‘TREES AND PLANTS ALWAYS
LOOK LIKE THE PEOPLE THEY
LIVE WITH, SOMEHOW.’
— ZORA NEALE HURSTON
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PREPARE FOR YOUR SUMMER
GARDEN WITH OUR UPDATED
PLANTING GUIDE
By Eliza Aronson
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Photo by Todd Cooper
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affodils and crocuses are in bloom, the sun sets at 7 pm, and it was finally
warm enough to wear shorts this past weekend. Spring is here, so it’s
time to start planning your summer garden.
Eugene Weekly has updated our annual planting guide, thanks to
more locally focused climate-based information from Oregon State
University’s Extension Service program.
It’s a great idea to get your soil tested if you haven’t worked in it
recently, says Erica Chernoh of OSU Extension Lane County, who oversees the Lane
County Master Gardener program.
“Even just getting a basic soil pH test can help people know whether or not the pH
is within the correct range for growing vegetables,” Chernoh tells EW. “Or if they want
to plant blueberries and need to acidify their soil then they can gauge that as well.”
OSU Extension also recommends assessing the tilth of your soil. “Good tilth means
a soil is easy to dig in, accepts and stores water readily, has good drainage, and makes
a good seed bed,” it states on its website. “To maintain or improve soil tilth, add fresh
or composted organic matter each year.”
According to OSU, you can start planting your broccoli, carrots, parsley and onions
in March.
If you don’t have the space for a full-blown garden, Chernoh wants to remind people
that lots of things can be grown in containers. “You can grow tomatoes, great tomatoes,
in a five-gallon bucket,” she says. “There are a lot of herbs that can be grown in small
one-gallon containers or on apartment balconies and things like that.”
In addition to vegetables and herbs, you can legally grow up to four cannabis plants
at home if you’re over 21 and your house isn’t within 1,000 feet of a school. According
to SunMed Growers, planting time can start anywhere from late April to early June,
but cannabis ideally needs 12 or more hours of sunlight and 70-85 degree weather —
meaning more like early June for western Oregon growers. SunMed Growers also states
that growing in pots allows for you to bring the plant inside if there are cold or rainy
spells. And bringing it back to soil tests, the optimal pH for cannabis is around 5.8-6.5.
You can find more information about setting up your garden at Extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pub/em-
9027-growing-your-own.
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