So you missed this year’s gardening craze and spent the summer looking over the back fence in envy at your neighbor’s tomato plants. Get a jump on next year by planning next spring’s garden now. Here are some tips to get you started:

Find a spot in your yard that gets full sunlight. Your garden will not be happy in the shade.

Look at your family’s diet and decide which vegetables and herbs you would most like to grow. If everyone in your family hates broccoli, there’s no reason to plant broccoli.

There are a variety of ways to create a garden. You can do what Boulder Weekly did this year and create garden boxes using recycled wood. Or you can simply dig up the sod.

Test the soil pH with a soil testing kit from a locally owned garden or hardware store.

Compare the test results with the needs of the crops you plan to grow.

Buy organic compost or manure or other soil amendments as needed and turn them into the garden, where they can spend the winter enriching the soil.

Spend the winter reading about the plants you hope to grow.

Plant seeds indoors, or buy them in early spring at one of the county’s farmers’ markets. (There’s no reason to go to the effort of growing organic food if you’re going to plant genetically modified seedlings from the average chain store nursery.)

Read about succession planting and create a plan of action for spring and summer.

Test the soil again in spring and make necessary adjustments.

Plant your seeds or seedlings, and watch Mother Nature do her thing, using organic soaps, ladybugs and other natural means to control pests.

If you take the time to do it right, your neighbor will be the one staring over the back fence next summer.

Resources

Isabelle Farm
Jason and Natalie Condon
10029 Isabelle Rd., Lafayette
www.isabellefarm.com

Andrews Family Organic Farm
Rich and Elaine Andrews
6803 Jay Rd., Boulder
elainma@yahoo.com

McGuckin Hardware
2525 Arapahoe Ave.
Boulder, CO 80302-6795
303-443-1822
www.mcguckin.com

The Flower Bin
1805 Nelson Rd., Longmont
303-772-3454
www.theflowerbin.net

ReSource
2665 N. 63rd St., Boulder
(between Arapahoe and Valmont roads)
303-419-5418
info@resourceyard.org
www.resourceyard.org

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