Garden vegetables and herbs

OSU Extension helps Oregonians grow successful vegetable gardens with research-based guidance on planting, soil health and pest management. We offer region-specific resources and practical tips to support fresh, homegrown food from garden to table.

Featured Resources

Bread dough proves powerful in attracting slugs and snails

Bait may offer an inexpensive, nontoxic way to manage damaging slugs and snails worldwide.

Kym Pokorny | Aug 18, 2021 | News story

Container gardening: Grow vegetables even without yard space

Good candidates include lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, carrots, beans, squash, radishes, kale, chard and spinach.

Kym Pokorny | Mar 27, 2025 | News story

Start your own vegetables from seeds (in English)

Learn about starting vegetables from seeds. Start inside small pots in the early spring and then move them to larger pots as they grow. Use the right soil, pots, and lights to produce healthy plants!

Brooke Edmunds | Dec 2024 | Video

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Latest News

Plant cold-hardy vegetables now for a spring harvest

With planning and luck, winter vegetables can thrive in Oregon.

Kym Pokorny | Sep 2, 2025 | News story

OSU Extension food safety and preservation helpline opens for the season

Starting July 7, the toll-free helpline, 800-354-7319, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Grace Xue | Jul 3, 2025 | News story

Understanding tomato diseases helps gardeners grow with confidence

Boost your garden success with expert tips to identify, treat, and prevent common issues in tomato plants.

Kym Pokorny | Jun 26, 2025 | News story

All News

Grow Your Own Tomatoes and Tomatillos

Neil Bell Amy Jo Detweiler Heidi Noordijk and Chip Bubl

This extended revision of the previous edition describes how to grow tomatoes and tomatillos in the home garden. Topics include site and soil preparation, cultivar selection, propagation, planting and plant care, techniques for extending the growing season, pruning and training systems, and harvest and storage.

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Photo Credit: Zoe Schaeffer - Unsplash.com (Cropped from original)

Latest Resources

What is this deformity on my heirloom tomatoes?

I really enjoy heirloom tomatoes, especially the ‘Black Krim’ variety. I noticed this year that I have a larger quantity of tomatoes with a type of deformity. Is this normal for heirloom tomatoes or do I have some types of deficiency in my soil?

Rhonda Fick-Wright | Sep 2025 | Featured question

Why does my butternut squash taste bland?

We planted butternut squash that produced prolific fruit, but it just did not have flavor. The squash looked fine inside and out. What went wrong? Variety? Soil nutrients?

Ann Schmidt | Sep 2025 | Featured question

Can I eat volunteer vegetables from my compost?

I maintain a fairly productive compost pile that I use to replenish my raised beds each year. This year, I have a large number of plants (mainly squash and tomatoes) that have come up in beds where this compost was ...

Linda Brewer | Feb 2024 | Featured question

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Grow Your Own Rhubarb

By Toni Stephan Jack Parsons N.S. (Bill) Mansour and James R. Baggett

This publication describes how to successfully grow rhubarb as a vegetable or as an ornamental plant in the home garden.

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Credit: Iveta - Adobe Stock (Cropped from original)

Herb Resources

Té de Hierbas del Jardín receta

Tiempo de preparación: 10 a 15 minutos Rendimientos: 1 taza

Inglés: Garden Herbal Tea

Mar 2021 | Food Hero recipe

More herb resources

Vegetable Gardening Resources

Asociación de Cultivos

Jun 2021 | Food Hero gardening tip

La Siembra Sucesiva

Jun 2021 | Food Hero gardening tip

Cultivar Plantas a Partir de Semillas

Cómo cultivar plantas a partir de semillas

May 2021 | Food Hero gardening tip

More vegetable resources

Become a Master Gardener!

The Master Gardener™ program educates Oregonians about the art and science of growing and caring for plants. This program also facilitates the training of a highly educated group of volunteers, who extend sustainable gardening information to their communities through education and outreach programs.

Learn more

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Nutrition and healthy eating

Bees and pollinators

Berries and fruit

Garden soil and compost

Gardening techniques

Plant diseases

Upcoming Events

Dec 2

* Broadening your plant palette

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm PST Online

Feb 7 - Apr 18

Weekend Warriors Gardening Course

8:00 am - 4:00 pm Roseburg, OR

Mar 7

Spring into Gardening Conference

8:00 am - 4:00 pm

Meet Our Experts

Cindy Brown

4-H/FCH-SNAP Program Coordinator

Contact me for questions on 4-H youth development and healthy living programming in Sherman County as well as healthy living topics such as MyPlate, gardening, food preservation and food storage!

Stormi Dykes

Education Program Assistant 2, Community Food Systems

Contact for questions about Lincoln County Master Gardener™ and Home Food Safety & Preservation programs.

Brooke Edmunds

Community Horticulture, Master Gardeners

Contact me about the Master Gardener Program or gardening questions from Marion or Polk counties

Janhvi Pandey

Extension Horticulture Assistant Professor of Practice

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What is this deformity on my heirloom tomatoes?

P: I really enjoy heirloom tomatoes, especially the ‘Black Krim’ variety. I noticed this year that I have a larger quantity of tomatoes with a type of deformity. Is this normal for heirloom tomatoes or do I have some types of deficiency in my soil?

R: View answer | View all featured questions

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