Vegetable Gardening in Durango

As a local for many years who really loves to garden, I am often asked by newcomers when is a safe time to plant your vegetable garden? The best rule of thumb that I have seen is when all of the snow on the north face of Smelter Mountain has melted, then it is okay.
Things that you are going to plant by seed such as green beans, peas, lettuce, radishes and the like can easily go into the ground the first week of May or maybe even the last week of April. Plants such as tomatoes, various types of peppers, should definitely not be planted until the Smelter Mountain date mentioned above has occurred. A fun thing to grow and it is really easy to grow here, are artichokes. These are plants and get quite tall. You will need about 3 foot square for each artichoke plant. Each plant will generally produce two or three artichokes.
Certain things grow better at certain altitudes. Durango West, which is located about eight miles west of town, is about 1000 feet higher in elevation than town. That little difference makes it tough for tomatoes to turn red in the fall or late summer. However if you plant the same products in town, you will have plenty of red tomatoes in August. Edgemont Highlands is not quite 1000 feet higher than Durango but has so many more trees that the shade can work against you. The other thing to be concerned about in Edgemont Highlands, is the pollen from the pine trees and the needles that change the basic acidity of the soil. These are not insurmountable problems, but just something that you need to deal with in your soil treatments.
We are very fortunate here in Durango because we have several places where you can buy plants and the staffs are all very knowledgeable. Kroeger’s Hardware, located by the South City Market, as well as Bayfield Garden Center, are extremely helpful for those of you wanting to develop your green thumb. The quality of their bedding plants is very good and they truly know what does well and what doesn't do well in our climate and your particular soil conditions.