Vegetable garden ready in Denver

Get out the rakes and hoes! Vegetable gardening season is just around the corner. Get your Denver garden ready for planting now. It won't be time to plant here in Denver until May but you can prep the vegetable garden and ready the soil for planting.

Seeds for the Denver vegetable garden should be nearly ready, having been started indoors a few weeks ago. Seeding procrastinators might consider purchasing plants or seedlings. This will insure an earlier harvest. Some seeds can be seeded directly into the garden after danger of frost has passed. Check the seed package for directions.

If this is a new Denver vegetable garden, mow the area to be planted. Remove weeds, unwanted plants, roots and large debris prior to mowing. Leave the cut grass, small leaves and other natural matter ready to be mowed and tilled into the soil. The grass and small debris make excellent naturally composting fertilizer.

Till the soil to a depth of 12 inches. This allows better aeration and space for vegetable roots. A rototiller can be rented from a Denver Home Depot for a surprisingly low cost. Once the vegetable garden soil is tilled, get ready to add fertilizer. There is some disagreement among gardeners as to what type of fertilizer to use.

I like compost for Denver vegetable garden soil. Make your own or purchase bags or a truckload. Bagged ready mixed compost is purchased in cubic foot bags. I recommend 1 bag for every four square feet. Lay the unopened bags out right where they are going, then cut open and dump.

Truckloads of compost are emptied by wheelbarrow and distributed evenly around the garden in piles. After the Denver vegetable garden compost is laid out in piles it's ready to be spread out with a shovel and tilled right into the soil. The depth should still be about 12 inches.

Now we are ready for the red wigglers. Red wigglers are my favorite aerating and composting worms for the Denver vegetable garden. Don't add them before tilling due to the resulting carnage. You will need 100 worms for every 10 square feet.

To control weeds and retain water in the Denver dry climate, get mulch ready for after planting. My favorite mulch is shredded cedar on top of newspaper layers. It can be tilled right into the soil after harvest and will nourish next year's Denver vegetable garden.