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Denver Urban Gardens

Oct 19
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In the Garden and the Classroom

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By Shawnee Adelson, Youth Education Facilitator

For over ten years, Denver Urban Gardens has received funding from the Integrated Nutrition Education Program (INEP) to run a garden-based nutrition education program in a few select elementary classrooms. Each week a DUG educator leads a one-hour lesson with the assistance of volunteer mentors from our Connecting Generations program. Since the goals of our program have been to increase nutrition knowledge, preferences for fruits and vegetables and consumption of fruits and vegetables, we were very excited to see a recent study published in HortTechnology which found that participation in a nutrition education program leads to an increase in nutrition knowledge. However, positive attitudinal (e.g., increased preference for fruit and vegetables) and behavioral changes (e.g., increased fruit or vegetable consumption) were primarily documented in gardening programs. In short, hands-on gardening and nutrition education works. 

This information is not new to DUG, but rather reinforces our approach to youth education. Our in-classroom program includes a pre- and post-survey to assess the impacts of the program. Through our surveys, each year, we see our students changing their preferences from junk foods to fruits and vegetables.

One way that we do this is by teaching the basics of healthy snack preparation, using culturally appropriate produce and recipes that are easy to replicate at home. Additionally, consistent messages about healthy eating and active living, modeled by DUG educators, teachers and Connecting Generation mentors throughout the year reinforce concepts that allow them to institute small steps to change. Students are also given the opportunity to grow vegetables in the classroom under lights and eventually out in the school garden.

The increasing numbers of requests we receive to provide this program to additional schools also reflects the success of the program. To meet this demand and to better support educators who want to integrate gardening and nutrition into their classrooms, our lessons are free to download and we offer the Helping Kids Get Healthy workshop series. These workshops allow DUG staff to model seasonally appropriate nutrition and gardening lessons, reinforced by hands-on techniques that integrate the classroom and garden settings. The last workshop of the season, Worm Composting in the Classroom & My Plate Exploration, is October 25th, 5:00 – 7:00pm at Mitchell Elementary School.

In addition to our downloadable lessons and educator workshops, this year we are piloting a new strategy for our in-classroom program, which will align with our organization’s train-the-trainer approach and allow us to reach more schools. We are shifting from a model where a DUG educator acts as a guest teacher to co-facilitating the lessons with the classroom teacher over the course of the year. This will allow the teacher to be thoroughly comfortable teaching the lessons in future years and allow the DUG educator to move on to new schools that desire training.

Schools are chosen based on their commitment to utilizing the garden as an educational tool to teach healthy living (and other subjects such as science and literacy) and the number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. We also assess the commitment and capacity of teachers to continue teaching garden-based nutrition lessons in future years without the direct assistance of a DUG educator. We will however continue to provide Connecting Generations mentors to support students and teachers. The schools we are working with for 2012-13 school year are Fairview Elementary, Maxwell Elementary and Swansea Elementary. All of these schools have over 90% of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

Although Colorado is the least obese state in the nation, most recent statistics show that Colorado children are ranked 22nd most obese in the nation. This is exacerbated by the fact that we have the second fastest rate of growth in numbers of obese children. Amidst these discouraging research findings, DUG is encouraged by the enthusiasm of our youth, the successes of our programs and the statistical evidence that we are heading down the path to have a positive impact on eating habits. Each week our students remind us of this impact with their eagerness for a healthy snack and nutrition lesson.

Oct 19
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DeLaney Community Farm 2012 Recap

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DeLaney Community Farm 2012 Recap
…Also fondly regarded as “the end of days”

By Faatma Merhmanesh, Operations Coordinator at DUG’s DeLaney Community Farm

If I had written this article in July it would be a much different presentation of farming in hot and dry times. You would probably be reading a deflated, angry, hopeless, tired and distressed version of events. Thankfully, autumn throws us into a state of self reflection where the big picture is revealed. The silver lining makes itself known. The sky is not really falling… it was just the Drought of 2012. The following is the condensed version of our inner dialogue and experience as urban/peri-urban farmers at DeLaney Community Farm during the hottest season in eternity, well at least since the Dust Bowl era, which feels like an eternity to us.

April
New staff, new season, we are ready for the world. We are ready to grow some food! DeLaney Community farm has a new seasonal staff of farm interns every year.  We are getting to know one another.  We are getting to know the soil and get familiar with the smells, sights and sounds, the pests and predators, trying to wrap our heads around organic production, ecosystems, local food movements, how we fit into it all. There is a healthy level of urgency while preparing soil and planting our first seeds.

