DigDirt/Dave - Can I use cover crops between my perenials? (I don't have a veggie bed.) How 'bout "on top of" my spring-blooming bulbs (or will the c/c make the N unavail for bulbs?)? Tree, you could but it isn't recommended. You would have trouble tilling/turning them into the soil without disturbing the roots of the perennials - and that is the goal - to till them into the soil. ;) Cover crops are nitrogen so they don't "use" or make unavailable N from anything else. Your better bet would be to use a low growing ground cover between your perennials or to simply mulch well between them. All organic mulches including compost, chipped straw, grass clippings, shredded leaves, even wood fines, are eventually incorporated into the soil by nature and so improve it without the need for tilling/turning. And N tie-up is only a concern if you till high carbon materials in. On the surface they pose no problems. Should I make the time for cover crops by rotating which beds I plant them in? If so which ones? Is there another way I can give back to the soil? What would you recommend? Hi blancspons, if you have the room to rotate beds then yes a cover crop can be very beneficial. But if you need all your beds in almost continuous production then the best way to give back to the soil is again - mulch. Many claim that the only purpose of mulch is to control weeds. Not true. Mulch has many purposes - moisture stabilization, keeping roots cooler, plant nutrients, and soil improvement. As I said above, any organic material used as a thick mulch during your growing seasons is gradually incorporated into the soil and great soil improvement is the end result. Hope this helps. ;) Dave

Where did you get the GH from? How much? I like the fact that its 14ft instead of the 12 footer that I'm looking into. I think you need to start most plants by Aug 1st-mid august. I'd try peas, spinach, carrots, broccoli(maybe)etc for fall crops. But just greens for the winter. Depends on the house you got but you should just have to pull away the snow from the bottom edge and the top. I was looking into Hobby Garden gh's and they withstand any New England weather. Good luck!

You could also look at your list a different way. Some crops are early season - such as peas and some lettuce and are best followed with varieties that will suit the summer warmth, or be followed by something that enjoys the heat (beans, for example). Some are very quick to come to harvest - radishes and micro-greens. You can plant them many times over the length of the growing season - well into autumn, too. Just a few at a time, or a little patch. Some sit in the bed for most of the growing season before they start to produce - tomatoes, onions and corn. You'll have to plant around them, take advantage of the shade they cast. As it's your first season with the new plot - quick crops might be useful for you because you will be able to clear the bed, or part of it, several times over the season and be able to feed the soil with compost to build your soil fertility and discourage pests each time you clear. You'll also be able to see which varieties taste best from that plot. Some will be delicious. Others average. And others will leave you wondering how anything could taste so bad. If there's some way you could rig up a 'towel rail' along the side or end of your bed you could add hanging baskets for items such as cocktail tomatoes, one-season herbs, asparagus peas, and so on. Make sure the rail is very sturdy, though. Wet potting mix can be extremely heavy. Allocate some space at home for raising your own seedlings. If you want to start beans in pots do so in pots that are at least three inches deep - and use fresh bean seed to minimise disappointment. Beets will transplant. Carrots less likely. Peas yes - and it's fiddly, particularly if you used grow-cells. Planting straight into the ground is 'better'. Lettuces definitely can be raised in cells or small pots. Keep them moving on into bigger pots until you have room to plant out in your plot. Once those roots start circling the pot they're living in, it's a signal for flowering to start and leaf-growing to stop. You might want to acquire a water-proof shallow tray for transporting transplants in pots from home to you plot, too. Saves having to clear up spills in your vehicle.

Ooh I see. Thank you so much for your help! I planted garlic yesterday and I think that is all I will plant in the winter, edible wise haha; The cold and rain doesn't really motivate me to go outside as much as the summer weather does, to garden haha. I hear that that rain here washes away our soil, I don't know if that compacts it too. I have some native soil in the bottom of some of the beds, which maybe why it becomes hard during the winter. I do have one new raised bed though that is mostly full of veggie gardening soil from a local nursery and is very loose, so hopefully that will be easy to spade in the spring. I am still waiting for my cucumbers, beans, and peppers to die off then I can try putting cover crops in those beds because the nursery manager said that we can plant cover crops in our area until mid-November and that I should wait for my plants in the beds to die off first. I live across the river from Portland, in Vancouver. Although, I want to try bringing in at least one jalapeno pepper to prune and transplant in the spring. Do have experience or know how to do that successfully in our area? I have watched videos about it, but none of them were in the NW. Maybe the location doesn't matter though. I almost forgot to say that I bought some crimson clover and dutch white clover to try to cover crop with. The nursery said to watch for birds, so they don't eat the seeds because you don't cover them with dirt. If so, it's very little dirt he said. You learn something new every year while gardening! :-)