Photo by Barbara Dudzinska

by Lisa Truesdale

Just say “no” to boring pasta salads with these tips on how to incorporate the distinctive flavors of Tex-Mex, Asian and Greek cuisines.

• For any pasta salad, start with 16 oz. cooked and cooled pasta (enough for 4-8 servings, depending on whether it’s a main dish or a side dish).
• Chunky, ridged shapes work best, as the ingredients and dressing will cling to them. Try farafalle, wheels, medium shells or rotini.
• Use about one part pasta to two parts total of other ingredients like vegetables, meat and cheese.
• Remember that almost any veggie goes. Try the combinations listed below, deleting items you don’t like and adding others that you do. Cut veggies to about the same size as the pasta shapes, or smaller.
• Add cooked and cooled protein sources if you wish, like grilled chicken or steak strips, flaked tuna, baby shrimp or marinated tofu chunks.
• You’ll need about a cup of dressing, though you can use more or less to taste.
• Chill overnight (or at least three hours) to allow flavors to blend.

Greek Pasta Salad

Suggested ingredients: kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes, cucumber, pepperoncinis, red onion

Definitely add: chopped fresh basil

Garnish with: fresh mini mozzarella balls

Dressing ideas: balsamic vinaigrette or light bottled Italian dressing

Tex-Mex Pasta Salad

Suggested ingredients: sweet corn kernels (canned or fresh), cooked and drained black beans, diced green pepper, black olives, tomatoes, avocado chunks, red onion

Definitely add: chopped fresh cilantro

Garnish with: small chunks of sharp cheddar

Dressing ideas: chipotle-lime vinaigrette or light bottled ranch dressing mixed with salsa

Asian Pasta Salad

Suggested ingredients: snow peas or sugar snap peas, bean sprouts, broccoli florets, mushrooms, water chestnuts, sliced or shredded carrots, green onion

Definitely add: chopped fresh parsley

Garnish with: toasted sesame seeds or slivered almonds

Dressing ideas: sesame-ginger vinaigrette, teriyaki vinaigrette or wasabi vinaigrette

See you there!

Twenty Ninth Street Retail District
29th Street & Canyon Blvd, Boulder

click here for the 2012 EXHIBITOR LIST

2012 MAP

presented by:

SPONSORED BY:

EXHIBITORS INCLUDE:

The 5th Annual Boulder Home & Garden Fair will be held on May 19th this year (rain date, June 2)

Exhibitor spots start at $495 (discounts available to current magazine advertisers). TO EXHIBIT – download application HERE.

HOME IMPROVEMENT EXPERTS

With the Fair’s experts you’ll transform your home with inspiration and ideas for home design, decorating, home improvement, and more.

SUSTAINABLE LIVING EXPERTS

Chat with the best! Our local energy and sustainable living experts are leading the nation in innovation.

LANDSCAPE & GARDEN EXPERTS

Just in time for spring planting! Hire a professional or simply get advice. These experts will green up your lawn in more ways than one.

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!

Come enjoy the kids’ area featuring story hour, gardening workshops, art activities, face painting, music and more!

COSTS
The BH&G Fair is FREE to the general public. Businesses may participate for a nominal vendor fee.

PARKING
Free parking is available at the Twenty Ninth Street mall, both in covered parking garages beneath the stores, as well as in the parking lots surrounding the mall. Parking for the public is available at these spots. Vendors will be assigned a parking lot on the North East end of the mall.

VENDOR INFORMATION
The Boulder Home & Garden Fair is presented by Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine, a subsidiary of Brock Media [and Your Company! Ask us about a corporate sponsorship].

Exhibitor space is limited and will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Spots per category are limited. Sponsorships are also available. Download an exhibitor application here.

Contact: Nicole Karsted 303.443.0600 x 117 or nicole@brockpub.com

Here’s a video peek at last year’s event:

Spring 2011 Home & Garden Fair

[CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF 2011 VENDORS]

Want flower baskets bursting with color and blooms? 

