I don't know about where you are at, but we are supposed to have some very nice weather this weekend. The weather people are talking about temps in the high 70's. April, May and June tend to be very changeable here in the Willamette Valley so we could be back to freezing next weekend who knows.
The season here this year is VERY late. Our cherries are not even in full bloom yet. They are usually in full bloom at least by my birthday which was last week even in a fairly late year so you can see how late we are this year. The warm weather this weekend should be perfect for the cherries.
It should also be a perfect time to get your garden prepared and some cool crop things planted. It's perfect for those root crops that you need to seed directly like carrots, beets and radishes. Carrots and beets take a while ( 3 weeks) to germinate so you can plant radishes as markers( plant them about 2" away) for them in your garden. Radishes come up in a few days and are ready to eat before carrots or beets are very big at all. That is also a very efficient use of garden space.
You can also plant lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and onions, but I recommend plants for those. If you don't get some started yourself we will have them at the Hillsboro and Sherwood Farmers' Markets starting on May 2 and also at Orenco and Tigard on Sundays starting the following weekend. The OHSU market starts in mid May, but they are having a special Earth Day market on April 24th. Krista will be there.
Be sure to save some room for warmer weather plants too. Tomatoes can go in after ALL danger of frost is past. In Hillsboro that is usually about the 10th or 12th of May, but you can keep an eye on the weather as we get close. A warning: Hillsboro had a hard frost on the 18th of May last year. I think Sherwood and Tigard have a little earlier frost free dates than Hillsboro usually, but again I would keep a close eye on the weather.
Some plants really need to be planted when the weather warms up and NOT before. Those include peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant and BASIL. We will have lots of those plants at the market when we get closer to the proper time to plant them.
Putting those types of plants in too early usually stunts them and they just can't seem to get going.
I am really looking forward to garden season this year. I have my raised beds all ready to go, and they are properly protected from the deer and my dog. We also have added a large garden space for corn, squash and cucumbers this year. We will be ready to enjoy all of those crops fresh from our garden this year. They taste so much better than what you buy at the store. Also, a few tomato plants can produce a $100 worth of tomatoes. Think what that will do for your food budget.
I am going to go get to work transplanting tomatoes now.
GROW WHAT YOU EAT!!
3 comments:
Hey Krista, I looked up your nursery online and was thrilled to find all of the helpful gardening info you've posted! Many thanks!
Rachel (Manuela's next door neighbor)
I love following this but am so sad that I have no land to plant on. Yet!
Looking for a house but disappointed that it is so difficult to join a community garden in Portland. Any suggestions?
For now, my houseplants will suffice.
Emily, I am sad that you don't have any land to plant on. I have seen on Craigslist several people, as well as, I have talk to several people that have land that are renting out pieces. Or even some people I know are bartering land from friends and neighbors this spring. (Someone has the space and someone has the labour and everyone gets to eat good food.)If that can't work container gardening gardening can a be fun option , as well. I hope that you can find a little space to feed the need to grow.
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