By Janet Sellers
Garden friends, it’s April and that means outdoors we’ll have snow and sunshine and rain and every mix of weather here in our area of Colorado. That’s not good news for outdoor planting unless you have a greenhouse to protect everything. But we can start tomatoes and other plants that take four to six months to grow.
We technically have a very short growing season, only 26 days. But we can start things indoors, get them going and then give them a protective covering for the month of June until they get going in the garden. We haven’t had a lot of hail in our area lately, but a protective outdoor trick is to cover the garden bed with chicken wire. The hail bounces off the chicken wire and doesn’t harm the plants.
Starting plants indoors from seeds is a good way to get things moving. Honestly, we shouldn’t plant anything outdoors until Memorial Day. We have snow even in late May, and that can ruin a good start of outdoor seeds.
Successful gardeners in our area have told me they start these seeds in April: tomatoes and cucumbers, beans, herbs, and other plants that they want to give a head start for the season.
Another method that can be started in April for plants is to use the straw bale method. That requires three or four weeks of preparation by putting in very well composted soil between the flakes and watering between the flakes as well. This will start the special composition for the straw to be ready for seeds. The straw not only provides a nice, inoculated substrate for the seeds but also insulates seeds from weather conditions while they are growing. I like straw bales because I don’t have to bend down very far and it’s basically an instant, inexpensive raised bed.
Some curious plant facts
- ScienceDaily.com reports that, “by simply connecting a ‘plug’ to the plant stem, the electricity generated can be harvested and used to power electronic devices. IIT’s researchers show that the voltage generated by a single leaf may reach to more than 150 volts, enough to simultaneously power 100 LED light bulbs each time the leaf is touched.”—Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT).
- Tomatoes ripen from the center out and the bottom up which means that you can harvest your tomatoes before they actually look ripe because of the way they ripen. You can put them on the window sill on the counter and they will continue to get redder but the flavor won’t change.
Janet Sellers is an avid organic “lazy” gardener. With minimal effort, she lets mother nature lead the way and take care of the growing. Send your garden tips to JanetSellers@ocn.me.
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