By Thad Johnson, Yatahai Gardens

Want flower baskets bursting with color and blooms? Here are Yatahai Gardens’ growing tips for the best baskets:

Add Texture and Dimension. Blend straight, upright plants like geraniums, mounding plants like petunias, with trailing plants like verbena and lobelia.

Always Have a Focal Flower. Include at least one bold-blossomed plant, like a geranium or petunia. And add in an unusual nonflowering plant like dusty miller—a silvery-gray plant with soft, fernlike foliage—or ‘Blackie’ sweet potato, a vine with stunning, trailing black leaves. Too many little flowers can make for a blurry display.

Choose Plants Wisely. Choose plants that grow at about the same rate. For instance, petunias, verbena and lobelia all grow fairly fast, while geraniums and million bells grow more slowly. If you opt to mix slow growers with fast growers, choose smaller plants for the fast growers and larger plants for the slow growers; eventually, they’ll catch up with each other.

Design a Crowd-Pleaser. As long as the pot’s depth allows plants to extend their roots, squeezing plants together won’t hurt. Shoot for having 12 to 15 inches of potting mix below the plant when you first put it in the basket.

Feed Each Watering. Fertilizer is particularly important for hanging baskets, because potting mix doesn’t have all the creepy-crawlers and soil microorganisms that your garden does. So try to fertilizer every time you water with a bloom-booster formula.

Go Big. The bigger the basket, the more water-storing potting mix you can put in it, and the less often you’ll have to water to keep it from drying out. Bigger containers also buy you more time before plants mature and become root-bound. A good starter-size hanging basket is 14 inches, but feel free to go with the biggest basket you feel comfortable hanging.

Think Outside the Basket. Want a ready-made, beautiful cluster of flowers for whiskey barrels or front entryway beds? Buy hanging baskets and transplant them into barrels or beds, where they’ll happily spread and grow all season.

Use a Quality Growing Medium. Use a premixed potting soil that contains water-storing granules like perlite or vermiculite, and peat moss. Don’t put straight garden soil in a basket. It’s too heavy and will weigh it down.

Water Is Where It’s At. Different plants have different water needs. Watch how many days it takes for your baskets to begin to dry out, and then establish a routine based on your observations. Water baskets until water seeps through the basket bottom.

Get a jump on your vegetable garden this spring by sowing seeds. Here’s a primer to you get started.

Photo by Vaclav Volrab

By Carol O’Meara

Photos by Weinrauchphotography.com

Last year’s patch of lettuce, tomatoes and peppers proved so tasty, you’re already dreaming about this summer’s sweet, crunchy produce. But why
dream when you can plan? Spring is the time to sow vegetable seeds, so start perusing seed packets now to have your ducks—or zucchini—in a row when planting time comes.

As opposed to starter plants, seeds give you many more options in the types of produce you can grow—everything from hard-to-find veggies to the more tasty heirlooms and unusual varieties. “The thing about starting your own seeds is you can choose from a bigger selection than buying seedlings at the store. Anyone can do it, and it’s a great project for kids,” says Dr. Steve Newman, Greenhouse Crops Specialist for Colorado State University Extension. “The only con is you always plant too much, and my wife won’t let me throw seedlings away.”

To get started, choose an area that can hold seed trays for six weeks or longer in a space that remains at 68˚ to 70˚ F, and out of drafts and traffic. (If you use heating mats and humidity tents—discussed below—your space can be 60˚ F or above and the seedlings will be fine.) Seeds need watering, with the possibility of spills, so placing seed trays over expensive carpet or wood floors isn’t optimal, unless you lay plastic beneath them.

Different planting media and containers are available, including open flats, plastic trays with 1-inch-square cells, Jiffy Peat pots and Jiffy Peat Pellets, which is peat moss in mesh netting that swells with the addition of water and transplants directly to a pot. Nearly any small container can hold seeds, even egg cartons, but most homemade containers will need drainage holes poked into the bottom.

