Community Volunteer and Education Opportunities

What a vibrant community we live in! Check out these opportunities coming up in the next week.

Southwest Conservation Corps Volunteer Days
Friday, April 20, 9am-12pm and 12pm-3pm

The Southwest Conservation Corps has several upcoming volunteer opportunities that we thought you might be interested in. We are launching a new gardening and agriculture program and need your help prepping new garden sites in Salida.

On Friday, April 20^th we will kick off Earth Day weekend with a ground-breaking service day at the SCC office. Please join us for a half or full day of project work to install fencing, build raise beds, plant seeds and help promote local food production and sustainability in our community! The morning session will run from 9am-noon and the afternoon session will run from 12pm-3pm. Participants should wear long-pants, sturdy shoes, and warm layers. Don’t forget to bring a water bottle and lunch if you plan to stay all day. The event is open to all ages: kids under 12 must be accompanied by an adult and all participants/parents of minors will need to sign a volunteer waiver.

Our office is located at 701 E. Highway 50, just west of the Hampton Inn. Please contact Tyler Lincoln with any questions at tyler@sccorps.org or 719-539-2438.

Can’t make it this week? We also have Friday service days scheduled for April 27^th and May 4^th – same time and place!

Thanks for your support and we hope to see you Friday!


Learn How to Plan and Install Drip Irrigation!
Hosted by Old Town Farm, Howard
Saturday, April 21 10am-12pm

Drip irrigation makes the most sense for watering garden and landscape plants in our dry climate. Come see and get hands on with the drip irrigation system at our farm in Howard. Comprehensive class covers planning a drip system as well as installation and
maintenance.

Class starts at 10 AM sharp across the street from Howard Hall. Cost is $15 per class, scholarships are available. Email oldtownfarmhoward@gmail.com or call Jonathan at 719-530-1249 for more information.

Additional upcoming Old Town Farm classes:
April 28th – Floating row cover and other plant protection strategies
May 5th – Keeping backyard chickens is easy and fun
May 12th – Know your enemy: All about weeds, wildlife and bugs
May 19th – Why won’t my tomatoes ripen? Success with warm season crops in a cool climate


Agriculture Tax Class
Hosted by Kurt M. Jones, Chaffee County Extension Director
Tuesday, April 24, 6pm-8pm

Colorado State University Extension in Chaffee County will be offering an Agriculture Tax Class for area producers and tax professionals on Tuesday, April 24 from 6:00 until 8:00 at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds. The cost for this class will be $15.

Topics for the class include overview of income taxes, farm income and expenses, common IRS tax forms and schedules used by farmers & ranchers, Farm income vs. other income and how to treat each source, what are deductible farm expenses, record keeping for farmers/ranchers, important dates and additional resources.

The course will be taught by CSU Agriculture and Business Management specialist Jeff Tranel. Pre-registration is required by calling 719-539-6447. Space is limited to the first 40 people. If someone requires accommodation, please let us know at least 5 business days in advance.

Bananas in Nathrop? Anything Is Possible!

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

Restoring our local food shed is possible. We are lucky to live in this valley where productive farmland with water is still available. There is the potential to put these valuable lands into food production. Although our growing season is shorter then some, it is still possible to grow most crops and we even have micro climates within our valley where we can produce corn. Tony Madone has proven this on his Farm to Table site in Salida. There are countless home gardeners producing food for their family right in their backyards. We also have the unique resource of geothermal water which can heat greenhouses for year round production. This is especially wonderful for those heat loving crops we all love like tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. If it is our desire to produce food in this valley, it is possible.

So, back to the banana.

I was inspired to buy this banana tree by Paul at The Crystal Shop in Salida, he had one years ago. Five years later, I have fruit on the tree and not just a few. It lives in my greenhouse here on Chalk Creek where it is kept warm with our 160 degree geothermal water. I continue to nurture it in hopes that the fruit will ripen into the sweetest bananas I have ever tasted. I’ll keep you posted.

This winter in the greenhouse has been very productive. Lots of sunshine means faster growth and an abundance of tender greens. We were able to keep some of the tomato and cucumber plants producing until Thanksgiving when we pulled them to prepare for the next crop. Although the tomato plant is a perennial, I find we have much better success with a fresh crop every year. We have planted a round of sugar snap peas to take advantage of the space before this year’s tomatoes are transplanted. Our starts table is heated with our geothermal water and is full with tomato, pepper and perennial flower starts. They are also happy with all of the sunshine and will be ready to transplant into the large containers in a few weeks. We may just break our earliest vine ripened tomato record this year! (April 20th is the date to beat) As the days get longer, we are gearing up for our spring starts sale and will have a variety of vegetable and flower starts available.

This is my favorite time of year. Watching the hundreds of starts grow and knowing that they will feed our community is very rewarding.

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!