Vegetable garden planner calendar6/17/2023 Capturing and storing rainwater during the wet season has become increasingly beneficial. This means gardeners must irrigate more, particularly in summer when water supplies are at their lowest. In recent years, our area also has experienced decreases in rainfall and snowfall during fall, winter and spring (in 2022, Medford’s accumulated precipitation was 14.41 inches, which was about 4 inches below normal). Gardeners can successfully grow vegetables in cold frames or row tunnels, as long as they don’t forget to uncover them on warmer days and keep them covered on cold nights. Then again, having warmer high temperatures during the winter makes working outdoors more pleasant. This presents challenges for summertime garden maintenance and harvesting and also for starting fall crops. In addition to extended heat waves, wildfire smoke in the valley makes gardening outdoors unhealthy and unpleasant during July and August. On the other hand, warmer fall temperatures last year enabled me to continue harvesting tomatoes, beans and peppers until November. Lettuce, spinach and brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) tend to bolt sooner. Such extreme temperatures can cause lower germination rates and blossom/fruit drop for heat-sensitive plants such as tomatoes, beans and squash. Summer temperatures have increased (in 2022, there were 42 days with temperatures above 95 degrees during June, July, August and September, as well as several days in the 90s during October). It is essential to keep track of high and low temperatures and have a protective cover handy. Erratic temperatures, particularly in spring and fall, are liable to freeze or burn up plants if gardeners are caught off guard. ![]() Those dates provide me with 196 days for growing vegetables, not including overwintering vegetables or growing indoors or in cold frames during the fall and winter.Īlthough global warming has lengthened the growing season in the Rogue Valley, it also presents extra challenges for gardeners. ![]() 23 (dates will vary by a week or two depending on elevation and available sunlight). – James McGrath, “Mixed Greens: Poems From the Winter Garden,” 2019Īfter many years of trial and error growing vegetables in raised beds, I can say with confidence the best way to “get there - where blossoms bloom in May” (and throughout the growing season) - is by planning ahead with a planting calendar.īegin by considering: 1) the vegetables you like to eat, 2) the growing conditions in your garden, 3) the size of your growing space and 4) the time and effort you want to spend in your garden.īased on records of local weather patterns over the past five years (reported by Weather Underground from the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport), I can predict with reasonable assurance the last spring frost will take place in my garden by April 18, and the first fall frost by Oct.
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