VEGGIES, SEEDS, SPECIAL EVENTS, & CLASSES!

So many opportunities this spring!

Harlequin’s Gardens offers a lot of exceptional and unusual varieties of veggies that you won’t find anywhere else!  Our selection of cool-season veggies continues to expand daily as do our perennials.  There are many veggies, including onions, leeks, Asian greens, bok choy, and heading type of brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage) that will yield larger and better results if they are planted sooner, rather than later in the season.  (Eve with Graffiti Cauliflower, right.)  See our website for many of our veggie descriptions.  

This is also the best time to get many types of seeds in the ground.  Our collection of Botanical Interests, Seed Savers, and Beauty Beyond Belief seeds contain many interesting and heirloom varieties for you to try.

If you’re unsure about the best ways to approach veggie gardening, or want to expand your knowledge, we have two classes this weekend that will be of great help.  On Saturday at 10 AM, our own Mimi Yanus will guide you in her popular “Getting Started in Veggie Gardening” class.  Then, at 1:00, Tracy Parrish follows with her “Succession Planting” class where you’ll learn how to maximize your garden space and keep your veggie garden in continual production. 

On Sunday at 1:00, Mikl will share how you can have a successful lawn without using toxic chemicals in his “Organic Lawn Care” class.   See below for more details and call 303-939-9403 to reserve your seat!

As of April 1 we’re now OPEN DAILY from 9 AM to 5 PM, and until 6 PM on Thursdays. 

POTATO STARTS 

… will be arriving late next week!  This year we will have German Butterball, Kennebec, Mountain Rose, and Purple Majesty selections.  See our website for descriptions! 

 

GOOD NEWS SPECIAL EVENT!

Neighbors, farmers, gardeners, citizen activists, the politically weary, the financially skeptical, the poetically inclined, pollinators, seed savers, CSA members, folks who want to know where their food comes from and where their money goes, and all who would like to put the culture back into agriculture and the civil back into civilization, all who would like to make our community healthier and our soil more fertile (which, as fate would have it, also pulls carbon out of the atmosphere, go figure!), all who take to heart the morning news reports about the collapse of insect populations and the urgency of climate change and who are no longer content to place all our bets on distant markets and distant political solutions. . .yes, you, us, we of Boulder, of the Front Range, of the environs between the Great Plains and the Continental Divide. . . we’re coming together to enjoy

—ADMISSION FREE—

. . .which could stand for Americans for Healthy Agriculture (AHA!), but doesn’t, because there is no such organization, but it stands for bunches of us coming together in a spirit of radical neighborliness, and for AHA! moments towards which we are heading, courtesy of these festivities, CO-HOSTED BY SOIL (Slow Opportunities for Investing Locally) and HARLEQUIN’S GARDENS, with help from our friends at Boulder County Farmers Markets, Savory Institute, Fresh Thymes Eatery, Organic Sandwich Company, Backpacker’s Pantry, Charlotte’s Web, and 78 individuals (on our way to many more, we trust) who have begun making 0% loans to local farmers and food enterprises, in the name of diversity and health, in the name of relationships putting transactions in their place, a small token of the esteem in which we hold those who are tending the soil and building the local food system. . .So, you are cordially invited to join in an afternoon of shared learning and community celebration, along with a few words from

and others, and. . . including poetry, music and other forms of cultural invigoration and mutual appreciation. Conviviality! Conversation! Door prizes! Radical neighborliness!

Who knew?! Something is afoot! AHA!

For more information contact woody@slowmoney.org.   
 

BACKYARD VINEYARD CLASS

Have you dreamt of starting your own backyard vineyard?  Our friend, John Martin of Stonebridge Farm, will be teaching an introductory class this Sunday, April 7, from 1:00-4:00 at Stonebridge Farm. To attend email John Martin. 

Interested, but not able to attend?  Come to John’s Sunday, April 28 class at Harlequin’s Gardens: GROWING GRAPES ON THE FRONT RANGE at 1 PM.  In this class John will present an overview of varieties suitable for this region, considerations for site location, trellising options, pest protection measures, and a brush across two basic pruning techniques.  Call 303-939-9403 to register. 

APRIL CLASS LIST

Call 303-939-9403 to reserve your seat!

Our weekends are loaded with great classes you won’t want to miss! Our customers tell us that our classes have given them tremendous value, with practical and current information from local experts who have spent years honing their skills in Colorado and will help guide you to success. We are charging $15 (unless otherwise stated) for our classes to support our speakers and Harlequin’s educational direction. It is best to pre-register for these classes both in case they fill up, or too few people register and we have to cancel. Pre-payment assures your place in the class. You can register at the nursery, by mail, or by calling 303-939-9403. We are unable to take class registration by email at this time.  Most of our classes run from one-and-a-half to two hours in length, and sometimes longer for hands-on classes, or if there are a large number of questions.  See the complete March Class listing below, or on our website.  

