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HOAs much as I didn’t want to make this video, it’s important for us to talk about this drought and how it affects our garden plans for the year.
Some of the ways we are adapting our plans are planting more tepary beans than bush beans, skipping melons, celery, and pumpkins, and avoiding varieties of tomatoes, lettuce, squash, and corn that aren’t drought tolerant or regionally adapted.
In the front range, Masa Seed Co is a great resource for climate adapted seeds. Also in CO and offering drought resistant varieties are Pueblo Seed Co, and High Desert Seeds. Native Seed Search out of AZ offers a wide variety of SW native beans, corn, and a variety of other things. Drought adapted seeds will largely fare better than their counterparts, so we’re shifting to planting more of those this year. Native plants are going to be the way to go in terms of flowers and perennials as well.
We love sweet corn; it’s one of the first crops I remember eating from my grandfather’s garden and beyond it being delicious, it has sentimental value in our garden. Thankfully, there are some really tasty dwarf varieties out there that use less water and have a shorter growing season. Our favorite place to source dwarf and container varieties is Renee’s seeds, and for tomatoes, the Dwarf Tomato project has a huge number of things (but you should still check for drought resistance in dwarf varieties).
The last thing we’re considering changing is the overall amount of square footage we’ll use this year. As much as it pains us to do that, we want to be responsible stewards of our little corner of land as it relates to the larger community that we’re a part of. Frankly, we’re not “real” farmers, many of whom are already feeling the stress and pressure of this. By doing our part, we can all make the best of a 💩 situation
Let’s keep our collective fingers crossed for a series of March blizzards and don’t forget to water your trees and perennials while this persists.
How is the drought affecting your garden plans?
#denvergardening #denverdrought #growfoodnotgrass #droughtgardening #waterwisegardening
@homesteadingindenver
