Growing a successful Utah garden

After several years of us Oregonians trying to garden in the arid landscape of Northern Utah, we finally got it right! Read some of our top tips to a successful garden.

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."― Thomas Edison

After several years of trial and epic failure, we are learning what works well in the great state of Utah when it comes to gardening. In 2023 we had plenty of produce for our family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. We even grew a couple things we've never tried before!

Every year, we start our soon to be garden as seeds. We have the heat mats set up and use Jiffy seed pods. We've had great success in the last ten years of starting seeds like this. Recently, we've added grow lights to our collection of seed-starting must-haves and set the trays up on folding tables in one of our offices. It's not fancy, it's not high tech, but regardless of what state we have lived in, it has worked well for us.

In Oregon, we would then move our seeds to the garden and have amazing, successful, beautiful gardens every single year, getting compliments of this feels like a secret garden as we had many pollinators and veggies intertwined to make a stunning space. But, then we moved to Utah. And for the last three years I have struggled to get anything to grow once placed outside, but 2023 was maybe my most successful garden ever. Below are the five things we did differently this year to accommodate for the hot, dry state of Utah.

Success #1: Being Realistic

This year, I stepped away from some of my favorite varieties, especially in tomatoes and tried some different types of plants that were recommended in my area based on the USDA plant hardiness zones, they just updated the map this year in 2023 and if you haven't checked lately, it's probably a good time to do so. We are in 7A at our home in Northern Utah. You can check the updated map by clicking here. We had great success with Amish paste tomatoes (great for canning!) and cherokee purples. I typically enjoyed growing early girls and Oregon Cherry which are more suited for the cool, damp short summers of Oregon and just don't do as well in Utah. Pick something you like, but that will also make you successful.

Success #2: Cover Crops

This was our first year of trying cover crops in the garden while we were growing it. You can see below that lucious, beautiful clove with a 30 lb harvest of tomatoes. We planted three different varieties of cover crops in our garden - white, red and Crimson. Cover crops in the summer are a very nice thing - they attract pollinators, our garden was brimming with bees, hummingbirds and butterflies this year.

But, having a cover crop also helps to keep moisture in your soil during the burning hot summer days. The cover crops are also beneficial to the soil itself, it works to help reduce soil compaction, capture excess nutrients, and prevent erosion. Plus, our chickens loved it!

Success #3: Drip Irrigation

My least favorite project this spring was placing drip irrigation in all of our raised beds, but it really paid off for us. In previous years, many of our tomatoes struggled due to how we were watering them - from above. With drip irrigation, it really helps to prevent diseases by minimizing water on the leaves, stems and fruit of the plants. That's a huge pro! We also saw less weeds due to only watering the plants we wanted to water (but, hey, the cover crop helped with this, too!). It also reduces the amount of water we use - when living in a desert, this is a huge deal! And the drip irrigation reduced my labor, but this isn't necessarily a plus for me, I love to take my time watering the garden and checking in on all my plants daily. But, the pros outway the cons on this one.

Success #4: Shade Cloth

2023 was our first try of using shade cloth on our raised garden beds. We chose a black shade cloth, rated at about 40%. We used it when first putting our starts out, not having to harden them for as long and getting our garden started a little bit earlier than previous years, but the shade cloth really helped on those 95+ degree days to absorb heat and protect our plants from UV and filter the light. The shade cloth also had a couple other unintended effects that we really liked - it kept the chickens out of our garden, unless we wanted them in there. It also seemed to help somewhat in keeping pests out. But, at times, it also kept pollinators out, or they would get stuck, not being able to find the exit. I had to save many bees this summer. We will continue to use the shade cloth next year as the benefits are big in late summer when it gets so hot!

Success #5: Pest Management

Our biggest pests this last year were Slugs, Grasshoppers and Whiteflies. The shade cloth really helped with the grasshoppers, to keep them out (or make them easy to catch if they made it in). Our chickens made quick work of the grasshoppers and slugs, although we joked, the only ones still alive are the quickest and strongest and we're probably working to create a super species that our chickens can't find. The whiteflies were our biggest contender, loving our tomatoes, squash and kale. We used an organic rosemary oil spray to help reduce their population in our garden. It seemed to work pretty well and didn't put pollinators or our other animals at risk.