May
It’s the mad dash to get all these plants in the ground, in a thoughtful, efficient, forward thinking, instructional, attractive, water conserving, and highly productive way (no pressure). All this while having meaningful conversations about agrarian theory and practice. We are absolutely, positively sure that we are smart. We are especially sure of our smart-ness while we apply our preemptive organic amending for pest control and get all of our beautiful seeds and transplants into the ground in a timely manner.

June
Black clouds descend onto the cool weather crops. Upon closer examination the clouds jump, fly away, disperse only to return again as you walk away. Flea Beetles a.k.a. Evil. Neem doesn’t work, diatomaceous earth doesn’t work, the hose on full blast doesn’t work. There are too many of them. We are outnumbered. A mild winter created a monster… a broccoli-devouring monster. They didn’t have their normal cycle of winter dormancy and so instead, spent all that time preparing for mass procreation and brassicaceae domination. We are defeated. No spring/summer broccoli… or cauliflower for that matter. We’re not going to cry…It’s ok. We tell ourselves that fall broccoli tastes so much better and will try again with a strategy to outsmart the pests. By the way, it’s really hot. Has it been this hot before (scratching sweaty head)? The radishes are hot, the arugula is hotter… it is getting hot just remembering.

July
This season’s staff was the cream of the introspective crop. A gift (curse?) of agrarian philosophers with existential conundrums. Also it’s really flippin’ hot and there have never been so many rabbits on this farm… ever. The rabbits are eating all bean plants to the nubs. The rabbits take one bite of every beet root. We try dusting everything in finely ground hot pepper. The rabbits are eating the carrots. We spray all of the plants with soapy water, hot pepper and garlic. The rabbits are eating the lettuce. We cover the lettuce with two layers of row cover. The rabbits are so fat they can hardly run. They are reproducing like a bad joke and for the first time there are more of them than there are prairie dogs. Oh. My. Goodness. We’re not prepared for natures emotional outbursts, we’re not prepared for our own.

EXISTENTIAL CONUNDRUM #32 
The conversations only gardeners and farmers can have, in the heat, covered in weed debris and soil, and thirsty…

 Farmer #1 approaches fellow farmers to share a concern/discovery

 Farmer#1
I found a nest of baby rabbits in the beet field.

Farmers #1, #2 and #3 walk toward the rabbit nest to investigate and find the baby bunnies. So small they haven’t opened their eyes yet, little feet wiggling, snuggling close to each other to stay safe and feel safety… which as the farmers approach may be diminishing. The three farmers coo at the babies and then catch themselves… ahem. They straighten themselves up and make an attempt at seriousness. 

Farmer#2
 What do we do?
(distressed)

 Farmer#1
They are babies… we have to save them, protect them because they are cute and snuggly and we absolutely do not behave aggressively toward any creature with fur while they are babies.
(exaggerated slightly for dramatic effect but you understand this is our human dilemma)

 Farmer#3 (a person moved only by logic)
It’s inappropriate to interfere with the natural processes at work here. Leave the rodents alone to live or die as was intended. 

Farmer#1 and #2
Gasp!
(and now reacting to the callus response on Farmer #3) 
We are going to save them! 

Farmers #1 and #2 surround the bunnies with a protective barrier of straw, they are not sure why but this is appealing to their nurturing sensibilities. 

Farmer #3
…and when they are full grown and eating the beets that surround them? 

Farmer#2
…We’ll kill them…

Tears and confusion ensue… we don’t actually ever plot to kill the rabbits.

August
Can anyone say “hot pickled cucumbers!”. We have more cucumbers than we know what to do with. We have hot peppers for the entire city of Aurora and they are HOT. So hot that you must wear gloves while harvesting and be very very mindful not to rub your eyes. The weekly harvest is fattening finally. We are feeling like farmers again, instead of professional weeders. The weeds are really enjoying the heat. It’s flippin hot. The water from the spigots is hot.  All we want is ice. Delicious crushed ice. It’s melted from the drive from the neighborhood grocery to the farm. So we suffice with melted slushy water, which will be hot if you don’t drink it fast. Remember not to touch your delicious cup of slushy water with your hot pepper gloved hand. Shareholders hold pickling classes and we all follow suit with our canning kits pulled from the attics and basements. When there is bounty there is bounty. Maybe because the heat slowed the harvest earlier in the season we all felt the need to preserve so that feeling of abundance could stretch into the winter.

