Starts Soil Recipe

By: Erin Oliver, Erin’s Geothermal Greenhouse in Nathrop, CO.

This is a great time of year to prepare for the growing season. Plan your garden space. Get a soil test if you haven’t already, a small task that will bring huge rewards. Order your seed. One of my favorite places to order seed is a company called Fedco. Pleasant Avenue Nursery in Buena Vista also has vegetable and flower seed varieties available that grow well in our area.

Get a jump on the season by starting seeds inside. You’ll need a sunny window or a grow light, some start trays, soil and seed.

Starts Soil Recipe:
2 parts good garden soil or potting soil
1 part perlite or builder’s sand
1 part compost or peat moss
1 T. bonemeal per quart of mix
other amendments may be added

I’ve included the schedule that I follow for starts at my greenhouse. I use May 15th as our last spring frost date although that does vary from year to year. When you are ready to move the starts outside, create a cold frame to harden them off and allow them time to get used to the outside environment. Once planted, continue to cover your tender crops like tomatoes and squash with remay to protect them from a late spring frost.

Seeding Schedule:

6-8 weeks before the last frost date seed tomatoes, onions, peppers, eggplant and celery.

4 weeks before the last frost date seed lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards and chard.

3 weeks before the last frost date seed corn, cucumbers, melon, squash and spinach.

Vegetables like peas, carrots, beets, potatoes and other root crops prefer to be direct seeded once the danger of frost has passed.

Some of my favorite suggested readings:
Four- Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman
Solar Gardening by Leandre Poisson & Gretchen Vogel Poisson
How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons


Have fun, try new varieties and may your garden be bountiful!