(Casper, WY) -- Planting a vegetable garden in Wyoming
presents some challenges not faced in most parts of our country but be a
successful effort by understanding local weather and soil conditions and following
some basic rules. That was the word from Donna Hoffman, Natrona County
Horticulture Specialist (pictured above) during her recent visit to the Senior-Wise program at
the Casper Senior Center.
She said local gardeners have to do a lot more to maintain
their gardens and get them growing. "It's not like the Midwest where you
can just drop seeds into the ground," she said. "There, they have 5-10%
organic matter in the soil while we have about 1% organic matter in our soils. In
addition, the soil must be loose enough for new roots to grown down so you
should always add organic matter when you till. In fact, that's your reason to
till -- to add organic matter into the soil." She advised tilling as deep
as you can get it, as most roto-tillers go 6-8 inches deep while an agriculture
plow will go down 12-18 inches.
She also spoke of the importance of creating windbreaks. Because
our winds usually come from the southwest, creating a windbreak for that
direction will also provide afternoon shade during some of the hottest summer sun.
Also, most vegetable garden plants need at least six and preferable eight hours
of sunlight per day.
Several vegetable varieties do well locally, she said, both
cool season and warm season crops. Warm season crops are tomatoes, watermelons,
cucumbers, squash, and peppers. "For these, we need to wait to plant,"
she cautioned, "because the soil temperatures are too cool in the early
spring." She also said when you plant your garden it's best to start with
cool season crops like cabbage, peas, lettuce, radishes, carrots, cauliflower
and broccoli since all those are easy to get started in the early spring. "You
can start these several weeks prior to our last expected frost of the
year," she noted, "and typically our first frost free day of the year
is May 22." She said many old timers have said never to plant your garden
until the snow is off the face of Casper mountain.
She concluded by relating that our average annual rainfall
is about 13 inches and that's typically not enough for most vegetable garden
plants. She said cool weather vegetables may not need additional water until
May while warm weather garden items need about an inch of water per week.
Senior-Wise is held Tuesdays at 12:30 at the Casper Senior
Center, 1831 East 4th Street in Casper.