September
It’s the end already? We have to begin to wrap our heads around the oncoming close of the season. Have we done all we could do? Self-reflection sets in. Having been party to the life cycles we begin writing our lists of pros and cons and journaling. Are we better farmers? So much conversation about nature and man begin. Are all farmers and gardeners also philosophers? Are we better people than we were in April? There is even more dialogue about how we act and react toward eustress, and distress. What makes community in hard times? We celebrate our harvest with the most delicious brunch you’ve ever eaten (at least that’s what it feels like when you grew the food in the hottest summer of all time) prepared by the awe-inspiring chefs from Snooze, an A.M. Eatery at DeLaney with friends and family. We are satiated emotionally and our bellies are full too. 

October
The last harvest day is heavy and full. All of us making every effort to make today perfect, to present the produce beautifully, to write on the chalkboard in our best penmanship, to take extra care because this is the last time. Until next season…it’s like preparing for hibernation. There was so much food we had to tell shareholders to bring extra bags and boxes. Everyone posted pictures on facebook and we smiled. Our vegetables are sort of famous.

In these last days, we are turning the beds in. Putting the farm to bed. Fall planting garlic for the next world-changing (in our minds) season of growing vegetables with and for our community. We are going inside to ruminate on our processes internal and external. Take a nap and be grateful for the heat while it’s cold outside. I’m going to eat pickled everything and homemade hot sauce on everything all winter while I maneuver through this two-foot stack of books that has been growing all summer, patiently waiting for me.  

One of our team this year said… “Part of being a member of a CSA is reconnecting with the Earth and sharing in her bounty, and part of being a member of a CSA is reconnecting with the Earth and being humbled by her force and devastation. We are only small and human after all and it’s a great reminder that this planet will do what she does to our benefit or detriment which offers a lesson in resilience and gratitude.” Thank you world for letting us grow every season with you.

Oct 19
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Featured New Garden: Samuels Elementary School

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By Shannon Spurlock, Community Initiatives Coordinator

Samuels gardeners Janel and Amparo Denver’s Hampden South neighborhood is home to Samuels Elementary School, a school that educates today’s children for tomorrow’s world and empowers students to pursue life-long learning. This year, in partnership with Denver Urban Gardens, Samuels incorporated a school-based community garden to complement this mission and provide a stronger bridge between the neighborhood and school.

In May, after months of planning, parents, students, teachers and neighbors gathered at Samuels Elementary for their first community workday – a collective effort to build their forty-plot community garden together. On this momentous day, the group broke ground and began the process of building pathways and amending the soil with compost. Their goal was to complete the first five community beds; they exceeded their goal and completed nine. The dedication of a diverse group of community and school members, including students, made this possible. Accomplishments like this came to define their first season of building and growing together. 

Almost six months later, as the Samuels Elementary School Community Garden is winding down its first growing season, the school and the surrounding community are able to reflect on what the community garden brings to their community. One parent, Pallas Quist, notes,

The garden (even in its baby stage) has brought beauty to a previously desolate space with its vibrant colors, its welcoming sunflowers, the greenery, the water, the life and even the activity of the occasional gardener at work in a lush vegetable patch. That beauty affects the eyes of every member of the Samuels staff and student body that passes by each day. I was personally impressed with the creativity displayed in each distinct garden plot, and I am very pleased to be a part of a special group of gardeners that are incredible individuals. 

Feedback from other gardeners expresses similar feelings of pride in being part of something that so directly and positively contributes to the life of the school and surrounding neighborhood. Looking back on the progress that has been made, Jeff Harper, a parent at Samuels, reminisced, “To think one year ago, our garden was nothing but a eyesore and weed patch. To see the progress that we as a school and a community have been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time is nothing short of amazing. Seeing the community, school and local businesses getting involved in the project has brought me a huge sense of accomplishment and joy.”

Partnerships, teamwork, and a garden that is inclusive, reflecting the community in which it is located, are each hallmarks of a thriving community garden. The Samuels Elementary School Community Garden exemplifies these values and qualities. As Quist happily reports, “We have a growing list of people that have signed up to garden with us next spring.”

Congratulations to Samuels on an amazing first season of growing community and food together! The sense of community fostered by each gardener – whether a parent, teacher, student or neighbor – continues to contribute to a more deeply rooted community. In partnership, we look forward to 2013 and what the growing season will bring. 

