About Lettuce Patch Gardens

A self-described “natural, local foodie,” I love great tasting food that is also healthy and good for the environment.

My passion is locally grown – and what is more local than food from your own garden? That’s why I started this site, to give you the information you need to garden in Colorado.

If you can’t garden, or it doesn’t interest you, you’ll still find lots of great information about cooking at altitude with in-season ingredients and where to purchase local food in the Pikes Peak region.

See my welcome page for a run-down of the information you will find on this site.

I started this site back in 2004 when I had a lettuce growing business (that’s where the name Lettuce Patch Gardens comes from). Although I greatly enjoyed selling lettuce, after a couple of years of juggling the lettuce business and my demanding full-time job, I realized that it was just too much, and had to give up selling lettuce.

But I didn’t want all of my gardening, cooking and local food knowledge to go to waste. So I decided to turn the website into a source for local food in Colorado Springs.

The gardening and cooking philosophy on this site is mine. And some of it may be a bit unconventional. But after gardening for 20+ years in Colorado, I have a feel for what works for me and what doesn’t. You may find that other techniques work better for you, and that’s OK.

For me, gardening is a continuous learning experience, and I hope to find out what techniques you find useful, so please leave comments if you have something to add to the conversation. And feel free to contact me anytime.

About my garden and me:

I garden organically on a .2 acre lot (yes, that’s two tenths of an acre!)  in Colorado Springs, and try to grow as much food as possible in our 220 square feet of vegetable beds. I grow food year-round, but don’t have space for a greenhouse, so I use mini-greenhouses in the winter. I would love to grow more vegetables, but we have a couple of very tall shade trees in our neighbor’s yard to the south of us. This limits our square footage for vegetables, since most of them need a full day of sun.

The rest of our lot is devoted to ornamentals, with a focus on drought-tolerant and native plants. As you may have guessed, we have no lawn – you can see a virtual tour of the garden.

My interest in gardening started when I was a kid. I’m a Gen-Xer (Atari wave, if you’re into that sort of thing), born right when the back-to-the-land movement was gaining steam. Although my parents weren’t hippies, they were the self-reliant type and my mom always grew a big, organic vegetable garden and canned and froze vegetables. In zone 5 in upstate NY we grew everything from grapes to tomatoes, and had several empty lots nearby just covered with raspberries and blackberries. I loved to pick those in the summer to make jam — about half went into my mouth, and the other half into the berry bucket.

Growing up, I was never one for working in the garden, but it all came back to me in adulthood. Ever since I moved out on my own I wanted to grow stuff, even it it was only in pots on my balcony.  Now, I have my own garden, and a husband who is happy to not have to mow a lawn. What more can a gardening girl ask for?

-Cheryl Spencer.