Images here feature my garden around my house in Chromo, Colorado which is located on the west slope of the continental divide in the south San Juan mountains at ~7600 feet. Zone 3b, clay alkaline soil. Lots of snow, barely any rain, intense solar, wind, and hail. It’s not easy growing, folks, but the plants featured here make it so. There have been many failures – mostly trees (sugar maple, catalpa, linden, thuja, apricot) but other hopefulls, too. Crabapples, lilacs, apple, comfrey, poppy, and iris came here before us; 3 cultivars of hops, honeyberry, raspberry, seaberry, goji berry, gooseberry, horseradish, sunchokes, pears, and plums have been added to the edible landscape. Annuals come and go in the form of flowers and herbs – every year is different in regards to what flourishes. I can’t seem to replicate the abundant calendula year I had in 2019, but I hit it big with the bachelor buttons for the first time in 2023. Everybody in their right time.

2024

Kinda bummer of a Summer for me, although the raspberry yield was best ever and the arugula really took off in the hoophouse – even in the gravel. I got a bunch of columbine seed to germinate that I collected from the other house’s columbine troves – fingers crossed for some of these cool color combos to make it through. Truth be told, I am ignorant to plant genetics and really know close to nothing about any of it, but the guy who started this ranch had a way with columbines, so I hope to honor him in some way through this project of nursing columbine babies. I also got some mint to germinate so I can make some cool mint stashes in all the right places …. mmmmm, minty

Also, played around with planting a cannabis clone in my hoophouse bed; she seemed pretty happy and is close to getting choppy choppied. The purple poppies were *LIT* this year: first year of success after many years of failure. I started them in a cut-up milk jug and then transplanted the itty babies all around even though you’re told to direct sow. Well, direct sowing suxxx for me out here in crappy Spring land where germinating cold-loving seed doesn’t work, even though you think it would. Too much daily thermal gain only to be crushed by the cold nights, I ‘spose.

The Japanese anemone came ba-a-ack! Joyful success. No blooms, though. Slight sighs, chin up for next year. The Chinese lantern columbine came into full bloomy success this year, too. They only last a few days, so mushroom wizard guy and I were really happy about that.

The whole time I’ve been typing this, I teeny-tiny aphid is crawling on my knuckles, tickling me and almost getting brushed away to it’s death only for me to realize that it’s a friend from the greenhouse who could maybe get by in this library. Who knows, but bon chance, buddy!

2021 – 2022