This year’s planting guide gives you guidance for when to plant starts outside in the Willamette Valley from Cottage Grove to Portland. 

The first column gives information on when to start plants indoors before then planting outside. If you are already gardening — or eating produce — then we hope you know what a ripe vegetable looks like. But for root vegetables that hide beneath the dirt, such as potatoes and carrots, look for crowning in the soil for indication of ripe produce. 

The Rest of the Year

September – November

Covercrops

As Oregon moves into fall and the harvest season wraps up, it is time to plant cover crops. Legumes like crimson clover give soil a healthy boost of nitrogen, while various grasses can add organic matter to your soil for tilling come spring.

January – February

Compost/Build Beds

It might be cold and wet outside, but it’s still time to think of your garden. 

Till your cover crop into your soil, add compost, map out your coming garden and build beds. Take into account watering and drainage, note that limiting the width of your bed to 4 feet makes the center easy to reach, and think about companion planting (putting plants that benefit one another near each other) and finally, of course, sunlight.