Oct 19
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The Impact of Free Seeds and Transplants

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By Jessica Romer, Community Initiatives Coordinator

Denver Urban Gardens’ Free Seeds and Transplants Program has provided free vegetable and herb seeds and transplants to in-need individuals and families since 1997. Community and backyard gardeners alike participate in this annual program by filling out an application at one of 39 distribution centers located throughout Metro Denver. In 2012, we provided over 18,000 seed packets and 40,000 transplants to 6,185 community members. We also expanded the program outside the City of Denver and started a group distribution center that made larger amounts of seeds and transplants available to schools, human service, faith-based and educational organizations and community gardens’ donation programs. Through the group distribution center alone, participants self-reported that the seeds and transplants received through DUG would benefit over 15,000 individuals!

Spring planting at DUG’s Fairview Elementary Community GardenIn the past year, we expanded our evaluation of this longtime program to get a better sense of the real impact that it is making in our community. As survey responses came back to us, we were amazed at the breadth of impact that this program makes and it became evident that people participate for many reasons. For some, cost savings and health factors are the primary motivations. As one participant puts it, “It [The Free Seeds & Transplants Program] helps bridge the gap when we can’t afford to buy or get produce from the store. This program encourages people to eat local and be more self-sufficient. It helps me eat more nutritious food.” Another participant wrote, “This [program] helps my husband and me with our physical activity and healthier eating. I enjoy having a garden each year. This helps keep us young.”

Overwhelmingly, participants noted how the program helps them to bridge difficult financial times for their families and allows them to eat better than they normally would. Of the program participants that responded to the survey, 79% said this program has increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables, 71% increased their physical activity, 69% experienced improvements in their personal health and wellness, and 78% had reduced grocery bills.

Some participants spoke more to the social benefits of the program, from community building to family cohesiveness. “I love this program because it brings my family together and being able to watch everything grow and the younger kids learning more every day with the plants.” Many individuals spoke to the ripple effect the program can have out into their communities. “As a low income senior, it is truly a help to have easy access to transplants and seeds. We are eating tomatoes, eggplants, beets, kale, chard, beans, cucumber and basil from the garden every day and we have enough to share with neighbors.” Seniors make up an average of 45% of the pool of participants in this program.

Many people even expressed that the Free Seeds & Transplants Program makes them feel proud of their home city, Denver.

This program is the only and most important support I get all year. I do not participate in other public programs but this one allows me to become closer to my neighbors, provides me food for my family, and a greater mental well-being than I could ever hope for. This program is what makes Denver the great city it is.

Denver Urban Gardens thanks the many funders and donors, and volunteers at each distribution center that make the Free Seeds & Transplants Program possible. We look forward to the upcoming 2013 Program and growing season. For more information on this program and how to participate, click here. 

Aug 27
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DUG at the Highlands Garden Cafe

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Join DUG staff members Jessica Romer and Abbie Harris at the Highland’s Garden Cafe on the evening of Tuesday, August 28th to learn more about Denver Urban Gardens, and learn about the role of community gardens in building community and relieving hunger in Metro Denver. After dinner, guests will enjoy a tour of DUG’s Edison Elementary Community Garden. 

What: Learn more about DUG as part of the Highland’s Garden Cafe’s series on gardens

When: Tuesday, August 28th, 6:00pm

Where: Highlands Garden Cafe, 3927 W 32nd Avenue, Denver 

Details: Please bring a favorite dish from your garden and a recipe to share during the reception before dinner. Please plan on eight appetizer-sized servings. The cafe will provide a complimentary dinner buffet following the reception, as well as a glass of bubbles for the reception and ice tea as part of the buffet. A full cash bar will be available as well. The buffet is complimentary, but guests should plan to leave a gratuity to the service staff.

RSVP: 303.458.5920

Aug 17
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Bees are Buzzing at Rosedale

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By Kellen Sorauf, Rosedale Community Gardener

