It’s fall, but even though the rain has started, you can still get some fall planting in. Gabi Villaseñor from the local nonprofit Growing Gardens offers these tips:
🥦 Vegetables
Pick your favorites — broccoli, spinach, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, chard, or mustard greens — and get them in the ground. Using starts instead of seeds is easier.
The vegetables “grow really well,” says Villaseñor. “It's really cool that the Pacific Northwest lets us have this second growing season, so take advantage of that.”
☘️ Cover Crops
Plant some cover crops to help your garden be ready for spring. Two options are red clover or fava beans (yep, another veggie).
“They actually take nitrogen from the air and put it into the soil via their roots,” says Villaseñor.
If you’re not planting cover crops, mulching is a good alternative.
More Fall Gardening Resources
Get help online from Oregon State University Extension Service, staffed with volunteers from the Master Gardener program who can answer your questions.
The nonprofit, Growing Gardens, offers help to low-income folks who want to start or work on their garden.
And Villaseñor offered more advice for gardeners on the City Cast Portland podcast.
More about Portland's Best
What To Do in Portland in September 2026
September brings migrating swifts, Comic Con, Geek Week, and the start of apple-picking season, with plenty of ways to enjoy Portland’s fall traditions.
What To Do in Portland in August 2026
We have some ideas for how to make this month in Portland more exciting, easier, and just an all-round good time.
What To Do in Portland in July 2026
A quarter millennium ago, the U.S. got its start. Since then, we've experienced all the promises and disappointments of our country's rhetoric about freedom.