Fraser Valley Gardens – Grow Your Own!

Though Food for the Ages’ home is a micro-condo in Winter Park, Colorado, our “living small” lifestyle and short growing season has not cooled our desire for a garden. We want to grow our own herbs and veggies and use them in our kitchen. Is that too much to ask? No, and if you’re like me you know that working a garden is one of the secrets to a happy life. Grow your own!

So a couple weeks ago, as we ventured out on the local bike path that was thawing out from a long winter, John spotted the Fraser Valley Gardens. Next thing we knew we became members with a 2′ x 8′-foot beds in the hoop house and one 3′ x 3′ outside bed! For just the $85 annual fee I can grow my own vegetables and herbs, customized for my recipes! Much cheaper than buying an acre of land around here! For  you locals wanting to grow your own plants and vegetables, there is still time and beds are available. Check out this link at

Grand Community Gardens for information.

If you live outside the Fraser Valley, in Colorado, to find out more about community gardening check out the



American Community Gardening Association.

In many cities and populations centers on the Great Plains and the Coasts, most community garden plots would be gone by the end of March. But up here, where spring comes in more slowly, I was able to get a bed in mid-May.

 

We worked with  Fraser Valley Community Garden’s  Coordinator Debbie Buhayar, who is dedicated to gardening and was very helpful every step of the way. She found a bed for me and got us involved with the community both socially and in pitching in to help with common chores.

When Are We Frost Free in the Fraser Valley?

Frost-free in Boulder, Colorado is May 15th, as it is in most parts of the country under 5,000 feet. But up here at 9,000, the nights are very cool, so covering my bed with agro fabric was the first order of the day since the first frost-free date is June 25th! So the growing season is short and often done in greenhouse structures, which in mid-May are ready for planting in the hoop house.

So what will I grow? If I divide the garden into one-foot-squares, I have 16, one-foot squares for planting in the hoop house and nine and one-foot squares outside.  I am planning for early tomatoes, pole and bush beans, perhaps marigolds for pest control, leeks, dill, parley, basil, and rosemary inside. In my outside bed, where it will be cooler, I can grow chard, spinach, lettuce and carrots! Nasturtiums would be pretty and delicious!

Here is a video of my planting last week in the windy Fraser Valley, where frost is still a concern at night…

There are a couple of nurseries up here: Cold Springs, in Granby and Margaret’s Garden, in Tabernash, which has recently closed for good, but once was next to The Tabernash Tavern. I bought parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (just like the song) from Cold Springs Nursery. I bought two Early Girl tomatoes that are already fruiting from Margaret’s Garden. Both nurseries have good, healthy stock. Cold Springs is a bit bigger but Margaret’s is closer to me. I picked up my seeds from Ace Hardware.