When Bryant Mason reached out to me last year about partnering with his company, The Urban Farm Company, we exchanged a few emails but I got busy with summer travels and dropped the ball. So, when he recently circled back about his company that teaches everything you need to know about growing your own organic garden–including installing and education–I jumped at the chance.
His company’s passion is to make it as easy as possible for
As many of you know, my husband is a locally-renowned giant pumpkin grower. He spends all his time nurturing 1,500-pound beasts but our own personal garden? Doesn’t happen. The reason? I am in charge and though I was raised weeding and mowing, I never learned to garden. It’s overwhelming for a newbie, especially when you’re married to The Pumpkin Man who practically has a PhD. in growing and lacks patience. Bryant practically saved our marriage when he showed up at our house riding his white steed driving his white truck chock-full of gardening tools and soil.
The Urban Farm Company installs raised bed organic vegetable gardens for homeowners using a great soil mix and simple gardening method that makes is easy for beginner gardeners to grow a lot of food in a small space. After someone gets a garden, they provide help and education throughout the season to ensure new gardeners are successful.
How the Process Works:
- Go to their website and choose the number of gardens you want, and your add-ons.
- You choose what vegetables you want to grow off their Veggie Menu (this was the fun part!)
- They come to your house and install your garden in a day. They do all the planting but made sure to involve my kids and me to see how it’s done.
- The day your garden is installed you start getting one email tip or reminder per week telling you exactly what to do through the season. They call it “foolproof” gardening.
May and June are a great time to install a garden and Denver’s rainy spring, it’s not too late! Whether your challenge is incompetence (me), rabbits, hail, or cold temperatures – The Urban Farm Co. pretty much has a solution to almost any issue a Colorado gardener could imagine. They can even come to your house beforehand to take sunlight measurements. You can join their Garden Club – a short email chain with 10 great garden tips.
The Pumpkin Man came out to survey Bryant’s work on our new garden. Before I knew it, they were embroiled in an in-depth conversation about soil. I chuckled when I read my husband’s pumpkin blog:
Unbeknownst to me, my wife had arranged for Urban Farm Company to setup a planter box and soil for the garden. I’ll have to admit and it may be a surprise, I don’t spend a lot of time in the garden but I felt my toes were being stepped on. I wasn’t going to have some no-nothing guy with a few bags of worthless “garden soil” with chunks of wood in it set up my garden!To my surprise, my experience with Bryant was exactly the opposite of what I expected. He was my equal and very knowledgeable. He pretty much setup the garden exactly the way I would have done it. I think we talked soils and soil testing for over an hour, bouncing ideas off of each other. The special blend of soil he put into my garden looks to be close to ideal and he spent the time showing my wife and kids just what to do.
Later, Bryant referred to my husband as “a genius.” It was like a geek gardener’s match made in heaven.
Contest
Mile High Mamas is giving away a 4’x4′ raised-bed garden from The Urban Farm Company (a $350 value!) You may enter as many five times and be sure to tell us why your gardening plot needs help! Note: They serve the entire front range Denver, Fort Collins, Boulder, and everywhere in between.
**CONTEST CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO WINNER ELIZABETH E.**
Author: Amber Johnson
Amber is the founder and editor of Mile High Mamas, travel writer and former columnist for The Denver Post. She is a passionate community builder and loves the outdoors. She has two awesome teens and is happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin.
