Organic Raised Bed Gardening ~ Cabbage and Broccoli Spring and Fall

Hi Friends!
We are getting that growing itch here in Colorado! How about where you are? Well, it is February and we are in the process of sorting our seeds and deciding which ones we will be starting indoors . We will be rotating the raised beds for the next season of planting and because the tall things and short things need to have good sun, we are juggling the current spaces. It is always good to move planting locations so that the soil has time to amend, even with compost and added soils. This helps keep down disease and fungus *we had white mold fungus on all our squash & pumpkins and it transferred to the chocolate mint, too. So, to get rid of that we sprayed a milk based spray on them.

"Milk is a safe method that can be used to treat powdery mildew, especially on cucumbers. James recommends using milk full strength or mixing a 50:50 solution of milk and water (one part milk to one part water). Use it as a spray, applying milk treatment onto the leaves of the infected plant." Effective Fungicides - Landscaping Ideas and Hardscape Designs - HGTV

 It worked and then we pulled out all those plants and cut off the last of the cocoa mint and threw it all away. NOT in the compost to spread again. This year, we will watch things a bit more closely and catch it before it  rampages.

Here is a very good "Beginner Gardening Video" from Vesey's Seeds to get you in the mood for your garden this year! 

And for the more experienced Gardener, here is a great video with tips on how to have a more productive garden by  GrowVeg.  

GrowVeg also has a neat garden planner HERE

To start a Late Winter Garden. 

The videos are worth watching! And I hope you get the "Bite" of the "Green Thumb" this year and grow your own veggies in the garden!

My Valentine Orchid has now bloomed the second year! March this time.

Raider On The Go is anxiously waiting to see the garden!

Raider likes to greet the people and dogs walking by the garden.

This is such a cool Idea! I am hoping to do this over our patio area with the green colored water.

I've calculated what plants need to go where in my crop rotation using last years guide.

Here are a couple of plants to start indoors now and bring them out when the days are warm.

Garden Thyme

Globe Basil

Forgive the photo being sideways, it is from a prior posting. But when the ground is soft, like now for us since the snow melt, it is a good time to clean up the garden. I would not recommend placing your hoses just yet, but do take time to put on the compost and the amendments you have for your Spring planting.

We will be digging two more rows with 6 more boxes for this years garden. We plan to double plant many of these boxes in Fall and have a cover crop to amend the soil between plantings.

Here is a quick recap of the box building hubby does for our raised beds. Back Link HERE

Organic Raised Bed Gardening ~ Cabbage and Broccoli Spring and Fall

National Planting Dates: Frost Free Dates
The Farmer's Almanac  
A comprehensive, State by State map for Fall Freeze Dates & First Spring Planting Dates!

MyRosemary

and Pimento Peppers, the Geranium & Silver Mound are ready for Spring planting already with new growth and fruits!

Oh I can't wait till Spring. The cold winds are picking up, here in the Mountains of Colorado again! We had 3 beautiful Early Spring Days! and then in came the winds!
It is already March 15th and the snow is half melted off the Rockies in our area. The Black Canyon's top edges are white, Ouray peak areas are still white with snow, but it is melting off fast this year.

I do have the GroVeg Planner and I love it!
Enjoy!
CJD.Sign