In part 1, I discussed the many different types and categories of tomatoes and talked about how to pick the right varieties for your garden and your needs. This week I will talk about when and how to plant them, and how to care for them throughout the season to maximize their yield, taste, and health (and your own enjoyment!) First lets talk about seasonal timing.

Well its already June here in Western Oregon. We have had a handful of days pushing 90 degrees, and all signs point towards the beautiful sunny season ahead. There are many treasures to be anticipated in our vegetable gardens in the summer months, but perhaps none hold such promise, and such delicious anticipation as home-grown tomatoes. In fact, I know plenty of gardeners for whom the prospect of tomatoes alone could keep them gardening each year.

I still remember the experiment in kindergarten: Planting a single bean in a paper cup filled with soil. We lined them up on the window sill, giving them their daily watering and waited with vague anticipation for... what? I waited, I grew impatient, I lost interest. But I was drawn back one day to some faint stirring in the soil. And then, those first two leaves, those pale and waxy cotyledons stretching out like fists, and then unfurling like tiny hands in happy defiance while roots stretched equally downward somewhere below. I loved my bean. I reveled in its bravery and its mystery. In some ways, I have come a long way since my paper cup, but my fascination with that little miracle has not. And I am grateful for that.

This post kicks off Portland Edible Gardens’ blog, which aims to provide practical and reliable information, hints, and tips for home vegetable gardeners here in the Portland metropolitan area. Climate and geography play a significant roll (one of many!) in how and when we grow what we grow in our gardens.