Variety choice is one major factor in whether your Missoula vegetable garden succeeds, along with site, soil, timing, weather, and care. Missoula’s median last spring frost is mid May (about May 16 at the airport, per NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals) and the median first fall frost is late September (about September 26). That gives a typical frost-free season of about 130 days, and less in a cold year or a frosty yard, which is not a lot of time. Plant a variety bred for a long, hot southern summer and it may never finish here. Plant one bred for a short, cool season and you will often be harvesting while your neighbor is still waiting.
Days to maturity is the number to watch on every seed packet. It is counted from transplanting for crops like tomatoes and peppers and from sowing for direct-seeded crops, and it varies by seed company, so use it to compare varieties rather than as a calendar. MSU Extension’s tomato guide advises very early varieties for mountain valleys with short seasons, and the same logic applies to most warm-season crops. Here are short-season options for the main vegetables in a Missoula garden.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are where variety choice matters a great deal, because the long-season beefsteak types that fill seed catalogs often run out of summer here. Look for varieties in the 55 to 70 day range. MSU Extension’s list of recommended tomatoes for Montana includes Early Girl, Stupice, Oregon Spring, and Sub Arctic Plenty, and Glacier is another popular early variety. Seed catalogs describe both Stupice and Glacier as cold tolerant. For cherry tomatoes, MSU lists Sungold and Juliet, and Sun Sugar is another early option. For more detail, see our full guide on growing tomatoes in Missoula.
Peppers
Peppers want even more heat than tomatoes, so short-season varieties are essential. Smaller-fruited peppers often ripen faster than big bells. For sweet peppers, look at early types that color up quickly rather than the largest bells. Jalapenos, which are usually picked green, are a good short-season hot pepper, but check the days to maturity on other chiles, since some take as long as a bell. Our guide on growing peppers in Montana’s short season goes deeper on getting a good pepper crop.
Cucumbers, Squash, and Beans
For cucumbers, compact Spacemaster and the pickling types finish well inside our season, and Marketmore 76 takes a little longer but has strong disease resistance. Summer squash and zucchini are among the easier crops here since most varieties produce quickly and heavily, sometimes more than you can keep up with. Winter squash is trickier and needs short-season varieties, often smaller-fruited types like acorn and some buttercups, because some of the big storage squashes do not finish before frost.
Beans are easy as long as you wait for warm soil. Bush varieties like Provider and Contender produce fast and do not need a trellis, which makes them a strong choice for our season. Pole beans work but mature later, so plant them early in your warmest spot.
Greens, Roots, and Cool-Season Crops
This is the easy group. Cool-season crops actually prefer our spring and fall, so you have more room to experiment. Leaf lettuce, spinach, kale, and Swiss chard all do well, and most varieties will produce here without much worry about maturity dates. Kale and chard in particular shrug off cool weather and keep going for months.
Root crops like carrots, beets, and radishes are dependable too. Radishes are one of the fastest crops in the garden, often ready in about a month. Carrots and beets take longer but handle cool soil and can taste sweeter after a light fall frost. For these crops, focus less on maturity dates and more on choosing varieties suited to your soil and taste.
A Few Habits That Matter More Than Any Variety
Picking the right variety helps a lot, but a few habits make the difference between a decent harvest and a great one. Start heat-loving crops like tomatoes and peppers from transplants rather than direct seeding so they have a head start. Give those warm-season crops your sunniest, most sheltered spot. And read the variety description rather than going by where the seed company is based. What matters is the cultivar’s own traits, like days to maturity and cold tolerance, whether the packet comes from a regional company or a national rack.
For crop-by-crop timing and more variety ideas, see the Missoula Vegetable Growing Guide.
Sources
- Montana State University Extension, Growing Tomatoes in Montana
- Montana State University Extension, Successful Home Vegetable Gardening