Sat, Apr 6 at 10 AM       
GETTING STARTED IN VEGETABLE GARDENING with Mimi Yanus

If you are new to Colorado, new to vegetable gardening, or have been unhappy with the results of your earlier attempts, this class is for you. Learn from Mimi what you need to know to make your new organic vegetable garden successful and bountiful, even in Colorado conditions!  (This is a repeat of Mimi’s March 16 class.) Class cost: $15

Sat, Apr 6 at 1 PM
SUCCESSION PLANTING: OPTIMIZING PLANTING TIMES TO INCREASE GARDEN YIELDSwith Tracey Parrish   

Learn the techniques and timing to maximize your garden space and keep your veggie garden in continual production throughout the seasons. This class provides participants with an extensive planting schedule table, outlining when and where to start your seeds, the time to transplant out and when to expect harvest. Tracey is an expert in culinary gardening.  Class cost: $15
 

Sun, Apr 7 at 1 PM        
ORGANIC LAWN CARE with Mikl Brawner

You can have successful a lawn without using toxic chemicals! Learn how to support healthy soil and soil life using compost, organic fertilizers, aeration, proper watering, and mowing, and how to avoid and deal with weeds. Class cost: $15
 

Sat, Apr 13 at 10 AM    
EDIBLE LANDSCAPING with Alison Peck

Learn how to grow fruits, nuts, vegetables, vines and herbs in your yard, beautifully. Learn which plants are the most successful and how to integrate them into your landscape. Alison has been designing edible landscapes for 25 years; she owns Matrix Gardens landscaping. Class cost: $15
 

Sat, Apr 13 at 1 PM      
DO-IT-YOURSELF DRIP IRRIGATIONwithAlison Peck

Drip Irrigation can be easy! Come learn a simple, easy way to design and install a system that can be connected to an outside hose bib with a battery-operated timer, giving you an inexpensive automatic watering system.  We will also discuss how to convert an existing sprinkler system to drip irrigation. Class cost: $15

Sun, Apr 14 at 10 AM
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF PLANTING DROUGHT-TOLERANT PLANTSwith Panayoti Kelaidis

Do you know what parts of the world your xeriscape plants come from? Whether they’re adapted to spring moisture, summer monsoons, or winter snow-cover? In what type of soil conditions they thrive? How to group plants with similar needs so they will all succeed? Don’t miss this rare opportunity for an enlightening explanation of the sets of growing conditions in which our Colorado-adapted garden plants evolved, including prairie, steppe, desert, foothill and montane, with an emphasis on steppes. Panayoti Kelaidis is Senior Curator and Director of Outreach at Denver Botanic Gardens, one of the world’s foremost botanical experts, an internationally acclaimed, inexhaustible and enthusiastic font of knowledge, passionate plant-explorer and gardener, a founder of the Plant Select program, and lead author of DBG’s groundbreaking book ‘Steppes’.  Class cost: $15

Sun, Apr 14 at 1 PM     
SPRING PRUNING with Mikl Brawner

There are shrubs that should not be pruned in the spring and there are shrubs, roses and vines that are best pruned in spring. Learn which to prune when, and how to prune for strength, beauty, and production of fruit and flowers. (This is not a repeat of the Fall Pruning Class.) Class cost: $15
 

Sat, Apr 20 at 1 PM      
FEARLESS ROSE PRUNING with Eve Brawner

Eve will demonstrate and discuss why and how to prune roses in a fearless and confident manner. She will also discuss feeding, watering, etc. to maximize your success with growing roses. Wear long pants, long sleeves, gloves, and a hat and be prepared to be outside. Class cost: $15
 

Sun Apr 28 at 10 AM
DRYER PLANTS FOR A NEW LANDSCAPE ERA with Kelly Grummons

Many beautiful cacti, century plants (Agave spp.), yuccas, and their relatives thrive in our harsh climate. These plants look as good in the winter garden as they do in the summer. Kelly is well known for his work with these hardy plants and is expert at using them in the garden. We’ll discuss companion plants, soil preparation and garden construction. Kelly Grummons is a Horticulturist and Owner of Prairie Storm Nursery (coldhardycactus.com and dogtuffgrass.com).  Class cost: $20
 

Sun Apr 28 at 1 PM      
GROWING GRAPES ON THE FRONT RANGE with John Martin

Thanks to recent development in grape varieties, you, too can successfully grow table grapes and wine grapes on the Colorado Front Range. This workshop will present an overview of varieties suitable for this region, considerations for site location, trellising options, pest protection measures, and a brush across two basic pruning techniques.  Whether you are interested in fruit or wine, let’s explore how the taste of your grapes and wineswill define this locality. John and his partner, Kayann Short, tend nine different varieties of grapes and make wine at their CSA farm, Stonebridge, in Longmont.  Class cost: $15
 

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Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the most up-to-date information and photos! We’re looking forward to seeing you this week! In gratitude,
Eve, Mikl
and the super hard-working Staff at Harlequin’s Gardens