New gardeners can discover joys of desert now

Yep. During the next few weeks, valley gardeners will plant the first of their spring crops, awaiting the year’s first harvest that will follow several weeks afterward.

To a newcomer, growing anything in the desert would seem to be an exercise in agricultural futility. But, it’s not nearly as intimidating as it might first appear, says Antoinette Edmunds of University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.

“We have noticed, over the last couple (of) years, more interest in community gardens,” notes Edmunds, a program officer for cooperative extension’s master gardeners program. Beginning gardeners do express an interest in shaving a few dollars off of their supermarket bills by growing vegetables, Edmunds says.

But, she continues, “it’s also, I think, a getting-back-to-the-earth kind of feeling,” and a desire by gardeners to know exactly what, be it pesticides or fertilizer, has been applied to the vegetables they eat.

Then, says Linn Mills, a horticulturist for the Las Vegas Valley Water District at the Springs Preserve, “another big thing is, you can harvest (vegetables) at the peak of quality.”

The good news is that growing vegetables in the desert isn’t very difficult. The bad news is that it does require a working knowledge of a few horticultural obstacles peculiar to the desert.

However, both veterans and newbies are lucky because the gardening season “never really ends here,” Edmunds says.

Granted, Southern Nevada sees its spring and fall frosts, and just about everything goes practically dormant when temperatures hit about 95 degrees in the summer. But gardeners here can pretty much garden year-round, planting and harvesting various types of vegetables as the seasons progress.

The primary obstacles Southern Nevada gardeners face are inhospitable soil, a relative lack of water and, of course, high summertime temperatures.

The desert soil doesn’t contain enough of the nutritional matter plants need. “The big thing is soil preparation,” Mills notes. “Too many of us want to sidestep soil preparation, then we run into real trouble.”

Gardeners must “focus on working organic matter into soil. I can’t stress that enough,” Mills adds.

One popular and effective solution among many desert gardeners is creating a raised bed. A four-by-four-foot raised garden bed can host “a fair amount of plants,” Edmunds says.

Another option is container gardening. Growing vegetables in containers is a practical solution, Edmunds notes — containers even can be moved into and out of the sun and shade as required — although gardeners must be sure to “keep watering consistently, because containers can dry out.”

Note, too, that the desert alters even some basics of gardening. For instance, Edmunds says, “even if the (plant’s label or seed packet) says ‘full sun,’ that might be full sun in California and other states, but not necessarily here in Las Vegas.”

For gardeners with a mind toward growing vegetables, now is a good time to prepare for the planting of cool-season offerings. Generally speaking, Edmunds says, that means vegetables for which “we eat the roots — carrots or beets — or that we eat the leaves of — spinach, chard, something like that.

“Those do better before it gets too hot, so those are the ones you can be planting now and you’ll be harvesting before we get to May (or) June.”

“Then we have the warm season vegetables,” Edmunds continues, including tomatoes and peppers. Those would best be planted after the last winter frost and when the soil warms up a bit, and they should mature “before we get the hot weather in July and August.”

Actually, Mills says, “the easiest crop to grow is radishes, because a month later (after planting) you’ve got a success story to brag about.”

But, Mills adds, tomatoes easily are the most popular among home gardeners here. Edmunds suggests that beginners start off with smaller varieties, which generally have shorter maturation times.

Edmunds also suggests that beginners try a few varieties of tomato — a cherry tomato, say, an heirloom and, maybe, a larger variety — so that they’ll mature at different times. Similarly, beginners might try planting a few different vegetables, each with different maturation times.

Rather than planting from seeds, beginners might wish to test the horticultural waters with a plant from a nursery in a container, Edmunds says. “Again, make sure the container has adequate drainage and has good soil and that you’re giving the plant enough light and enough protection from the heat.”

But, Mills says, now is “absolutely the ideal time” for beginners to get to work.

“On all seed packages, it says (plant) ‘four to six weeks prior to the last frost.’ Our last frost is March 15th, so you can’t ask for a better time.”

A key resource for both beginning and experienced valley gardeners is cooperative extension’s Home Gardening Help Line (257-5555), which gardeners may call weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to have their gardening questions answered.

Cooperative extension also offers horticultural publications online (begin at www.unce.unr.edu/publications). Of particular interest to home gardeners are “Home Vegetable Production in Southern Nevada,” “Raised Beds Can Make Gardening Easier” and the beginner-friendly guide “Becoming a Desert Gardener,” which contains a year-round vegetable planting schedule.

Edmunds’ key advice to beginners is to “just try it if you haven’t tried it. Don’t be discouraged if you (experience) pitfalls.”

One of gardening’s virtues, particularly for beginners, is that “gardeners are wonderful people,” she adds. “Gardeners like to share tips and stories, about successes as well as failures, with other people.”

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.