Lettuce Patch Gardens

Local Food for Real PeopleThe best of local food and gardening on the webCheryl Spencer, Owner & GardenerColorado Springs, Colorado Lettuce Patch Gardens is committed to our community, local economy, sustainable agriculture and fresh, healthy and locally grown food!We are currently reworking our website, so please excuse our dust while we're getting everything ready. We expect it to be up and running in March or early April, 2009.We are no longer able to offer a CSA, but if you're interested in local food and learning how to grow your own (the most local food of all!) then please sign up for our newsletter. We are located in the Cheyenne Cañon area of Colorado Springs.Our garden is small, but abundant. Our garden sits on our .2 acre city lot. We have no lawn, only vegetables and ornamentals.We grow food year-round and grow mainly herbs and vegetables, since fruit tends to attract the neighborhood bears. Once they are big enough, they are transplanted into the beds: When the weather gets cool, these beds will be protected with mini-greenhouses:In the winter, the plants are further protected with an inner cover that holds in the heat. Our garden is fed with kitchen scraps, leaves and garden waste. This is the foundation of sustainable agriculture: The tools we use for gardening are all human-powered:(We don't even use a roto-tiller)Spades for digging; and forks for loosening the soil: Earth is here so kind,that just tickle her with a hoeand she laughs with a harvest~Douglas Terrold Biointensive growing uses organic methods (no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used), and focuses on sustainable growing techniques. We go beyond jus feeding plants and focus on building good soil that feeds the plants we grow. The biointensive methods we use feed the soil, the plants and ultimately our customers in a way that significantly minimizes our impact on the environment. Sustainable is a popular word these days, and it can mean many different things. Sustainable agriculture, to us, means using the least amount of land, water and commercial fertilizer to grow the most amount of food possible. We also believe that limiting our use of fossil fuels to grow and transport food is vital to sustainability. We use closely spaced plantings (we plant in "wide beds" rather than single rows of plants) which reduces our use of water.Our market-garden recycles all plant waste into compost. We use minimal commercial organic-fertilizers. By doing so we are striving to be truly sustainable by importing as few outside resources as possible.We grow not only crops to eat, but crops to feed the soil. We plant green manures (that are turned under and break down in the garden beds). We grow "compostcrops" - crops that are grown specifically to make compost.We use as little fossil fuels as possible in our growing and production.We grow during the fall, winter and spring, but do not need extensive heating and cooling systems found in most greenhouse set-ups, further reducing our dependence on non-renewable energy. We rely heavily on the strong Colorado sun and biologically active soil to generate heat in our garden beds during the fall, winter and spring months.We use only hand tools to work the soil (not even a roto-tiller). We currently use a car to make deliveries, but hope to make deliveries via bicycle in the future.We grow what we know best - heirloom vegetable varieties that have performed well for us. We are always trying new varieties, especially ones that are popular in European cuisine. We also practice season extension, so that we can grow fresh food year round. We grow in mini-greenhouses that allow us to grow and harvest all year. We have a passion for food and gardening, and have started a local Colorado Springs CSA. If you would be interested in a weekly home-delivery of our fresh produce visit our Community Supported Agriculture page to learn more about it. You can also purchase our produce at a local Colorado Springs health food s