What I'm planting this year... and when

OK, actually, I'm going on vacation until the end of April, so the first things here are what I WOULD BE planting if I was not in Oaxaca. I'll plant them as soon as I get back

Things to plant right now:

Oregon sugar snap peas
snow peas
arugula
oak leaf lettuce
Spinach -- I like a small leaf variety I can use in salads
bib lettuce
spicy mesclun
bull's eye beets
golden beets - my favorite, but not as prodcutive
Parsley - this is a tender perennial, I've had it come back for several years and it always re-sprouts around April 1.
Garlic -- should really be planted the fall before, but you can still plant it now.
Potatoes -- I've had good luck with purple Peruvians and French fingerlings. Make sure the soil is loose so you can filch potatos off the edges.


Things to plant in May

Pole beans - I like a slender haricots verts
Bush beans

The following tomatoes
Sweet Baby Girl
Stupice
Champion
Black Brandy wine

I plant tomatoes may first. This will only work if you use walls o' water to protect them from frost. Even if you plant after the frost date (May 15 or so) Walls o' Water will still help your plant by keeping it warmer at night. You'll get earlier fruit and more of it.


Things to plant in late May or June

Cucumbers - I grow both pickling cukes and lemon cukes. I've never had much luck with bigger varieties.
Squash -- summer squash, ONE zucchini and patty pan squash. Forget the directions the packet gives about planting on a mound, it's too dry here.
Peppers -- best to start inside or buy plants

Here's a full planting guide from the CSU Master Gardeners.

No time to make good soil? Buy it

I highly recommend composting home and yard waste to improve your garden soil. It saves landfill space, saves money, and saves buying sometimes unsustainable alternatives, such as peat moss. But if you didn't start last year, you're not going to get meaningful amounts of compost from your yard any time soon, so to boost your soil, there are several bag alternatives you can buy relatively cheaply. The one recommended to me was cotton boll compost. It's rich in organics, plus, it's a by-product of cotton, so you're not mining a natural source. It has a nutrient ration of 7-2-2, an acid pH, which is good for Colorado Springs soils, and has lots of trace minerals. Unfortunately it can possible pesticide residue from the cotton industry, (so if you're strictly organic, it's not for you) but it's also the compost of choice for commercial gardeners in town, according to the folks at Good Earth Garden Center. So, I'm trying a little experiment: I have amended one of my beds (left) using my own compost, plus coffee grounds. I amended the other using 4 cubic feet of cotton boll compost. We'll see how they match up as I start planting next week!