USDA Hardiness Zones

GROWING ZONES & MOUNTAIN CLIMATES

by Garden

I DO AS MUCH RESEARCH AS I CAN  before I plant the garden. I want to be successful! To do so I know I need to plant fruits and vegetables that will grow well in my climate. I also want to choose the specific varieties that should do the best. In my unique environment, this is very difficult! Many of the books we have read about vegetable gardening are based on the author’s personal experience in their own location. They often don’t seem to have a clue about what it’s like wher ...

Ducks

THE 2016 SIX-PACK HAS RETIRED

by 2019 Five DucksDucksSix-Pack of Ducks

Coco & Whitey - the last two Our “Six-Pack” of ducks from 2016 is no longer with us. For various reasons, we have culled the flock one by one. Most of them were removed because they had stopped laying eggs, or laid only soft-shell eggs. We began raising our small, 2019 flock of ducklings while we still had two remaining “big ducks” from 2016, but in short time they were culled because they were just too crabby and no fun to have around. Coco (Chocolate Runner) spent most of her waking ...

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2019 FLOCK OF FIVE

by 2019 Five DucksDucks

Coco & Whitey, 2 Remaining Ducks The six ducks we’ve raised since August 2016 had dwindled down to two good layers, so we recently decided to get a flock of new ducklings to start raising while the two were still laying. As we awaited the arrival of the ducklings and began to raise them in the brooder, the two remaining layers became quite crabby and no fun to have around—perhaps they missed their friends or didn’t like being a flock of two. Since we had the new ducklings growing fast in ...

kohlrabi2018

WHAT GROWS HERE & WHAT DOES NOT

by GardenGreenhouse

This will now be my 3rd year gardening at 9,000 feet. After some trial and error, I've chosen only to grow the things that will grow well in the outdoor garden, and use my limited greenhouse space in the summer for a few favorites while saving some room for early fall planting there. Some of the vegetables that grow very well have not been my favorites (kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, rutabagas) but since they do grow well here and are good for us I'm learning to like them more and cook them in new way ...

garden 2018

2018 GARDEN RECAP

by Garden

This year everything started with a lot of excitement and ended with a crash. Literally. The garden had been going well and kept me busy all summer until my participation came to a halt on August 23 when I fell from my horse. My injuries kept me out of the garden the remainder of the season. With a fractured left hip and right clavicle, I had surgery on the hip which kept me in a wheelchair for 11 ½ weeks before I could walk again. I couldn’t use crutches or a walker because of the injured clavi ...

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ORGANIZATION, PLANNING & RECORD KEEPING

by GardenGreenhouse

I'm kind of a nut when it comes to organization and planning, and it may border on overkill. Sometimes I think I may spend more time with this than I do in the garden. I do most of this organization work during the winter when I have the extra time on my hands. When garden time comes, all I need to do is minor updates & notes. My methods for organizing and planning are not specific to high-altitude gardening, but are extra helpful when planning a garden that only grows in a short season, or ...

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GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION

by GardenGreenhouse

In the planning stages of building our house here we had always thought we would eventually build a greenhouse. At our former location in Wellington we had a small, non-heated greenhouse, which provided us with cold-tolerant things like spinach, kale, chard, lettuce and beet greens throughout most of the winter. It also provided a place to finish and harden the seedlings I had started under lights indoors. It was attached to the south side of our house, under our deck, so the north side of the g ...

horses-deer 1100

LIVING OFF THE LAND

by GuffeyWildlife

  Last night we had Venison Tenderloin for dinner, and boy was it good! One of the perks of living in the high country is being able to harvest food from our own land. In addition to the garden and ducks we keep for eggs, we are able to hunt game on our property. Recently, Tim was able to shoot a deer, which provides us with roughly 65 lbs of healthy venison to eat. This is all new to me. I do not come from a hunting background. I grew up in a suburb in Northern California—not a coun ...

Building the Garden

2017 GARDEN IN REVIEW

by Garden

The 2017 Garden Season has ended and winter is on its way.  Building Our New Garden The garden is in "hibernation" for the winter. Overall, we were very pleased with the garden in our first year of growing vegetables at this elevation. We were able to grow, eat and preserve many vegetables in this first year of gardening at this altitude. It was a lot of fun, a lot of hard work, and very satisfying. Some things did very well, others not so well, and everything we observed and learned will ...

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“EVERY YEAR IS DIFFERENT”

by Garden

Before we started our garden we had seen a roadside stand not far from here and stopped in. We chatted quite a bit with the owner/gardener. One of the things I remember her saying was that "every year is different" and you just have to go with what you get, appreciating what does well and not fretting about what didn't. That's true in any location, to be sure, but especially in our high altitude. This year was rainy and cool, unlike the past couple of summers we've experienced. The photo ...