Bees at Rosedale Community GardenRosedale Community Garden has had the fortune of having two beehives pollenating flowers and providing honey for Rosedale Community Gardeners and community members for the last four years. Last year, just one of the hives produced twenty-eight pounds of honey that was sold at the annual Rosedale Harvest Sale in September. The honey sale was a huge hit with gardeners as well as community members, and Rosedale wanted to increase our honey production. Rosedale Community Garden has over 100 plots stretched over a large area and we wanted to increase the amount of bees in hopes of expanding flower pollination and honey production. However, the City of Denver is restricted to two beehives per property, therefore, Rosedale sought special permission from Denver Parks Department to increase the amount of beehives from two to four.  With the support and help of DUG in the venture, Rosedale beekeepers took DUG and Denver Parks Department employees on a tour of the Rosedale garden. On the garden tour the beekeepers informed Denver Park Department the desire, and benefits of added bees at Rosedale. The Rosedale beehives are kept in the South West corner of the garden and share a fence with a large park and an abandoned elementary school.  Due to the large size of Rosedale Community Garden and the relatively remote location of the beehives, Denver Parks Department granted Rosedale permission in double the beehives from two to four.  Rosedale now has twice the amount of pollinators working in our community garden and twice the amount of bees producing delicious honey for our enjoyment. Rosedale thanks DUG and the Parks Department for recognizing the benefits of the added beehives and allowing us to expand our hives.  

Aug 17
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Community Gardens and Hunger: Part One

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Cabbages at DUG’s DeLaney Community FarmFood is an integral part of the human experience. Beyond its crucial role as a source of nutrition and energy, food is a part of nearly everything that we do: it brings us comfort and it brings us together. In our daily lives, and particularly in a community garden, food and community are intertwined at every level. We work to create and share food with our neighbors, we commiserate when crops fail, and we celebrate with harvest festivals and potlucks.

Given the everyday, fundamental nature of food, it is startling to consider that there are members of our community that do not have enough to eat. In fact, Hunger Free Colorado estimates that 815,000 Coloradans are at risk of hunger. Additionally, more than 25% of working families in Colorado do not have enough food to meet their basic needs, and Colorado has the fastest growing rate of childhood poverty in the nation.

In the Underground News series on hunger, we will explore what it means to be hungry in the land of plenty, the individual and systemic challenges that lead to food insecurity for working families, and the role that community gardens play in improving community security and relieving hunger at the neighborhood level. 

We are kicking off this series on a positive note, with an announcement about a brand new initiative to connect food pantries with gardens. In response to increasing demand at community food pantries, several local organizations have come together to create Produce for Pantries. Denver Urban Gardens is joining Cooking Matters, Grow Local Colorado, Slow Food Denver, Plant a Row for The Hungry, Livewell Colorado, Food Bank of the Rockies, Metro CareRing, Yardharvest and St. John’s Cathedral to connect food pantries with school gardens, community gardens and home gardens in their neighborhoods to provide locally-grown and healthy food and nutrition education to those in need. Through Yardharvest, food pantries will also be connected with fruit gleaned from resident’s trees who have an excess they would like to donate.

To date, twenty-three Denver area pantries are involved as pilot sites for 2012. DUG, along with our partners at Slow Food Denver, are getting the word out to community gardeners at our school and neighborhood community gardens, and the Produce for Pantries team is reaching out to home gardeners via a media campaign. As well as receiving fresh produce, food pantries will be provided with easy, nutritious bilingual recipes to accompany the produce, information on safe food handling and storage for the fresh produce, as well as onsite cooking classes.

Produce for Pantries is a natural partnership that takes a community-oriented approach to food security, ensuring that no produce goes to waste, and that those with food to spare can go straight those in their community that need it most. Denver Urban Gardens is grateful to our partners for their crucial work in hunger relief, and for the thousands of Denver-area community gardeners that donate more than 30 tons of produce each year. 

Community gardeners should get in touch with us to find out how you can get involved, and home gardeners can send and email to produceforpantries@gmail.com to connect with their nearest participating food pantry. Residents with fruit trees can reigster with Yard Harvest to donate excess fruit to nearby food pantries.

Aug 17
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Volunteer Spotlight: Sadie Robertson

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By Lauren Christensen, Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator

Sadie Robertson, our featured volunteer, has been a tremendous help in assisting Denver Urban Gardens in promoting Youth Farmers’ Markets, where those using SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits can utilize the double value program, which allows participants to buy twice the amount of produce that they would otherwise be able to. Sadie came to DUG via the Denver Public Schools AmeriCorps Urban Education Program. Through this program, she had a chance to create and implement an independent project that would serve the needs of a particular community. Linking Robertson’s passion for food and nutrition to her work, she spent part of the summer facilitating cooking, gardening and nutrition classes for parents and students at Smith Elementary, which Robertson describes as a profound learning experience. However, as the summer continued, Robertson wanted to change her focus to increasing awareness of Denver Farmers’ Markets that accept SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. Sadie found that DUG’s Youth Farmers’ Markets lined up with what she was imagining for her summer. She called Shawnee Adelson, DUG’s Education Facilitator and offered her services. Of the experience, Sadie says, “Needless to say, I finished up my AmeriCorps hours addicted to gardening, and also feeling honored to have worked with an organization so caring and passionate as DUG.”

