Author: Debra Stinton Othitis
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Year-round gardening: Chores to tackle while you wait out our final frost
May is a volatile month for weather in Colorado, so watch the forecast for your location and elevation. Although Colorado Springs’ average last frost date (32 degrees) is May 10-15, it’s not unusual to have a hard freeze (28 degrees) in late May. Here are some chores you can tackle in the meantime. General maintenance…
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Year-round gardening: Tomatoes – hybrid or heirloom
Some gardeners know what characteristics they prefer in a tomato, so they grow the same variety every year. Others browse through garden centers or seed catalogs and adventurously select new varieties. If you are the latter, you first must choose between hybrids or heirlooms. Heirloom tomato plants generally produce tastier fruit, but they’re prone to…
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Holiday gifts for gardeners
Master Gardeners set out to explore some favorite local garden centers to help you find that perfect holiday gift for the special gardeners in your life. Gifts suggestions are categorized as: “Stocking Stuffers” (under $25), “Great Gifts” ($25-$100), and “Over the Moon” gifts (more than $100). Read on to discover what we found. If…
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Growing and harvesting herbs
Many gardeners are enjoying fresh herbs from their gardens now but, if preserved by one of several easy methods, they can also be used after the first frost and when snow is on the ground. Although it is currently too late in the season to plant most herbs, it’s not too late to be thinking…
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2017 Residential Gardens Tour – Who Knew It? In Patty Jewett!
June 24 & 25, 2017, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., El Paso County Friends Of eXtension (FOX) Seventh Annual Open Garden Tour Fundraiser Since its inception in 2011, this popular tour has been in various locations around Colorado Springs including Village Seven, the West Side, the Old North End and Broadmoor. It has received high acclaim as…
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Garden Wars
Being a gardener and being a wildlife fan can feel like contradictory concepts when your garden becomes a constant battlefield with voracious rabbits, destructive voles and marauding mule deer. Container gardening can provide good armor from the rabbits and voles but you will need to be a bit more tactical to minimize deer attacks. First,…
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How to Start Your Own Vegetable Garden Knowing that fresh, just-harvested produce has higher nutritional content than produce that has been shipped and stored, perhaps you’ve decided to grow your own vegetables at home this year. However, sometimes the most difficult part of a new project is knowing where to start so here are some steps to get a garden started.
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Select a good location A good location for your vegetable garden will be in full sun, with easy access to water and good soil. Soil quality is critical so you want fertile soil…
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Begin your vegetable gardening indoors – 10 steps to seed starting
Starting seeds indoors is a simple and inexpensive way to enjoy many vegetable varieties not commonly found in garden centers. Also, with the shorter growing season in Colorado Springs, starting seeds indoors allows gardeners to “jump-start” long-season crops. Here are 10 steps to starting seeds indoors: Select your containers. It’s best to use small, individual,…
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Year Round Gardening
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save As you reap the fall bounty from your vegetable garden, don’t forget that next year’s garlic crop should be planted before October 15 for a July 2017 harvest. Garlic is one of the easiest…
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Year Round Gardening: 2016 Residential Gardens Tour – Broadmoor Blooms
An Italian-inspired garden surrounding a Tuscan-style home, a French-style home encircled by well-aged trees and dazzling flower beds, a 1920 Tudor home with magnificent views of the mountains and the city, with a historic tuberculosis hut tucked away in an extraordinary garden—these are just some of the attractions of the 2016 FOX Open Garden Tour.…