Drought Gardening is On A Lot of Our Minds

Growers in Colorado are already considering how this year's very limited snowpack will affect our growing season. Here are a few things that I'm doing at 1st Ave Farm this season:

• Sourcing Colorado-acclimated seeds for drought-resistant varieties of several vegetables from High Desert Seeds, located here in Colorado.

  
  

• Adding additional ollas (pictured below) which hold water in unglazed terracotta pots with lids that are then partially buried so that water slowly trickles out of them to keep the soil moist below the surface. These particular ollas were made by local Denver/Aurora potter, Greg Nelson from Balanced Ceramics. We can thank Indigenous wisdom and engineering prowess for this technology!

• Mulch, mulch, mulch - I've kept cover on my garden in the form of leaves or cover crop, and after transplanting this season, I will continue to ensure that mulch is down. I will likely use straw, but I'm contemplating other options. I'll be sure and keep you posted!