Let's talk growing veggies in the garden beds in Colorado!

Each bed can be designated for one kind of plant type like herbs or lettuces. But add pest control flowers around the outside.

Growing from seed or starter plants, things to think about.

Its February now and as a gardener, I'm sure you're getting eager to start working in your garden. So, to help curb that appetite I encourage you to either start your veggie garden inside from seed or get your outside beds prepped and ready for when you go get your starter plants! If you have not yet started growing food, this is your season to test it out! I am here to help get you more comfortable with working with plants from the beginning all the way to food on your table. If you already have a method, wonderful! Please share your method!

Colorado has always had a shorter window to grow veggies. It's crucial to know the windows for indoor sowing of seeds. Then when to move them outside or head to the locale Garden Centers to purchase your veggie plants. Also decide if you want to grow in a raised bed or in ground for your successful harvest. I have seen Colorado have seasons in the past where there were only a few months of a true warm summer. That is not the case in this 2026 season. Instead, it's the middle of February in Denver area and the red wing black birds are singing, green grass push's it's self through the dead grass of last year and I have even seen the little circles of dirt up around sidewalk cracks! Yep, the ants are even starting to wake up. That is a major sign from nature that spring is here early, and the ground ecosystem is coming to life.

What does this say about your veggie starter/seeds growing this year? You can start prepping your outside area any time now. But you need a plan for how many beds and what veggie plants will grow where. Denver CO and surrounding cities Garden Centers are starting to gear up for the season. This is the time to get your list of veggies you want to buy, figure out how many different kinds, and put them on the veggies bed plan. Knowing ahead what you are going to grow will help you not over plant your beds, no matter if you are growing from seed or buying starter plants.

Seed growers! It's time to get your seeds going if you have not yet thought about it. In a perfect world you would grow indoors for 2 1/2 to 3 months knowing the seedlings will go outside around mid-May. It's fine if you plan for 1st of March to sow your seeds into their small starter containers. All open Garden Centers right now will have a whole area set up for seed starting and all the material you need to get the indoor growing site set up. A few reminders, make sure the site is a in-closed temperature and humidity-controlled area with grow lights. Keep the soil moist in that small starter container while not letting the grow light be too close to the plant.

Make sure there is only one plant growing in each container.

Planning to use starter plants? Wonderful! Until those become available in May you can work on adding, removing, and amending the soil in the beds, no matter if raised or inground. Each season veggies remove nutrients from the soil. So how do the missing nutrients get put back? There are a few ways, one being remove old and add new soil to get proper amending. The other is using fall seed crop, after you have harvested your veggies in the fall. You will need to plant these living mulches to restore your soil. Add seed mixes like green manures and crimson clover. It's a very classic, particle, and organic way to keep adding good nutrients to that bed.

Inground vs Raised Bed veggie growing for Colorado, is one better than the other?

I have seen inground growing at altitudes of 5280 to7600 and I have redone beds at altitudes as high as 9000. No matter where I was in Colorado I saw successful harvest from inground planting. Why am I saying this, have you ever dug a hole in this state? It is hard clay soils, especially the higher you go in altitude. So, you have to dig out a lot of the natural soil going down as far as 4 feet and as wide as you need (having a bucket machine to help dig down that far is massively helpful). If you have to use a shovel, then digging down at least 18" to 24" would be beneficial to your plants. Clay is just too dense for these plants we grow inside greenhouses in containers to handle, while acclimating to the outside world at the same time. Then adding back in a good rich soil mix gets the bed ready to plant. Next, how are you going to water? By hand? Irrigation set up? Whatever you use, make sure it's all set up and working well before the plants go in. Also make sure you have a 1-foot moisture meter to help you not over or under water, 90% of issues in your bed will be water related.

Let's talk the creativity of using raised beds. One thing about having raised beds is you can pick you size, shape, and material type. You can find DYI ideas on platforms like Pinterest and even order them custom made online. You also do not have to think about digging down into the ground. Do you have an area on your property that grass can't grow and it's really hot. If the ground is even, then that's a great place for a raised bed (making sure it looks esthetically pleasing is possible too). Next is picking out how many you need and make a plan for where each raised bed will go. Now you can start making your plant list.

Old wine barrel for herbs and metal green raised bed 2ft tall, 8ft long, 4ft wide. Enough room to grow some great veggies!

Companion Planting!

When you are ready to plant outside, your plants do not need to be in a row unless it helps with being able to access each plant. Otherwise companion planting is a wonderful way to set up your bed.

Have you heard of this term? There are plants who benefit from growing next to each other, no need to have them in a row. There are many great books to help you with these massive lists of companion planting. One example of plant companions is called the "Three Sisters" used by the Native Americans. Plant corn, then plant beans next to the corn, so it can crawl up the corn and puts nitrogen back into the soil, then plant squash in-between the corn to get more shade by the corn and keeps the soil cool and covered from the sun with the squash's big leaves. These three plants all benefit from each other in at least one way.

Certain flowering plants can bring a bright and fun companion option to your veggie bed. There are benefits like attracting more pollinators, deterring pests, and helps the soil. A few options I love to give to my clients are, nasturtium, lantana, marigold and any herb.

Mixing in flowers to your veggie beds brings in all those fun colors.....we always need more color!

A friendly reminder, that your plants need to be fed once a week when outside. I prefer organic granular fertilizers mainly because it will not burn your plant if you over feed. Add mulch or straw around the plants, the soil should never see the sun. It's going to be an interesting summer; your plants are always communicating of what they need. I am here to help translate.

"Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by man" - Chinese Proverb