I have built hail protection over most of my raised beds. Wouldn't be worth gardening at 6,000 feet without it.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I live on 10+ acres at 6800' and raise some hay. I have irrigation shares too. I hold all my water in a 2 acre pond that I pump out of. We used to have a big garden (25' x 50') that I had to fence to keep the deer out of it. Put up a 5' fence, kept the deer out, but not elk. We don't have elk every year, but when they are here during a bad winter (some stay until early summer) they are hell on everything. We plant on our deck now and the deer stay off pretty much. Raise Tomatoes, chilies, squash and herbs.