Choose seed trays that suit your style, or clean and sterilize those you already have by dipping them in a solution of 10-percent bleach in water. Be sure to rinse the trays two or three times before using them, as bleach is lethal to plants. Using recycled containers is fine, but when it comes to soil, don’t scrimp. “Use clean, high-quality soilless mixes; you get what you pay for with seed-starting soil,” Newman says.

Soilless mixes provide good distribution of moisture and air for roots, as opposed to garden soil, which is too compacted for tender seedlings. The ideal medium for starting seeds is a lightweight, soilless mix of peat, vermiculite or perlite, and compost. Using a sterile mix avoids disease problems like damping off, caused by a fungus that attacks tender stems at the soil line, and other threats.

“The important thing is good drainage, so set the tray on another tray that’s filled with pebbles. Line the lower tray with Saran Wrap to keep it from leaking onto the floor,” Newman advises. A major threat to seedlings is drying out, so monitor seed trays closely.

Use plant labels to keep track of your varieties, and transfer the labels when you transplant the seedlings to larger pots, so you’ll know which seedling is which.

A humidity tent—a plastic covering that holds in moisture—assists seed germination. Bread bags are ideal tents, because they breathe; shrink-wrap is a no-no, because it doesn’t. Milk jugs with the bottoms cut off also make good humidity tents. Plastic seedling trays usually come with a lid to hold in moisture. Heating mats, available at nurseries and hardware stores, also speed up germination by warming the soil.

Seedlings need plenty of sunshine, but if you don’t have a sunny southern window to put them in, you’ll need lights. “This is where things can be simple or complex,” Newman says. “I start my seedlings under a fluorescent shop light with one cool-white and one warm-white bulb. You can get them at home-improvement stores for $30 to $40.” Newman prefers combination fluorescents to grow lights. “They provide the spectrum of lights plants need to thrive,” he says.

As seedlings sprout, crack the humidity tent to allow for better air circulation and immediately place the seed trays under lights so the plants don’t stretch and become leggy. Seedlings should be stocky; if yours start reaching, lower the lights closer to the plants.

Hang lights directly over seed trays on cords or chains for easy rais-ing or lowering. Always position lights 3 to 4 inches above the plants, and give plants 14 to 16 hours of light daily.

Planning Ahead

How far in advance of planting should you start seeds? “Most everything germinates in 14 days,” Newman notes, and then the seedlings need time to grow leaves, be transplanted and harden off before being planted in the garden—a process that usually takes six weeks in all. Read the seed packet to learn the optimal time for starting that particular plant from seed.

The first leaves to appear are the cotyledons, which provide stored food to the seedling for a short period of time. Wait until the plants sport a few sets of true leaves, then transplant them into a next-size larger pot filled with sterile potting soil. Carefully lift them by the leaves, not the tender stem. “Pick them up by the ears, and use a plant stake to gently lift up the roots as you do so,” Newman says. “Otherwise, stems get crushed, which pinches the vascular system and kills the seedling.”

If you use Jiffy Peat Pellets, there’s no need to lift the seedling from the soil to transplant it; simply plant the pellet in a larger pot with soil (some gardeners remove the mesh netting first before transplanting the seedling, so the roots can more easily expand into the soil).

Seeds have plenty of nutrients, and most potting soils have a little fertilizer in them, so Newman says to hold off fertilizing transplants. When you do start fertilizing, do so at half strength.

Your seedlings will be ready to plant outside after hardening off (see “How to Harden Off Seedlings” below). When the weather warms and is frost-free, tuck your seedlings gently into the garden. Then, when the harvest begins, you can tell your friends you knew their meal when it was just a little sprout.

