Recommended Reading and Education
Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook by Ron and Jennifer Kujawski
Organic Gardening, The Natural No-Dig Way by Charles Dowding (Watch this incredible gardener on Youtube!)
No Strain Gardening - Eight Important principles for successful vegetable gardening by Larry Stebbins
Vegetable Gardening in the Pikes Peak Region - Colorado State University Extension of El Paso County
Grow Great Grub by Tayla Trail
Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour
Durable Plants for the Garden - A Plant Select Guide by Colorado State University and the Denver Botanic Gardens
The Xeriscape Flower Gardener - A Waterwise Guide for the Rocky Mountain Region by Jim Knopf
RCG Instructional Videos
GETTING STARTED WITH YOUR GARDEN
1 – RCG BEDS: Frame construction – Douglas Fir with ECO stain / Set upon: Weed barrier & wood chip, then cardboard floor covered in leaf litter. Built by Adam Johnson, Kurt Jacobsen and the Ridgway high schoolers in our first RCG year of 2019
2 – SOIL: Beaver Lakes Montrose = premium blend is very friable, or fluffy, with lots of Vermiculite for root penetration. Easy to start a seed and grow in.
3 – WATER RISER & SPIGOT: Irrigation piping is 1 foot deep. Please inform us of any leaks in the system. Put a note for Kurt or Chris in the Plexi Box on the garden gate. Until May 1 leave hoses dis-connected from faucet, and leave hose nozzle resting inside the bed, so that water drains into the soil rather than into the wood chip outside of the bed, where a water source will grow weeds! (Water will be turned on by May 1)
4 – BED PREP LAST FALL: In fall of 2019 many gardeners added Leaves (organic matter), to their soil. Then garlic was planted in October, watered well, and mulched with grass clippings. Mulch feeds the microbes and keeps the soil organisms insulated, moist, and alive throughout the winter months. Some gardeners even covered their over-wintering crops with 1 or 2 layers of Agrobon – spun polyester fabric, that protects plants from frost and freezes. So, if your plot was not amended with leaf litter, we recommend you do this now. (Dig into the soil, is it all soil, or do you see remnants of grass and leaves mixed in?) If no amendments we added, go to step #5.
5 – SUGGESTED PREP FOR SPRING: 1 – remove all grass mulch and set aside. 2 – dig progressive trench and bury a combo of grass clippings and leaf litter at a 50/50% ratio. (do not dig up cardboard at the bottom of your bed!) 3 – Water plot well in order to keep micro-organisms and worms alive. Micro-organisms and worms digest organic matter and in turn… they fertilize your crops!
6 – PLANTING: Early May for hardy veggies. These can be planted 2 to 4 weeks before the last killing frost. (Around early May); IF PROTECTED AT NIGHT WITH AGROBON FLOATING ROW COVER. These are: Pea, Radish, Spinach, Arugula, Mustard greens, Lettuce, Kale, Broccoli, Cabbage, Choi, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Onion, Turnips.
7 – Next video class: Good practices for starting seedlings indoors & sewing early season crops from seed …right in your RCG bed.
Chris Lance – RCG Membership Coordinator / 970-729-1738 / chrissylance@gmail.com
1 – RCG BEDS: Frame construction – Douglas Fir with ECO stain / Set upon: Weed barrier & wood chip, then cardboard floor covered in leaf litter. Built by Adam Johnson, Kurt Jacobsen and the Ridgway high schoolers in our first RCG year of 2019
2 – SOIL: Beaver Lakes Montrose = premium blend is very friable, or fluffy, with lots of Vermiculite for root penetration. Easy to start a seed and grow in.
3 – WATER RISER & SPIGOT: Irrigation piping is 1 foot deep. Please inform us of any leaks in the system. Put a note for Kurt or Chris in the Plexi Box on the garden gate. Until May 1 leave hoses dis-connected from faucet, and leave hose nozzle resting inside the bed, so that water drains into the soil rather than into the wood chip outside of the bed, where a water source will grow weeds! (Water will be turned on by May 1)
4 – BED PREP LAST FALL: In fall of 2019 many gardeners added Leaves (organic matter), to their soil. Then garlic was planted in October, watered well, and mulched with grass clippings. Mulch feeds the microbes and keeps the soil organisms insulated, moist, and alive throughout the winter months. Some gardeners even covered their over-wintering crops with 1 or 2 layers of Agrobon – spun polyester fabric, that protects plants from frost and freezes. So, if your plot was not amended with leaf litter, we recommend you do this now. (Dig into the soil, is it all soil, or do you see remnants of grass and leaves mixed in?) If no amendments we added, go to step #5.
5 – SUGGESTED PREP FOR SPRING: 1 – remove all grass mulch and set aside. 2 – dig progressive trench and bury a combo of grass clippings and leaf litter at a 50/50% ratio. (do not dig up cardboard at the bottom of your bed!) 3 – Water plot well in order to keep micro-organisms and worms alive. Micro-organisms and worms digest organic matter and in turn… they fertilize your crops!
6 – PLANTING: Early May for hardy veggies. These can be planted 2 to 4 weeks before the last killing frost. (Around early May); IF PROTECTED AT NIGHT WITH AGROBON FLOATING ROW COVER. These are: Pea, Radish, Spinach, Arugula, Mustard greens, Lettuce, Kale, Broccoli, Cabbage, Choi, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Onion, Turnips.
7 – Next video class: Good practices for starting seedlings indoors & sewing early season crops from seed …right in your RCG bed.
Chris Lance – RCG Membership Coordinator / 970-729-1738 / chrissylance@gmail.com
