Have you ever planted fall or winter veggies only to grow small plants that never reach maturity? Or have you lost your plants to frost before you even get to harvest them? By no fault of their own, many people plant vegetable starts from the nursery without knowing that the plant is being sold during a time of year when it will never become fully mature before cool temperatures slow the plant’s growth to a sloth-like pace.

Autumn in the Pacific Northwest is the time of year to start preparing gardens for the cold wet winter months. During the late summer and early fall we plant our gardens with veggies that can be enjoyed all winter. After removing summer crops it is usually too late to plant more veggies, so what do you do with all that exposed soil? Ecological growers always say not to leave soil bare. But why is this, and what should you do in your garden?

With the abundance of snow and ice recently here in the Portland area, it is hard to imagine just a month or two forward to the time for planting our Spring vegetable gardens! But that time will come sooner than we know it and our seeds will take to the dark earth and grow into these ever longer days.

It is a glorious time to live in the Willamette Valley. It feels to me like the natural world around us has been at its absolute peak lately. The Dogwood blossoms are erupting in shocks of pink and white and Spring feels like it is finally full-on. This last stretch of sunshine has brought it all together. It feels like there is a palpable sense of sweetness, joy, and a welcome softness everywhere. A fortunate time indeed.