Getting a head-start on spring

Chip, a reader and gardener from Black Forest (where spring doesn't come until June, sometimes) gets a headstart on peppers, tomatoes, and other warm weather vegetables, by growing them inside.
Here are some of his pictures and tips:

My seeds were planted about 20 days ago and are beginning to emerge. Planted two pepper varieties and five tomato. Seeds were treated by hot-water bath (50 deg C), planted in sterilized medium, and coated with fungicide powder (Captan) to avoid seedling diseases.
In the meantime, I've covered my garden with clear 4 mil plastic to force early thaw and higher soil temps. When uncovered, the garden was frozen solid last week to a depth of about 10 inches. It's now uniformly 40 degrees F down as far as the temp probe will reach. When it hits 50 Deg consistently, I'll plant the cold crops (spinach, beets, peas, etc.) under the plastic 'til they sprout and get a nice early start to the year. Have also purchased composting components to be ready for spring grass composting.
Bottom line, this should not be dead time, it's very busy!

The dirt on dirt

Looking for top soil for your new garden? Two master gardeners wrote in with these suggestions:

I like to shop for soil, mulch, etc. at Rocky Top Resources. Fred and John are great for advice. They are located at 1755 E. Las Vegas Street, between Nevada and South Circle (579-9103). You can pick it up or have it delivered by the truck full or go by with some bags and get as much as you want. You can go with a straight top soil, or get a good blend of top soil and compost called "Topsoil Mix - 60% organic", or a straight 100% organic topsoil amendment.

Since you are filling above ground beds, not amending existing soil, I would recommend using a soil mix such as Tri-mix. I believe Pioneer, C&C and Rocky Mountain all can provide it. All you would need to do is fill the beds and fertilize them several times during the growing season.

Composting 101 and a look at my new raised beds

Creating a small, low maintenance garden begins with good, organic-rich soil. Good soil conserves water, is good habitat for helpful soil critters, such as worms, and can keep plants robust enough that they are less likely to succumb to plant diseases and parasites.

But how to get good soil?
Well first, some people do a soil test to find out where the dirt is lacking. Others say this isn't necessary, it's always a good idea to add nitrogen-rich compost.
In the interest of testing things out, I sent a soil sample to CSU's extension. The news back was good. The acidity of my soil was about right. There were enough of the key nutrients: potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen. There wasn't too much salt, and the organic material levels were a bit below ideal, but pretty good. So all I really needed was to add a bit more organic material to make my plants thrive. To start your own soil test, click here.

That's helpful to know, because I need to add something. I built two raised beds out of spare lumber I had in my garage and now they need to be filled with soil. The beds are supposed to help warm the soil for a longer growing season, and promote drainage (not that that is a problem in Colorado) but I built them primarily to keep out trampling dogs because my beds are in front of my house right next to a busy sidewalk. (see pictures below)
If you want to see plans on building your own raised beds, or commercial beds available, click here.
Of course, I'll add my own compost to the beds. But where should I get top soil? Do any local seasoned gardeners have any advice on good, inexpensive topsoil? Comment below if you do.

Now, on to composting. There are several good composting Websites, including compostguide.com and howtocompost.org. But what they don't tell you is that in Colorado, you need to water your compost. Water it once or twice a week. It does not need to be sopping, but it should be damp in the middle for decomposition to take place. Otherwise, your kitchen waste and yard clippings with dry out and mummify and archaeologists will be studying them centuries from now.

The first frost-free day is still two months or more away, but I plan to start planting cold-weather crops, such as beets and snow peas, on the first of April. Does anyone have any hints on making these early bloomers thrive?

Speaking of early bloomers, I couldn't help but throw in a few pictures of bulbs pushing up in my yard. They've been going crazy in this warm weather.