Lzipp said:Just moved to so Colorado it will be a hot dry summer. It is windy here too. What are my best Vegs to plant and how do I protect them. Am in the high desert of pueblo
Hi Lzipp! Welcome to ATP. I hope you find things to interest you here, like the Southwest Gardening forum.
http://garden.org/forums/view/...
I didn't quickly find any thread titles about good vegetable varieties for the high desert, but here is a more general thread.
The thread "Help on plants for New Mexico" in
Southwest Gardening forum
My climate is the total opposite of yours (sea level, coastal, cool wet "Mediterranean" climate that has drizzle 8-9 months of the year, then a cool dryish summer). So I can't help with drought-tolerant vegetable varieties.
If you can find seed vendors that specialize in your climate, they should have catalogs full of ideas.
A quick Googling did not turn up many "desert seed" vendors for you to scan for suitable varieties.
http://secure.seedstrust.com/i...
http://www.desertusa.com/deser... - Native Seeds/SEARCH, an Arizona-based crop conservancy
If you see any ATP members with these "microbadges", they might be good peoaple to ask:
http://garden.org/users/prefs/...
Enjoys or suffers hot summers (a sun)
Xeriscape (four-leafed green-and-blue thing)
Region: Colorado (mostly-white mountain triangle)
Region: New Mexico (yellow state flag)
Region: Southwest Gardening (one cactus)
Cactus and Succulents (two Saguaro cacti)
My main suggestion is to
plan to grow what you like to eat, then look for varieties of those vegetables that are most likely to tolerate your climate stresses.
Maybe start with the easier vegetables, but
don't give up on what you like until you've tried a few varieties and killed a few rows of them!
Once you build up a collection of tricks and don't-dos , and learn to grow drought-
tolerant vegetables, you'll have a good chance at growing more difficult species that you like better.
You can also use small seed company's websites as learning resources. Learn what varieties are most suited to your region. Keep notes!
Then, you might only find 1-2 packets that you really want to try at some companies. If their shipping and handling charge is too much to make 1-2 packets worthwhile, search for those varieties at larger seed companies until you can put together an order of varieties likely to be easy to grow in your high desert,, but with just one shipping and handling fee.
Or you can support such small companies by buying more seeds from them than you personally need right away, then trading 1/2 or 2/3 of those seeds for a wide variety of other seeds.
Cruise the ATP seed swaps and look for varieties you want.
http://garden.org/apps/swap/
Those seeds will be "free", but you have to pay postage going and coming, which will be around $14 total. But if you can bring home 20, 30 or more varieties for that much postage, it's a great deal.
Maybe: squash, watermelon, hot peppers, okra, green beans, amaranth, malabar spinach?
You might be able to grow tomatoes either before the heat gets too bad, or after the heat has eased off.
Articles about high desert gardening:
http://garden.org/ideas/view/d...
http://blackgold.bz/high-deser... (how-to)
http://blackgold.bz/hot-summer... (veggies that beat the heat)
http://www.bendbulletin.com/li...
https://survivingthemiddleclas...
A thread in a "Survivalist" forum: Seeds for the southwest desert/high desert
http://www.survivalistboards.c...
A podcast by dave (who runs this website) about Desert-Plants-of-Utah after touring some state parks in Utah:
http://garden.org/ideas/view/d...
Joseph talks about how to grow and select seeds better suited to an unusual climate: create your own "landrace" over several years:
http://garden.org/ideas/view/j...
Good luck!
P.S. Even if it takes a few years, it would be wonderful if you'd come back to this thread and mention the varieties that DID work out for you. That's how we all learn!
