I found this graphic through a Pinterest pin. Now I’m excited. I really could garden year round here in Portland. I need to get some seeds in the ground! 🙂

Zone 8 – where we live now http://veggieharvest.com/calendars/zone-8.html

As a comparison, here’s a graphic for where we lived in Nevada.

Zone 5 – where we used to live and will again! http://veggieharvest.com/calendars/zone-5.html

Eventually I want a greenhouse on the homestead in Nevada, or at the very least some cold frames so I CAN extend the growing season. There is a small part of me that feels as if it’s cheating to have it so easy up here. On the other hand, there’s a very big part of me that’s happy to not have to deal with all that for just a little while longer. 🙂

Since we don’t have enough south facing window space here and not really any place in the house to start seeds anyway, we’ll be purchasing tomato and pepper starts, but I think most everything else we want to grow can go directly in the ground as seed. And I found out that our last frost date is March 15th, not April 15th like I previously thought. That’s a full two and a half months before the Nevada Homestead! And since even the winters are mild here, things like lettuce and broccoli should be able to survive the full winter weather even without cold frames. Oh, this is exciting!

What about you? Can you garden in the winter where you live?