What You Need to Sow Seeds

-Space for seed trays

-Trays for holding seedlings

-Seeds

-Seed labels

-Sterile seed-starting soilless mix (called medium)

-Lights (a combination of cool and warm fluorescents, or grow lights)

-Chains or cords to raise or lower the lights

-Timer for the lights

Steps to Sow Seeds

1. First, pick a planting medium for your seeds like Jiffy Peat Pellets.

2. Putting the pellets in a lidded tray on top of a heat mat hastens germination.

3. Generously water the pellets, which swell with moisture, and drop one to three seeds in each pellet’s hole.

4. After planting the seeds, set the tray under fluorescent lights with one cool-white and one warm-white bulb.

5. The first leaves to appear are the cotyledons, which provide stored food to the seedling.

6. Wait until the plant sports two or three sets of true leaves to transplant it into the next-size larger container.

7. Add sterile potting soil to the bottom of the container, then transfer the Jiffy Peat Pellet into the container and fill with soil. When it’s time to plant, harden off seedlings before transplanting them into the ground.

How to Plant Seeds

In a large bowl mix the potting medium with water until damp, but not soaked. If using Jiffy Pellets, soak the pellet in water until peat completely expands and the mesh fully opens. Fill trays, cells or pots with damp medium. Avoid packing the medium into cells; keep it light and fluffy. Use a pencil or toothpick to make a hole to the planting depth listed on the seed packet. Pushing aside medium, rather than pushing the medium down, place seeds in hole and smooth over medium.

How to Harden Off Seedlings

When it’s time to plant, harden off seedlings first by gradually exposing them to outside temperatures, sun and wind. One week before planting seedlings in the garden, harden them off by taking them outside. Start slowly by placing the plants outside during the warm part of the day in a lightly shaded, sheltered location for one to two hours. Increase the length of time outdoors in a sheltered location for two to five hours the next day.

On day three, expose plants to direct morning sunlight and place them in shade during the afternoon. Increase sun exposure to plants over the remaining days until they can withstand normal sun exposure for that plant. During the last two days of hardening off, allow plants to remain outside overnight if nighttime temperatures are normal.

Different Strokes for Different Seeds

Most commercially available seed is ready to grow. For best success, buy seeds packed for the current season. Check the packet for growing instructions and planting depth, and whether the seeds require light to germinate (all seeds require light after germination occurs).

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants need six to eight weeks indoors, so start them early and plan to transplant them to pots before putting them in the ground.

Cucumbers, melons, pumpkins and squash need a different method, since their fragile roots are fussy about transplanting. Get them into the ground without disturbance by starting them in Jiffy Pellets, planting one or two seeds per pellet. Cover each with a clear plastic cup. Once the seeds sprout, pinch off one seedling, leaving the other one. The plants will grow quickly, rapidly getting big after sprouting. Wait two more weeks before hardening off the seedlings, then plant them directly in the garden.

Read more about gardening at Carol O’Meara’s blog, gardeningafterfive.wordpress.com.

Boulder County homeowners are more familiar with wildlife than most urban dwellers. The best motto is “live and let live,” but a wildlife expert offers tips when unwanted animals move into your home.

By Carol Brock

Photo by Tony Campbell

As a professional wildlife-control operator and rehabilitator, Jack Murphy has seen it all—from skunks under decks and squirrels in attics to bats in belfries. And, he says, we’re closing in on his busiest seasons of the year—mating and birthing times. For homeowners, that means your attic and porch look pretty good right now to wildlife mamas scouting for nesting sites.

A one-way door lets squirrels leave an attic, but not return. Photo by Jack Murphy, courtesy of Urban Wildlife Rescue Inc.

Murphy’s nonprofit Denver company, Urban Wildlife Rescue Inc., uses only humane procedures, like one-way doors and wire screens, to evict or keep out wildlife. Unlike most pest–management operators, he eschews trapping and relocating wildlife under any circumstances, equating it to a death sentence for the animal. Relocated animals “can’t adjust to a new habitat, they don’t know who the predators are, and they come into conflicts with other animals in that territory who will kill them,” he says.

Even worse, Murphy says, are unscrupulous pest-management operators who have no compunction about killing nuisance wildlife and telling a homeowner otherwise.

