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.
“Get the Dirt”: my free garden newsletter
New free printables and kids' crafts, the week they're finished.
What to plant and do in the garden right now.
One short email, Saturday mornings. No spam, and one click to leave.
Sign Up for My Free NewsletterFree Garden Tools: Start Here
Personalized Vegetable Planting Calendar |
What Can I Still Plant? |
Interactive Garden Planner |
Zone Finder |
New This Week:
Birthday Crowns, Garlands, and More
Our newest free printables are made for birthday parties, fall classrooms, Thanksgiving tables, and quiet afternoons with children.
Make birthday crowns with the child's name and age, fall and winter garlands to print or color, garden lacing cards, thank you cards, and banner letters.
Did you print something from this site?
I would love to hear about it! Tell me how you used your birthday crowns, garlands, or seed packets, or send a photo if you have one.
Share Your Comment, Story, or PhotoIn 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.
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.
Free Printables for the Garden and the Kids
New for Kids: How Does Your Garden Grow? Our free paper garden craft for kids turns three printable pages into a little raised-bed garden that stands up on the table.
Cut out the corn, tomatoes, sunflowers, pumpkins, two little gardeners, a puppy, and a kitten, then plant a new garden every day.
A cozy project for rainy fall afternoons with your children or grandchildren.
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See all free printables → · Kids Garden Club →
These are the pages most people come here for.
Everything prints on a home printer, and nothing asks for an email address.
Print as many copies as you like, for home or for a classroom.
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.
| Tomatoes Peppers Cucumbers Zucchini and Squash | Green Beans Sweet Corn Potatoes Onions | Lettuce Carrots Garlic Asparagus |
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.
| Planning a Garden | Layouts, raised beds, containers, square foot gardening, companion planting. |
| Season by Season | Spring, summer, fall, and winter gardening, cold frames, succession planting. |
| Soil and Compost | Building soil, fertilizer, compost bins, compost tea, mulch. |
| Care and Problems | Watering, weeds, pests, yellow leaves, fences, and what went wrong. |
| Organic Gardening | Organic fertilizer, no-dig beds, cover crops, landrace seed saving, homesteading. |
| Herbs | Basil, dill, cilantro, rosemary, and herbs in pots. |
| Fruit and Berries | Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries. |
| Preserving the Harvest | Freezing, canning, sauerkraut, drying, and storing onions and garlic. |
| Kids Gardening | Activities, worksheets, crafts, and the Kids Garden Club. |
| Free Printables | Every chart, planner, calendar, and worksheet on the site. |
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!
Watch: How to start a raised bed garden in 7 simple steps
Your First 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
Go to Contact Us page
Hi, I'm Charlotte. I was born and raised on a farm in Oregon's Willamette Valley, and I learned to garden as a little child alongside my parents and grandparents. I started this site in 2009 to give gardeners the information and the encouragement to get started. When I find something that would help another gardener, I add it here. New tools and printables come first in my free newsletter!
Recent Articles
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Beans and noodles
Oct 30, 26 08:40 PM
I used the punch holes as a mark for Elmer's glue and we glued dried beans and uncooked noodles to the punch cards after we cut out the sewing cards. It's -
Christmas Garden Box
Oct 30, 26 08:38 PM
I love the Christmas garden box. I made gifts for my gardening friends and put them in it. Thank you. -
Simple Paper Box Craft for Kids: Free Printable Boxes to Color
Oct 30, 26 04:36 PM
Simple paper box craft for kids: print a square box, lid box, or gable box template, color it or pick a pretty paper, then cut, fold, and glue. -
Free Printable Garden Calendar 2027: 12 Watercolor Months (PDF)
Oct 30, 26 04:33 PM
Free printable garden calendar for 2027: 12 watercolor garden scenes, a monthly garden task, and room to write. Print the whole year or one month at a time. -
Free Printable Garden Stationery: Gardening Letter Paper & Note Cards
Oct 30, 26 04:28 PM
Free printable garden stationery: watercolor letter paper, lined and unlined, plus folded note cards with garden, fall, and Christmas scenes. Print at home. -
Free Printable Gift Tags: Garden, Harvest, and Christmas
Oct 30, 26 04:24 PM
Free printable gift tags and folded gift cards in watercolor garden designs: flowers, harvest, Thanksgiving, winter, and Christmas. Print at home on cardstock. -
Free Printable Seed Packets: Make Your Own Seed Packet Gifts
Oct 30, 26 04:20 PM
Free printable seed packets that really hold seeds. Pick a watercolor design or your own photo, type the plant name and a message, and print on cardstock.
