Today (May 9) is the average last frost date in our area, and Mother’s Day is the traditional Colorado date considered ‘safe’ for planting.
Of course, we have lived through enough late-May freezes and snowstorms to be a bit cautious! We offer vital supplies to have on hand to protect your frost-sensitive plants. Ask about our row-cover fabrics when you come to the nursery.
Warm soils signal that it is time to direct-sow many classic summer vegetables and herbs, and we have plenty of seeds to offer:
Corn
Beans
Summer & Winter Squash
Cucumber
Melon
Watermelon
Pumpkin
Carrots (can be seeded throughout June for a fall harvest)
As weather across the Front Range is highly variable, the key to successful sowing for these delicious foods is soil temperature. Night-time SOIL temperatures that are at least 55 degrees will prevent seed from rotting and will encourage successful germination. While it might feel warm to us, the best way to check for warm-enough soil for seeds is with a soil thermometer--we have them in our store for you. It’s also important to keep seeds moist once they’ve been sown – don’t let the soil completely dry out. The germinating seeds are living creatures, and must have moisture to survive.
Beans, Corn and Sunflowers should be grown from seed sown directly in the garden.
Coming Soon – Our Organic Starts for Cucumbers, Summer Squashes, Winter Squashes, Melons, Pumpkins and Watermelons! We expect the first ones to be available in the third or fourth week of May, and we’ll keep you posted.
Johnny’s Select Seeds offers wonderful, detailed growing instructions for farmers and home gardeners, and we highly recommend you save and read their article ‘Beat the Heat: Cultural Practices to Get Your Crops through the Summer Heat, parts 1 & 2’.