Murphy always recommends calling a professional to remove wildlife that has taken up residence in a home. “A handyman isn’t a wildlife guy,” he points out, “and wild animals are unpredictable.” Particularly in spring and summer, when their babies are born. “You have to be really careful,” he cautions. A mother animal separated from her offspring will do anything to return to them. If she can’t, the babies will die in your attic. So make certain the babies have grown up enough to leave the nest before patching any holes.

A skunk took a liking to the space beneath this deck, so wildlife-control operator Jack Murphy dug a deep trench around the deck to install a wire screen the skunk could not dig under. Photo by Jack Murphy, courtesy of Urban Wildlife Rescue Inc.

Murphy doesn’t recommend doing your own patching, or any other type of wildlife mitigation. “Does the average person feel comfortable doing their own electricity and plumbing? Probably not, and you’re dealing with an animal so it’s never cut-and-dried,” he says. Although he willingly gives callers DIY suggestions and lists many on his website, he proffers a big caveat: “Animals are just like people, in that they’re unique individuals. What method works for one may not work for another. People have to realize you have to be really careful with wild animals. It’s tricky.”

The following wildlife-control methods—and many others—are available on Murphy’s website at urbanwildlife
rescue.org. “The things on the website might work 50 percent of the time, but they’re cheap,” he notes, “and it depends on the animal. If it’s been there a year, these methods probably won’t work; if it’s been there two days, then they might.”

These methods don’t apply if wildlife babies are involved. See the website for alternate suggestions if you suspect the animal has a litter. For all methods, make sure the animal is gone before doing any mitigation.

Squirrelly Antics

Squirrels in attics are a common problem, but they often leave in the hottest part of summer. When they do, find their entry hole and patch it, usually during mid-morning, as squirrels are apt to be outside eating at that time. Sometimes the hole is very small, so check the attic for light shining through from the outside. Common entrances are attic and soffit vents. Use ¼- or ½-inch hardware cloth to block the hole and spray the area with squirrel repellent or 1 Tbsp. Tabasco sauce mixed in 1 quart of water. You can also purchase a one-way door, or make your own.

Repelling Raccoons

Raccoons are highly intelligent—their dislike of loud talk-radio shows proves it! Photo by Becky Sheridan

Raccoons in brick chimneys are usually raising a family. It’s best to leave them alone until the mother can take them out of the chimney at about 8 to 10 weeks of age. After they leave, secure the chimney with a chimney cap. If a single raccoon is living in the chimney, place a bowl of ammonia in the fireplace and leave the flue open 1/8 inch. You can also place a radio turned up loudly to a talk radio station—if you can stand it! Give the raccoon two to three nights to vacate.

Eau de Skunk

Putting ammonia-soaked rag balls inside a skunk’s nest is often enough to persuade the animal to leave. Photo by Heiko Kiera

Skunks love to dig beneath porches and cement slabs. Spray the area around their entrance with a hot-pepper spray made from one chopped yellow onion, one chopped jalapeño pepper and 1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper boiled in 2 quarts of water for 20 minutes. Let the mixture cool, then strain it and pour it into a spray bottle. Don’t spray deep into the hole or the skunk may retaliate.

Next, roll rags into a tight ball about the size of a tennis ball or smaller, and tie it with twine. Soak two or three balls in ammonia until saturated, and push them into the hole as far as possible, using a stiff wire, such as an opened clothes hanger. Then lightly cover the hole with wadded newspaper or loose dirt. Re-cover the hole whenever it’s open. When the hole has been left uncovered for a few days, the skunk is out. Repeat the process if the skunk has not left by the fifth day.

Foxy Mama

Foxes are shy and wary, and usually only den in the vicinity of humans when they have kits. When the kits mature, the fox will leave. Photo by Graham Taylor

Foxes usually only den under a house or structure in spring, when the female has kits. It’s best to let her raise them and allow the family to leave on its own. A nuisance fox can be removed using ammonia rags and a radio. Foxes are uncomfortable around humans, so human activity alone is usually enough to scare them off.

