Winter planning for your vegetable garden

There’s no better way to beat the winter blues than by dreaming of this season’s garden. Whether you just have a small garden or a backyard full of raised beds, it’s time to start planning what you will grow.

Before choosing your plants there are a few things to consider about your space, including size, location, soil and amount of daylight it receives. If your space is cool and shady, it’s not worth the agony of trying to grow peppers and tomatoes in Denver’s short growing season. Instead, stick with hearty greens like spinach and kale or roots like radishes and potatoes. If you have a sunny spot on a porch or a patio, you can grow a container variety of tomatoes where they’ll have a better chance.

Small gardens can produce more than you might think. Many seed packets and plant tags list the maximum amount of space a plant or crop might need. If you take this route, think about putting your tallest plants on the north side of the bed so they don’t shade the others. is method is also easier if you’re transplanting so you don’t have to worry about the timing of getting seeds to sprout and grow before they get shaded out. Interplanting or companion planting is a great option for dense gardens. Try growing basil under tomatoes or transplant lettuces and then seed carrots around them. By the time the lettuce is ready to harvest, the carrots will be up and ready for the extra space. Herbs and edible owers add variety and attract bene cial pollinators to your garden.

If you’re planting densely, particularly with heavy feeders like broccoli, corn or melons, you’ll want to make sure they have enough nutrients. Cover crops are a great way to keep your soil covered between crops, and the leftover debris will boost your organic matter and feed the cer team for him to train with, and this past weekend he went ice climbing with my son’s Scout troop! Most days though, the kids just go to school, come home and hang out. He’s having the experience of being a “normal American teenager” in a “typical” American family, and we are all better for it.

Each year, EF High School Exchange Year brings thousands of students to the U.S.A. to live out their American dream of attending high school in the U.S. for a school year or a semester. About 20-25 of those kids land in Jefferson County, but we have space for many more. This is such a wonderful opportunity to make our global community smaller, share your culture, learn about others, expose your children and

Guest Column

Katie Meyer

microorganisms that are so important to soil health. Including legumes like peas or beans in your cover crop will naturally add nitrogen to your soil. Adding compost is another way to give your soil a natural boost. Try using a natural mulch between rows or beds to retain moisture and exclude weeds.

If you have heavy clay or thin, rocky soils, you don’t want to try growing foot-long carrots. Try building raised beds or opting for a shorter variety. Where sandy soils drain water and lose nutrients quickly, clay soils retain water and hold nutrients much longer. Consider this when adding amendments and planning your garden watering. Smaller seeds like lettuce or carrots will germinate more evenly if they have consistent overhead water but beans, squash and tomatoes don’t like their leaves being wet because they are more susceptible to disease. Once your seeds are up or plants are in the ground, try setting up soaker hoses or drip irrigation so you’re only watering the soil and not the leaves. Nutrient dense produce comes from plants grown in healthy soils in harmony with nature. Avoid spraying herbicides or pesticides as these will negatively a ect the soil and water, and therefore, you. Instead, encourage birds and predatory insects to control any pest problems, and pull weeds by hand.

Additionally, heirloom varieties tend to have more avor, ensure genetic diversity and have been bred to grow in speci c climates. Search for local seed companies to nd the best option for your area. Not only does this support a local farmer, but you’ll be also able to save your own seed.

community to more diversity. There is no downside!

Host families come in all shapes and sizes: empty nesters, single parents, big families with small children, small families with or without children. The only requirements are to be at least 25 years of age, have a bed for the student that is not convertible in nature (they can share a room with a same sex sibling), be able to provide three meals a day and a willingness to open your heart and home to an exchange student.

Please visit https://efexchangeyear.org/iec/kacey-narracci/ for more information and to see some of the terrific kids who hope to find a host family for the 2023-24 school year.

Kacey Narracci is the regional coordinator of EF High School Exchange Year. Kacey can be reached at kacey.narracci@efexchangeyear.org or 720-331-4556.

Make-A-Wish Colorado alumni, volunteers celebrate its 40th anniversary

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

2023 has already been a big year for Make-A-Wish.

Wish Week fundraisers have been in full swing at local schools this winter, and basketball legend Michael Jordan donated $10 million — the largest individual donation ever — to the national organization last month. And spring 2023 could be even bigger.

Make-A-Wish Colorado celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and is hosting an anniversary celebration and fundraiser in April in Denver. Since it started, Make-A-Wish Colorado has granted more than 6,000 wishes for children with critical illnesses as a way of giving them hope and something to look forward to during their treatment.

Golden’s Ben Bontrager, 10, went to Hawaii for his wish last spring. He was diagnosed in early 2020 with Burkitt’s lymphoma and was sick for almost a year, with his mom Sarah saying, “We almost lost him a couple times.”

Ben, who’s now in remission, said going to Hawaii was “the rst thing idea that popped in my head,” because he wanted to get out and do something fun.

“I was sick of being home,” he continued.

Now, Ben and his family are becoming Make-A-Wish ambassadors so that they can help other families through the same process.

Dad Je Bontrager said Ben’s wish was a “bright spot” to think about during those long days at the hospital, adding, “ e thought that (MakeA-Wish) has done it over and over for people, it’s really pretty amazing.”

For Jennifer Joan Mazak has been the proverbial fairy godmother for thousands of Colorado children after she founded the organization in 1983. She started it in honor of her daughter, Jennifer, who died at 7 years old of a liver disease.

Mazak recalled how, about a week before Jennifer’s death, she was granted an uno cial wish to meet local radio mascot KIMN Chicken. He stopped by the family’s house, walking around the entire property hand-in-hand with Jennifer. Many of the neighborhood children stopped by to see KIMN Chicken, but he was focused on making Jennifer feel special.

“It was great for her to be able to have that,” Mazak said.

After Jennifer’s death, Mazak used funds that people had raised for a liver donation to start Make-A-Wish

Colorado. ere were only three other chapters in the country and no national organization yet, she said. e local chapter was all volunteers working out of their homes, helping to create memories for children who needed them. Mazak said the very rst wish was to catch a sh, so they set up a shing trip at Dillon Reservoir.

Longtime volunteer Gary Aboussie recalled wishes to meet the pope and the Broncos. One of his favorite stories was sending a guitar to Bruce Springsteen to sign, him keeping that one, and sending back his own guitar instead with a special message. Mazak said of wishes: “ ey come in all shapes and sizes. ere are so many logistics to putting together a single wish. It’s di erent for every single family.”