Growing at a high altitude is always interesting
I live in a high desert. If I want to grow something, there is plenty of sun—I just have to water it. When we first moved to Denver, I remember watching the neighbor next door water the grass. James and I were laughing about it. We’re from Ohio and we hardly ever needed to water. Then our grass started to die. We realized, you must water everything, all of the time! Lesson 1: Watch what other successful gardeners do around you, wherever you plant yourself!
I have an extensive herb garden since I was a chef for so many years. It’s so nice to be able to just go out into the yard and pick what I need for whatever I am making! I have sage, French thyme, oregano, lemon balm, tarragon, summer savory, salad burnet, lovage and chives that come back every year. I have a rosemary plant in a pot that I bring inside in the winter, and I plant basil, cilantro and parsley as soon as I can in the spring.
Then there is the garlic! We discovered that garlic loves to grow in our yard so we plant enough for an entire year. In fact, we just planted it a few weeks ago. Our favorite is called “Music.” We are also trying a “Spanish Roja” as well.
We always grow organic. Soon I will be composting all the leaves from our oak trees. And we have a pond for the birds and the bees that we keep open all winter. We even have a sharp-shinned Hawk that lives in our neighborhood and uses our pond—one of these days I’ll get a good picture of it!