Going Batty

Bats aren’t really a problem, unless they’ve been depositing guano in your attic. Bats typically enter attics through cracks in the roof, but usually leave in winter to hibernate. If you have bats in your attic, call a wildlife-control operator, as bats are a protected species. If they are in your attic during the prime seasons, most will leave in the early evening to devour insects.

Bats are dying by the millions in the northeastern U.S. due to a fungus. Colorado bats haven’t contracted it yet, but wildlife officials are on the alert. Bats are crucial for the environment, because they eat insects and pollinate plants. Consider being a friend of bats by installing a bat box to house them. Photo by Jerome Whittingham

Speaking of insects, a single bat can eat up to 800 mosquitoes an hour, depending on the species. Though they look creepy, bats are great for the environment, as they eat insect pests and pollinate plants. White-nose syndrome, a fungus affecting bats in the northeastern United States, has killed a record number of bats—nearly 7 million so far. It hasn’t affected Colorado bats yet, but federal and state officials are watching out for it. Consider being a friend of bats by building and installing bat boxes on your property.

Creating a sustainable soil environment is crucial to growing vigorous plants. Here’s a guide to organic fertilizers that will help your soil become healthy.

Text and Photos by David Wann

All fertilizers are investments, but organic ones are more likely to give reliable returns. Fertilizers from natural sources release a wide spectrum of nutrients slowly and steadily over a period of years, as opposed to the quick-release action of conventional nitrogen fertilizers that can wash away in the first heavy rain.

The soil in this wheelbarrow contains more organisms than there are people on Earth!

Organic fertilizers are once-living materials that can include everything from alfalfa meal and manure to oak leaves and kelp. The rewards of using organic fertilizers are tangible: good yields, better plant health and intense flavors. (No wonder the last three White House chefs prepared meals with organic produce!)

The overall strategy of organic growing is to feed the soil—not just the plants—with generous amounts of compost, manure, and side dishes such as alfalfa meal, bone meal and rock phosphate. These natural substances are far more familiar and less destructive to soil organisms than conventional chemical fertilizers, whose concentrated ingredients result in subsurface boom-and-bust cycles. In a single wheelbarrow load of fertile soil, there are more organisms than people on Earth—and they’re an industrious lot.

Bacteria, fungi, centipedes, beetles, earthworms and other soil organisms produce vitamins and antibiotics that promote growth and control disease; knit together particles of organic matter to create well-draining soil; and release carbon dioxide to help plants form new tissue.

Good soil functions like a healthy immune system: As long as beneficial organisms receive a high-quality diet, they keep bad organisms in check. Overdoses of chemical fertilizers and a shortage of organic matter weakens plants, allowing pests to invade. When that happens, many gardeners often resort to pesticides.

Soil sample kits test soil pH, and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium levels.

A Well-Balanced Diet

To see if your soil needs a better diet, get it a checkup by sending a soil sample to the county extension office (the address and instructions are available at soiltestinglab.colostate.edu; the test costs $28). Or buy a simple test kit that measures nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and pH levels. Nitrogen enhances green, leafy growth; phosphorus gives plants energy and supports flower and seed growth; potassium synthesizes protein and builds strong stems.

Generally, conventional fertilizers contain the “big three” nutrients—nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium—but rarely contain dozens of other trace elements that support growth and help prevent disease.

Colorado soils are particularly deficient in water-retaining organic matter and available nitrogen. They’re also high on the pH scale, an alkaline condition that many crops don’t like. Soil pH above 7.3 inhibits plant uptake of essential nutrients like phosphorus. Garden staples like lettuce, corn and peppers prefer a pH just below neutral (7 on the pH scale), while tomatoes, strawberries and potatoes prefer an even more acidic soil.

The good news is that soils high in organic matter can buffer pH extremes, effectively allowing for good yields, even if soil pH is on the high side. Adding a 2- to 4-inch compost layer to beds every year is a good practice (see mastercomposter.com/pile for complete information on composting). Adding peat moss, leaves, coffee grounds and pine needles can also lower pH levels slightly, but the most effective health food for high pH is elemental sulfur in quantities up to 10 pounds per 100 square feet, which is expensive unless bulk supplies are available.

