Gardeners have it tough here.

But just because gardening in Central Oregon is notoriously difficult doesn’t mean you can’t be successful growing vegetables in your own backyard.

It makes sense to save money by growing some of your own food, plus it’s a fun and rewarding hobby that a family can enjoy together.

All you need is information, dedication and vigilance to meet the many challenges of our region: a short growing season, poor soil, dry climate and cool nights.

Amy Jo Detweiler, on the Oregon State University horticulture faculty for Central Oregon, and one of our local experts on all things green in the High Desert, recently shared her best tips with us for vegetable gardening.

Here are seven basics you need to know in order to grow and harvest your own food at home in Central Oregon this summer:

Prepare soil with added compost and manure or build raised beds.

Make smart seed and plant choices, buying short-season varieties.

Pick sunny spots for garden plots.

Plant flowers with vegetables to attract pollinators and beneficial insects.

Water consistently.

Fertilize.

Have a frost protection plan.

Soil

Add compost and manure to enrich the soil with nutrients. Detweiler said it’s important to know the source of your soil amendments.

“Make sure there’s no herbicide residue. Make sure it wasn’t made from clippings that may have had herbicides. People need to ask about manures, too. If the fields that the horse feed came from were sprayed for weeds, the residue passes through the animals safely, but the residue can stay in the manure, and your vegetable crop won’t germinate properly or stay healthy,” Detweiler said.

Make raised beds out of untreated wood, so that preservative chemicals don’t leach into your edible food crop. There are advantages to using raised beds in the High Desert, said Detweiler. “The soil in a raised bed above ground will dry out and warm up more quickly. You’re going to be able to plant earlier than you would directly in the ground, and harvest later into the fall because the soil warms faster. And that’s important for seeds to get started and to keep growing through the season,” she said.

If you’re gardening in pots, use a good potting soil mix, not compost or manure, which can be too heavy. “To grow vegetables in pots, look for ‘compact’ varieties of seeds, so instead of a full-size carrot, you’ll grow more of a baby size. If you do tomatoes in a container, (the container) should be at least 12 inches high. They have big root systems, and a small container will stunt the growth of the tomato plant,” Detweiler said.

Seed and plant choices

The key to success is choosing short-season seeds and plants. Don’t worry about the zone for vegetables. Detweiler said zones refer to hardiness for plants that will be permanent in the landscape. (Central Oregon is USDA Zone 6.)

The Central Oregon growing season ranges from 80 to 90 days in La Pine and Sunriver, to about 120 days in Madras and Warm Springs.

“Here in Central Oregon, we add 14 days to what the seed packet says. If it says matures in 70 days, assume it’ll take 84 for true maturity because of our drop in evening temperatures. We don’t have plant growth at night,” Detweiler said.

The rule of thumb in Central Oregon is to wait until the first week of June to transplant plants you’ve started from seed inside, or to plant nursery starts or seeds.

Some seeds may be started in the ground as early as mid-April. Read the seed packet instructions.

Sun

A minimum of six hours of full sun per day is required for a vegetable garden.

Ideally, the plants will get eight to 10 hours of full sun per day.

Flowers

You’ll be a more successful vegetable gardener if you plant some flowers alongside the veggies. “Put some annual flower seeds in that will attract pollinators like beneficial bees and flies. You’ll also keep the bad bugs in check,” Detweiler said. Plus, you’ll have some nice color in your garden, too.

Water

Water is critical. “You want to water consistently at first. Keep the water level even, and the soil moist as the plants are getting up and going. Later in the season, you can do deeper watering, maybe not every day, maybe every other day, depending on how your soil holds the moisture,” Detweiler said. The goal is to maintain an even, consistent moisture level, she said.

Fertilizer

Vegetables need fertilizer. “If you’re using a well-amended soil and are watering consistently, you’ll want to maintain a level of nutrients. Add an organic or synthetic fertilizer, it doesn’t matter. You just need a well-balanced one. Some are specific to tomatoes, which prefer a different combination of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous,” Detweiler said.

Frost protection

Living in Central Oregon, where temperatures can drop to freezing any night of the year, requires a freeze and frost protection plan. Have frost protection fabrics or blankets ready to go. You can buy row covers, plant protection bags and “wall of water” devices that surround plants, absorbing heat during the day and radiating it out at night. Or protect single plants with large plastic bottles with the bottoms cut off. Bubble wrap and burlap can cover young plants on cold nights. Make a plan, and follow the weather reports.

Garden resources

• For tips on when to plant various vegetables, print a copy of the Central Oregon Vegetable Garden Calendar, available at www.bendbulletin.com/vegcalendar.

• The OSU Demonstration Garden at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center is a great place to learn. Visit this garden to see what’s been tested and grows well in Central Oregon. You can see vegetables, annuals, landscape plants, trees and shrubs. They’re all labeled. Open to the public year round, as long as the fairground gates are open. The garden is in the Parking Lot D area.

Easy to grow in Central Oregon

• Leaf lettuce, spinach

• Carrots

• Green beans

• Snap peas

• Potatoes

• Beets

• Chard

• Cabbage

• Onions and garlic

• Radishes

• Kohlrabi

• Corn

Plant as seedlings

• Tomatoes

• Cauliflower

• Broccoli

• Summer squash

• Peppers, hot or bell

What to avoid

• Brussels sprouts

• Asparagus

• Pumpkins

• Lima beans