Good morning gardening friends,
Wow, does it feel like spring is in the air. We are a month away from the official first day of spring. However, day time high temperatures are hovering in the 50s and all the way up to 60 degrees on some days. Wild for the end of February! Our average last frost lands somewhere around March 15 for most of the Portland area. Sometimes later in April for cooler microclimates. We are still forecasted for overnight frosts (32 degrees) throughout the next week.
Usually I am not advising the planting of vegetable seeds or starts in the garden until at least March 1st. Even cool season vegetables need slightly warmer soil and air temperatures than February provides. That being said, its really warm and sunny during the day pretty consistently the last two weeks and into the next week.
So....if you wanted to plant some starts/transplants into your garden I think you might be safe. Since it is on the early side and the night temperatures are still frosty I'd have your frost blanket handy to throw over your crops overnight.
Some crops I think you'd be safe putting in the garden during the warm days this week:
Asparagus crowns
Asian greens
Cabbage
Collards
Endive/Escarole
Kale
Leeks
Lettuce (look for winter hardy varieties)
Mustard greens
Peas
Radicchio
Scallions
Swiss chard
I think the soil is still too cold for germination of seeds, so I'd hold off on all root crops or anything else by direct seeding until later in March. We really want to see soil temperatures consistently around 55 degrees for good seed germination.
I hope you will join me for a cool season vegetable class on February 22 or 29. In this class we will dive deep into the culture and care of all the cool season vegetable crops you can plant during March and April.
Happy Gardening,
Jolie
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