Spring Vegetable Farming in the Pacific Northwest
Whether you’re a small-scale farmer or a home gardener, it’s important to know the best methods for growing vegetables and other crops, especially in the challenging climate of the Pacific Northwest. Our shorter growing season and cooler temperatures can rule out certain crops entirely, and it can be hard to figure out when to start planting and how to deal with difficult soil conditions.
Fortunately, we’re here to help. SS Equipment, with six locations throughout Oregon and Washington, is your Pacific Northwest farm equipment dealer. Read on to learn more about how to successfully approach spring farming this year.
Determining When To Plant
Generally speaking, you’ll begin to plant your first crops around mid-March. You can start taking the temperature of the soil during the day between noon and 2 PM over the course of a few days, then average this out to determine whether it’s warm enough. If you get an average over 60°F for that length of time and night temperatures remain over 50°F, then you should be good to plant! Just be willing to be flexible, since the weather can always change.
Choosing Vegetables
For spring farming, you’ll need to choose a selection of vegetables that will definitely work with our rainy and cool climate. We don’t get the hot, sunny weather that much of the Midwest and South do, and if we do, it doesn’t last as long. That’s why you’ll want to be cautious about when you plant and what you plant.
The earliest crop you can plant is peas in mid-March. You can follow this with a second planting at the end of March or start of April with beets, cilantro and carrots. By mid-April, you’ll be ready to plant lettuce, spinach, fennel, chives and broccoli, with more herbs like dill at the end of the month. In May, you can begin to plant pole beans, summer squash and tomatoes. June means it’s time for corn and cucumbers, provided the summer seems like it’s going to be warm. You can transplant pumpkin seeds from indoors once it’s hot enough out.
Testing Soil
You’ll want to figure out what type of soil you have to determine what needs to be done with it before you start planting. The three primary types of soil are sandy, loamy and clay, but all soil is comprised of different amounts of sand, silt, organic matter and clay. Sand and clay soils are common here in the PNW, but loamy is the goal for planting. Even if you have great soil, you’ll still want to add some fertilizer to it to ensure your plants grow tall and healthy.
Once the soil has dried out from winter, in March or April, grab a handful of slightly damp soil and squeeze it. If the soil falls apart, it’s sandy. If the soil holds it shape, then falls apart when prodded, it’s loamy. If the soil doesn’t break when prodded, it’s clay. You’ll want to till two inches of organic compost into the top few inches of sandy soil. For loam, you’ll just want to mix a bit of organic compost into the first six inches.
Clay soil doesn’t grow anything well, so you’ll probably need to have a raised garden bed comprised entirely of gardening soil that’s at least six inches deep. You can till into the top few inches of your clay soil to mix the clay in.
Spacing Seeds
One common mistake that new planters make is not thinning out and spacing their crops properly. Plants need sufficient room to grow and flourish, and you’ll only get good yields if you sufficiently thin out your seedlings. Try to plant all your rows at least 18” apart. Some plants like broccoli need much more space, with their rows being a full four feet apart, and corn, which needs at least 30” of space between rows. You’ll start thinning most of your seedlings when they’re a few inches high, and you’ll generally space them anywhere between 2” to a few feet apart. Read the seed packets to see what’s recommended.
These tips should help you get started with your vegetable planting if you haven’t already begun. Need some farm equipment? Get in touch with us via phone or email to ask about what we have available and what might work for your land. You can also view our selection of new and used equipment for spring farming on our website. We even offer financing options if you need assistance with your farm equipment purchase. SS Equipment proudly serves all of our customers in Oregon and Washington.