Compost Can’t Do It All

Compost organisms perform a very valuable service by making naturally occurring nutrients available in the soil. But eventually those nutrients become depleted. To offset what is harvested from the garden, return composted garden residue to the soil, along with other composted goodies like food scraps, leaves and manure.

If you have space or time constraints, high-quality compost can be purchased at reasonable prices. Eko Compost, for example, performs well, because it has a low ratio of carbon (i.e., not too much sawdust) to nitrogen, which is supplied with materials like alfalfa meal and poultry manure.

Once you know what your soil lacks you can add natural organic fertilizers to enrich it. “Whole-food” fertilizers are expensive, but the quality of crops is much better than those grown with cheaper chemical substitutes, says author David Wann, preparing a bed for his strawberries.

Composting should be a key strategy in the organic garden, but for best results compost needs allies from other animal, vegetable and mineral sources that have higher concentrations of nutrients. Deep-rooted cover crops or “green manures” also make existing nutrients available, because they mine nutrients from below the root zone of most vegetables (cover-crop roots can extend down 6 feet or more). When crops such as winter rye, hairy vetch, crimson clover and alfalfa are turned under and decompose, they enrich the soil.

Compost and manure supply moderate amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but manure can also provide excess salinity and weed seeds, and imbalanced nutrients. The most useful manures are poultry, rabbit, alpaca and cow. Michael Wade, of the Boulder-based seed company BBB Seed, swears by Moo Poo liquid fertilizer, which he orders in bulk from manuretea.com.

Boulder’s Harlequin’s Gardens, a nursery devoted to sustainable gardening practices, carries a full range of organic fertilizers. A good product for Colorado vegetable gardens is Yum Yum Mix, made from alfalfa meal, cottonseed meal, kelp meal, rock dust, Greensand and soft-rock phosphate. The recommended application rate is 1 cup per 3 square feet, or 4 pounds per 100 square feet, mixed into the top 1 to 2 inches of soil.

Master grower John Jeavons, whose biointensive gardening methods are now practiced worldwide, suggests the following formulas (in pounds of fertilizer per 100 square feet) to maintain soil fertility:

If a soil test determines you have average soil, apply apply nitrogen (N) in the form of 2.25 pounds blood meal, 12.6 pounds alfalfa meal or 3 pounds fish meal; phosphorus (P) in the form of 2 pounds bone meal or 4 pounds phosphate rock or soft-rock phosphate; and potassium (K) in the form of 4.5 pounds crushed granite, 4 pounds kelp meal or 4 pounds Greensand.

If the test determines you have good soil, apply nitrogen in the form of 0.75 pounds blood meal, 4.2 pounds alfalfa meal or 1 pound fish meal; phosphorus in the form of 1 pound bone meal or 2 pounds phosphate rock or soft-rock phospate; and potassium in the form of 1.5 pounds crushed granite, 1.25 pounds kelp meal or 1.25 pounds Greensand.

Most Colorado soils are high on the pH scale, an alkaline condition that some crops don’t like—particularly strawberries, tomatoes and potatoes. High soil pH is best mitigated with elemental sulfur, but peat moss, leaves, coffee grounds and pine needles will slightly lower pH as well.

“Whole-food” fertilizers are not cheap, but they provide better overall nutritional value than their processed, synthetic substitutes. In general, the more fertilizer you buy, the less expensive it will become. Some growers join fertilizer-buying co-ops and order by the pallet—typically forty 50-pound bags—shipped by truck or rail. Products like alfalfa meal, cottonseed meal (specify organic, because conventional cotton is heavily sprayed), fish meal and kelp meal can often be found at good prices in animal feed stores. In Colorado, alfalfa pellets are a good value at about $20 or less for a 50-pound bag.

