Vegetable Gardening Online:
Plan It, Plant It, Grow It

Everything on Vegetable Gardening Online comes from a lifetime of gardening in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, and of learning about it: from books and magazines before the internet, and from looking things up ever since. 

Start with the free tools below, print what you need, and use the guides when a crop gives you trouble.

Free PrintablesKids & TeachersFree Garden ToolsHow to Grow VegetablesPlanning a GardenChristmas Printables

Free Vegetable Gardening Tools

These free vegetable gardening tools do the figuring for you.

Type in your zip code to get your own planting dates, find out what still has time to grow before frost, or draw your garden plan and print it. No sign-up needed.

Planting CalendarYour planting dates by zip codeWhat Can I Still Plant?What still has time before frostGarden PlannerDrag, drop, and print your layoutZone FinderYour zone and frost datesMonthly Garden ChecklistYour garden to-do listPlant MarkersPot stakes and row signs

New for Kids: Garden Books with Your Child's Name

Make a garden coloring book or activity book with your child's name right on the cover, in three levels for ages 3 to 12.

Click "Make new puzzles" for a fresh set of mazes and word searches every time. Brothers, sisters, and whole classrooms can each have their own.

Activity BooksMazes, word searches, and puzzlesColoring BooksWith your child's name on the coverLittle Gardener GameAges 3 to 6Paper Garden CraftPlant a garden on the tableVegetable Go FishSix card sets to printPlant Life CyclePreschool to grade 8

All kids' games, stories, and crafts →

In the Garden This Month

November in most of the country means the garden is winding down. Dig the last carrots, beets, and leeks, and pick kale and Brussels sprouts, which taste sweeter after a frost. 

We harvested all of our green tomatoes last week, and we look forward to enjoying ripe tomatoes for the next few months! See how to ripen green tomatoes indoors.

It is not too late to plant garlic if the ground isn't frozen. Set the cloves about 2 inches deep, pointed end up, and cover the bed with straw or leaves.

Fall leaves are free garden gold. Rake them onto empty beds, or pile them up to make leaf mold for spring. Clean and oil your tools, and drain the hoses before the first hard freeze.

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New free printables and kids' crafts, the week they're finished.

What to plant and do in the garden right now.

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Save seeds from your best beans and tomatoes, and start a list of what to grow again next year. A Thanksgiving centerpiece of winter squash and the last garden flowers is a fine way to end the season.

Fall Vegetable Garden Guide  ·  How to Grow Garlic  ·  Winter Vegetable Gardening Guide

Free Printables for Christmas and the Holidays

Harvest time is gift time. Click a picture to make gift tags, cards, labels, boxes, and calendars to share what you grow.

Christmas OrnamentsColor, cut, and hangGift Tags14 designs, fall to ChristmasGift BoxesFive shapes, 33 designsGift StickersChristmas and garden designsPlace CardsThanksgiving and ChristmasNote CardsLetter paper and folded cards

Sending Christmas cards this year? Make your own return address labels with a watercolor garden or Christmas picture.

A garden calendar with your own pet or family photos makes a lovely gift for grandparents.

Return Address Labels17 designs for Avery 51602027 Garden Calendar12 watercolor monthsPet CalendarYour pet in the garden

Free Printables for the Garden

Plan your garden on paper, print your planting dates, and label your seed packets and canning jars, all for free.

These are the vegetable gardening printables most people come here for, and new ones are added every month.

Garden Planner Printable8-page workbookPlanting Calendar by ZoneCompanion Planting ChartSeed PacketsPackets that hold seedsCanning Jar LabelsFree Garden PlansLayouts in many sizes

See all free printables →

How to Grow Vegetables

Vegetable gardens can be beautiful as well as providing fresh food for your family.

Each crop guide runs from choosing a variety to harvest, with the problems that come up along the way and what to do about them.

These are the ones people ask about most.

All vegetable growing guides →

Guides by Topic

Container gardening is a great and easy way to start vegetable gardening.

One line each. Click through for the full section.

New to Vegetable Gardening?

Start small.

One raised bed or three large pots is enough for a first year, and it is far better to keep a small garden well than to lose a big one to weeds by July.

• Grow what your family already eats.
• Find the sunniest spot you have, six hours at least.

Then read one of these two pages and plant something.

If you can only manage a few pots on a porch, start there!

How to Start a Vegetable Garden  ·  Homestead Gardening for Beginners

Want it all in one place? Download our free How to Grow a Garden ebook: answers to the 27 questions beginners ask most, with a planting chart and a free 4x8 garden plan.

About This Site

That's me in our raised bed garden holding a huge head of lettuce!

I have lived in the country nearly all of my adult life, and there has almost always been a vegetable garden close by.

My husband and I put one in each year: some years in the ground, some years raised beds, some years containers on the patio.

Many children who are picky eaters at the table become vegetable lovers in the garden.

My granddaughter, six at the time, decided she liked tomatoes after eating her very first cherry tomato while helping in the garden one summer afternoon.

I do not claim to be a master gardener or an expert! Gardening is a life-long learning experience. When I find something that would help another gardener, I add it here.

More about me and the farm  ·  Get the Dirt newsletter

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