Happy New Year from Portland Edible Gardens! Spring may still feel like a remote island somewhere far away, but take heart and take heed! We are drifting steadily towards that shore! Before we know it, the buds will be breaking and the sun that warms our soil will be nurturing the gardens that we plant (or the weeds that we don't).

Well the Chimney Swifts are beginning to swirl in the September sky, the evenings have a bite that feels rather welcome, and I can't help but feel like summer is getting on. One wouldn't know it, with temperatures climbing back into the 90's (!), but we all know that Fall and Winter will be ours soon enough. Though it is far too late in the season for planting most vegetables, there are a handful of reliable and quick to mature vegetables that I am still planting in my garden and in my clients' gardens!! If you are quick about it, you too can still squeeze a little more out of your garden this season.

Growing a living "Cover Crop" is one of the best ways to take care of and replenish your garden in the winter months. Cover Crops offer an overwhelming variety of benefits to your garden insulating, protecting, conditioning and revitalizing your precious soil!

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.