Once you learn the soil-building values of various materials, you can start to substitute one for another. I’ve had good results using coffee grounds—obtained from a local roasting factory—in large quantities to supply nitrogen and lower pH, as well as alpaca manure from a local farm for nitrogen and organic matter.

To be a good organic gardener is to be a shrewd manager. You’re not just a gardener, you’re a CEO with quintillions of employees in the soil. The goal is huge pumpkins and juicy tomatoes, and the best way to achieve that is to keep feeding the soil—yum!

Here is a select list of organic fertilizers and the nutrients each supplies:

David Wann coordinates Harmony Community Garden in Golden, Colo. He is the author of 10 books, including The Zen of Gardening, Affluenza and The New Normal.

Spring Cleaning

photo courtesy Thymes

We all know that March summons the start of spring cleaning. Instead of filling your home with chemicals and artificial aromas, try one of the many new cleaning products featuring more natural ingredients—including essential oils to scent your home with the subtle, yet seductive, scents of the season. You will feel like you’re relaxing in the sun rather than stuck inside scrubbing sinks! Thymes, with its pretty packaging and soothing scents, hits another home run with its bergamot vert collection and its mandarin coriander line. Both offer bath and body products along with hand and dish soap in their crisp, bright fragrances. There is even a mandarin coriander all-purpose cleaner—made with biodegradable ingredients (thymes.com). Looking for another earth-friendly cleaner? Try one in Meyer lemon, pink grapefruit or lemongrass ginger from Williams-Sonoma (williams-sonoma.com); or one of Mrs. Meyer’s many fragrant floral and herb-inspired products (mrsmeyers.com). From bluebell to geranium to rosemary, Mrs. Meyer’s cleaners all smell like something straight out of the garden. Whichever brand you choose, your home will not only look clean—but smell so too!

Rainbow Bright

photo courtesy Bed Bath & Beyond

What makes daily chores like cooking and doing the dishes a lot less tedious? Great gadgets and colorful utensils, of course! Instead of the usual white, black or stainless steel, branch out and try one of the hot colors of the season. Yellow and orange are being seen all over the runway—so take a cue from the fashionistas and add a pop of color to your kitchen. While not everyone is up for committing to a large splash of color, small accents here and there add plenty of visual interest—not to mention an element of fun to the room! If you’re still not ready to take the plunge when it comes to bright kitchen appliances, consider a range of cooking utensils in a rainbow of colors—like the ones from Zeroll (zeroll.com).

Cover It Up!

photo courtesy SureFit

Wouldn’t it be great to revamp a room with each passing season? While a complete makeover is not a feasible option, you can still get the effect of a facelift with a few simple swaps. Slipcovers have come a long way in the past few years. Gone are the days of wrestling with yards and yards of fabric—only to have your couch look like you threw a sheet over it. Products from companies such as Sure Fit not only fit your furniture like a second skin, but—in the right color palette—can truly transform your entire home’s look and feel (surefit.net).

When it comes to your bedroom, duvets are the perfect option. They work with your existing comforter so you save money—plus, you have the option to switch up the look of your room whenever you choose. Diane von Furstenberg’s new home line, DVF Studio, offers bedding options in a variety of punchy colors and patterns. In some of the most fun fabrics to come out in a long time, this season’s duvets will liven up even the dullest bedroom. (Available at Bed, Bath & Beyond stores, bedbathandbeyond.com and dvf.com).

Be Bold (Without Being Boisterous) 

photo courtesy Hen House Linens

Still a bit unsure about incorporating the season’s bold trends of solar-powered yellow and outrageous orange? Throw pillows save the day. They require very little financial investment and virtually no commitment, so you can “try on” even the most eccentric prints without fear of making your home look like a fluorescent fun house. A fail-safe option are Hen House Linen’s throw pillows and cloth napkins (henhouselinens.com), which seamlessly blend colorful style and classic sophistication in motifs that are sure to inspire. Also, be sure to check out Target’s large selection of throw pillows, accent tables and more—all in spring’s hottest hues at an affordable price (target.com).