When asked what Robertson enjoyed about being involved with DUG, she answered, “What I think is amazing about organizations like DUG and Slow Food, is that they are invested in providing the community with the raw materials and knowledge it needs to start a garden from scratch. Once this happens though, it is up to the community to give the garden character; to love and tend to it, to make it sustainable, to teach it’s children the material and spiritual value of living off the land. The gardens become what the community makes of them, and DUG is there for support. It seems to me the ideal way to implement projects; where the backer doesn’t demand recognition, the community is responsible for the project’s success, and the result is truly sustainable.” She added, “The collaboration between DUG and Slow Foods also makes my heart scream with glee. I know that sounds corny, but it’s true. If the world could run like these organizations do– by collaborating instead of competing with each other- how productive we would be! Or at least we would all be bursting at the seams with fresh, local, delicious cherry tomatoes, and that’s not so bad either.”

Aug 17
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Grow Change: A Summer Soiree

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By Emily Frost, Events and Garden Leader Coordinator

The threat of storm clouds didn’t dampen the high spirits of the neighbors, friends, gardeners, and fellow Denverites who gathered in one of the communal spaces of the TAXI development, near River North, to support the great causes of three locally based non-profits. Grow Change: A Summer Soiree benefitted three distinct organizations, all of which have space in the unique community-based workspace: Salus World; Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking; and DUG’s own Taxi Community Garden.

The months of hard work by garden leaders and other coordinators for this event clearly paid off. Folks enjoyed mingling amidst chair massages, tasty morsels of garden-based snacks, and learning more about the compelling causes they were supporting by attending. Salus World works to heal the emotional scars of human rights violations across the globe through providing a myriad of services focused on mental health and well being. The Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking aims to end human trafficking through community-based research, training and education, leadership development, and intentional collaboration. And the Taxi Community Garden is bringing neighboring businesses together to grow organic vegetables and deepen relationships in the charming, sunflower-smattered space outside their offices.

The highlight of the evening was the tour of the garden. Gardeners are growing hops and grapes up their new arbor, part of which was funded by this same fundraiser last year. A new gardener shyly pointed out her new plot, filled with healthy plants. Hers was one of three new stone planters added this year, to accommodate the growing waitlist of community members interested in being a part of the garden.

The Taxi Community Garden would like to acknowledge the generous contributions of the following sponsors: Oogave Natural Soda; Rock Bottom Brewery; Republic National; Sombra Mescal; Muir Glen; Proto’s Pizza; Hi Rise Bakery; Spinelli’s Market; Whole Foods Market; Sugar Bakehouse & Coffee Shop; Cuba Cuba; Eis Gelato; Flourish Farms; Fuel Cafe; Butler Rents; Cirro; DJ Skeem; Tewell Warren; Total Body Wellness.

Aug 17
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Second Plantings

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By Jessica Romer, Community Initiatives Coordinator

Operations Coordinator Faatma Mehrmanesh planting fall garlic at DUG’s DeLaney Community FarmIf you’re like me, you may feel like you missed out on this year’s cool season crops in the spring. Our early warm weather made it difficult to grow some of my personal favorites – greens, cilantro, peas, etc. But all is not lost – there is still a window of opportunity to replant as the summer winds down and we move towards the fall. As you’re pulling out crops that have finished for the season, things like broccoli, cabbage, beets, carrots, etc., you now have space to replant the cool season crops, as well as garlic which needs to overwinter in the soil for a harvest the following season. It may still be hot outside, but now is the time to get the cool season crops planted. This way you can extend your growing season through the fall, or at least as long as you have access to water in your community garden. 

Denver’s average last frost is October 7th, which is also roughly when water gets turned off in DUG community gardens. Keep this in mind when you are planning for the fall. Look at your seed packets and count backwards the days to maturity, beginning with the frost date. Beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards, lettuce, mustard greens, spinach, cilantro, radish, peas and garlic are all great fall crops. 

Special tip for garlic: Mid-October is the best time for planting garlic for a 2013 harvest. Buy your garlic at a nursery or garden center (grocery store garlic is often treated with growth inhibitors). Break apart the bulb, but leave the skin on each clove. Plant the largest cloves pointed side up, 4-6” apart, 2-3” under the surface of well-loosened, compost-enriched soil. Mulch with chopped up leaves or straw, and then water. 

Happy planting!

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