Cool Season Planting Outdoors

Greetings SD Gardeners!

In the Black Hills area, we rarely have four distinct 3-month long seasons.  In fact, our hot season is usually just two months long (July and August).  This makes it a little more challenging to grow produce that prefer the hotter temperatures (cantaloupe and watermelon for example).  

With that said, it’s mid-April now and we are definitely moving from the cold season (32 degrees and below) to a cool season (35-65 degrees).  There are lots of things that are cold hardy that can be placed in the ground right now BEFORE the last frost.  Yep, I said that.  

Last weekend I planted cool season seeds from several plant families.  This included spinach, several types of lettuce, and carrots.  Today, I placed sage, rosemary, and more chives in the ground.  These were small herb plants I purchased from a local nursery.  There are many herbs that are cold hardy and frost resistant.  I have Swiss chard and kale started indoors and they will go outside in the next week or so when they are a little bigger. 

I keep a fine mesh cloth over the leafy plants to keep any insects out that might want to feed on them.  A frost cloth placed over the hoops at night will prevent any frost damage that might occur.  It just takes minutes to check the weather and then cover or uncover the plants.  

I’m looking forward to fresh salad very soon!

It’s time to get started!  Happy Growing!

Paula

PS: The photo shows my planted beds with mesh, but my larger garden is currently under construction which is why the deer fence is partially down.   We are “remodeling” the garden area and making it a bit larger.  You will see the progress with us this season!