DENVER — If you wait until Mid-May or later to plant cool-season vegetables, they will fail. They need very cool temperatures--even below freezing--to develop properly. You cannot wait until it's warm to plant cool-season crops.
Start by turning over the soil in your vegetable plots. Feel free to add compost or composted manure. Rake smooth. I plant in beds and trenches that are below grade. These catch rainfall and are easier to irrigate when there is none.
Sow seeds by making a shallow furrow with a mini hoe. Sow seeds according to seed packet directions about planting depth and spacing. Seeds that can and should be sown now include lettuce, spinach, beets, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. If you don't have a garden plot, some of these seeds--especially lettuce and radishes--can be sown in shallow bowls on your balcony or patio.
Use the same technique--shallow furrows in a below-grade bed--to plant onion sets. I space them about three inches apart, knowing that I'll harvest every other one as green onions. Then the rest can be allowed to grow to full size. To get big onions, plant them right at the surface with the little tip just poking out. Onion sets that are planted more deeply won't get very big.
A potato patch should be dug and spaded to a depth of ten inches or more. This will loosen up the soil. Then form rows that are about 10 inches deep.
Plant "seed potatoes" that you buy from a nursery or farm market. These are whole potatoes. Cut them into pieces. Each piece needs to have one "eye." This is where a new plant will grow. Space them about six inches apart, then cover with about two inches of soil. As the plants grow, continue to fill in the rows with more soil. The potatoes will form along the underground stems.
If a severe cold snap threatens, use a frost cloth or row covers to protect the seedlings. A light frost won't harm them.
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