I mostly want to say that it is encouraging to see you here, CatNoHat . Watching essentially daily to see if there is any activity while on my way to another subforum – where i lurk a little but don't participate – has been somewhat dismaying. I could say something about the physical functioning of this forum platform but I won't other than to say that it is clunky. That discourages participation and has for years now.

Those of us who have been here for some of those years may still be visiting and I hope they are and can share. Just be patient and willing to experiment a little with your communication. New folks, please share your thoughts and experiences but realize that carelessly slinging off-topic things out there won't likely be of much help.

Okay, here is a gentle inaccurate "lob" –– I have been buying this and that from Greenhouse MegaStore LINK for a good number of years. Never shade cloth, altho that would probably be a good idea here. They have never disappointed me with the products nor prompt delivery. (Now, I hope there will be others who would like to share thoughts on the subject. :o)

Steve

Well I was wondering what happened to all the Rocky Mountain veggie gardeners! Glad there is a new thread. Cat, I don't know where you are but I've got gardens in both the Denver metro area and up in the mountains. Denver has been very very warm all winter, and the 10-day forecast is for highs in the mid-60s and only very light freezing. (I have a peach tree that is just about to bloom, which I fear will not end well). I started my cold-tolerant seeds indoors on Feb. 1, as usual. But based on the forecast I went ahead and did the unthinkable, planted some Napa cabbage starts in the ground today (three weeks before I have ever planted such things before!) My hope is that they will get going before the late Spring heat, and not bolt so quickly. Broccoli and regular cabbage will likely follow in the next week or two.

As far as tomatoes I've not had trouble with fruit set or sunscald in the past, and haven't looked into shade cloth. But I do get insect-weight floating row covers for my chili peppers that I grow in the mountains because the sun there is intense, as is the wind. I get it from Gardener's Supply and put it over PVC hoops down the row. Works great. For tomatoes I grow the classics, Brandwine and Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. I am still looking for my perfect determinate plum tomato variety - we never seem to harvest enough of those to meet our sauce/paste needs.

Meteorologists record "Winter" as December 1 through February in this part of the world. The University of North Carolina has used averages to rate weather stations. Apparently, I live in an area where the stations were 1st to 4th in the warmest ever!

Here is the website.

https://sercc.oasis.unc.edu/Map.php?date=2026-02-28&var=avgt&thresh=climper&period=STD&map_display=rank&showthrdx=true&region=conus

Hey Cat, so nice to hear from you. 2025 gardens were sad for much of my harvest, so I’ll just try again. I’m still deciding on tomato varieties, but it looks like 12-14 different ones including a few cherry (for the first time). Most are not heat resistant, do get sunscald at times, but i have shade fabric on them most of the season. I’ve been using the kind from Lowe’s for many years.

By the time the Swap comes around, I’ll know more.

Catnohat, Broccoli and broccolini and always trying to flower. That's what we eat the immature flower. If I see the buds opening up I cut that head off and new ones grow. Broccolini I harvest frequently everyday to 4 days. Other greens especially spinach and lettuce typically bolt in late spring/early summer. Shade cloth will slow that down but may not prevent it. Most shade cloths that I've seen seem pretty similar. For durability I believe the key would be how they're supported. The couple times I've used it I've used hoops and construction clips. As a plus it will provide some hail protection if it doesn't get ripped to shreds.

It sure has felt like spring, but I know we’ll get a freeze in May so there is not much to do other than clean up at this point

Hi all! It's been a while. I'm glad to "see" some old friends here!

I don't use shade cloth, but I do use T posts around the perimeters of the beds, spaced so I can cover temporarily for hail. I have plastic hardware cloth and chicken wire a friend gave me. I use clips to secure it around the tops of the T posts. As gjcore said, it has to be durable for hail, but mostly for our winds. Not much will withstand the 80mph gusts we get.

Digit, we are experiencing the warmest winter recorded here and its bone dry. Many cities and municipalities have already instituted watering restrictions and are asking that sprinkler systems for lawns not be used till May. I'm going to focus on keeping the trees alive and see what moisture we get in April before deciding if I'll do warm season crops this year.

One of the places that I had a "garden on other people's property" was land owned by the parks department and used as a community garden. It worked well for us.

The remainder of the property was used as a storage yards for sand, gravel, etc. used in the parks elsewhere. So, it kinda amounted to an out-of-the-way location. Not especially unsightly because there was forest around it but it wasn't close to where the gardeners who had plots lived. We continued with distant gardens so it didn't matter which way we traveled but the enthusiasm of others waned.

It sounds as though your location is special in and of itself, Cat'. There's probably some sort of administration. That would be a good thing and Best of Luck — keep us posted.

Steve

There's a post about a spring swap started. Anyone up for it this ?