Wyoming Garden’s Don’t Come Easy, Get Ready To Put In The Work
Wyoming has a wide range of agriculture and is in the Top 3 for major industries in the state. Cattle, sheep, hogs and a few different crop options make up the major parts of Wyoming Agriculture.
The major crops grown in Wyoming are:
- Hay
- Corn
- Barley
- Sugar Beets
- Dry Beans
- Wheat
What about when it comes to gardens? When I was a kid, my grandparents were gardeners. They had their noses in the Farmers Almanac determining the best times to start planting and what to plant.
If you don't have a greenhouse, planting a garden in Wyoming takes lots of pre-planning, many hours of work before, during and after planting and keeping an eye on things throughout the growing season. Gardens in Wyoming can be tough game, because of a couple different reasons.
The University Of Wyoming Department of Plant Sciences explains the difficulties.
- Short Growing Season
- High Elevation
- Growing Season Temperatures aren't ideal for some growing
- High Winds
- Low Humidity
- Poor Soils
- Water Quality & Quantity
- General Weather
Those factors don't mean you can't have a garden, you just have to work a little harder to achieve your gardening goals.
Taking these steps can help the chances of you having a productive garden
- Building Raised Garden Beds
- Picking the proper location around your property.
- Southern facing slope
- Lots of Sun
- Close to a building
- Using a windbreak
- Selecting crops that will be successful in Wyoming
- Quickly maturing plants
- Lettuce
- radishes
- onions
- cabbage
- cauliflower
- spinach
- beets
- carrots
- peas
- (others like tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn are hot weather plants and need a long time to grow. It's possible, but you need to make adjustments. Video below gives you ideas).
- Frost Protection
- Fertilization
- Soil Prepping
- Proper irrigation
- Mulch
- Quickly maturing plants
There's not doubt it will take a lot of work to get your garden in and ready to go. Doing your preparation and research to make sure you're not just wasting your time is one way to make planting your garden worth your time. Read a full explanation of all of those issues and ideas of how to help from the UW Department of Plant Sciences.
The University of Wyoming Extension is a great source to help you prepare and make the proper decisions for your garden.
This video gives you a good rundown of information and ideas for your next garden.
If you're looking for ideas of an easy and cheap raised garden bed, check out this video