Starting plants indoors requires
time but pays off in earlier crops.

Advice for Cool Climates

• Start seeds for warm-season vegetables indoors under fluorescent lights about 8 to 10 weeks prior to the date you expect the last frost.

• Build raised beds for intensive and succession planting. Cover the beds with black plastic sheeting to warm up the soil.

• Set up a soaker-hose or drip-irrigation system for beds to supply low-maintenance watering.

• Plant seedlings outdoors for cool-weather crops such as broccoli, cabbage, lettuce spinach, radish, and peas.

• Perform needed maintenance on permanent trellises used for growing crops vertically.

• Harden off warm-season seedlings raised indoors to prepare them for transplanting into the garden.

• Harvest cool-weather crops such as peas. When the harvest slows markedly, pull out the vines and plant a summer crop.

• Cover berries and peas with netting to protect the crops from birds or animal pests.

• Plan to extend the gardening season into fall. Start seeds for cool-weather crops indoors or in a nursery bed outside about three months prior to the expected first frost.

• Water when rainfall is sparse. Most plants need about 1 inch of water per week.

• Remove black plastic mulch or cover it with organic mulch. Cover soil with organic material such as compost to moderate temperature and retain moisture.

• Monitor plants for insect problems and begin controls immediately.

• Stimulate production of squash, beans, cucumbers, eggplants, and other by picking them when they are young.

• Keep polyspun garden fabric (row covers) handy to cover summer crops such as beans and peppers if an early light frost threatens.

• Harvest crops such as pumpkins, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions. Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnips, and other root crops can stay in the ground through light frosts.

• Clean up plant debris in harvested beds. Mulch empty beds to protect the soil over winter.

• Tend fall crops such as broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and onions until they're mature and ready for harvest.

• Harvest green tomatoes and store them indoors if a frost is predicted.

• Build more boxed raised beds. Repair trellises. Clean out cold frames.