Ten Tips for Great Northwest Food Gardens!
The Savvy Gardener newsletter, Spring edition
Savvy Advice from Lorene Edwards Forkner
Read the entire article (off site link)
Reap the rewards of growing your own! Grow fresh, healthy and delicious food – have fun, get some exercise and save money, too. Before you begin, spend a little time planning for the season ahead. If you are new to food gardening use one of the excellent books in Resources below to get familiar with best practices, such as the importance of rotating your crops. This will save you time, money and result in better crop yields, too. Follow the watering tips under #4 to provide the water your plants need, while helping to preserve precious water resources. Here’s how to get the most from your efforts:
- Take advantage of the cool growing season and seasonal rains
Chard, kale, lettuce, arugula, mustard, bok choy, cabbage, and many other greens thrive in the cool months before the soil warms enough to support summer crops. Root crops like beets, carrots, parsnips and cabbage family crops will hold through the winter, with your backyard serving as a crisper drawer until you are ready to harvest. - Limit warm-season crops to half of your available planting space
Corn, tomatoes, squash and other heat-loving vegetables can be a gamble when we have an especially cool summer. Be thoughtful in your planning, and use the right techniques to get the most from your efforts. - Combine edible and ornamental plantings
Feeling squeezed for space? Cultivate peas with your poppies and encircle beds with delicious and colorful lettuce, chives, or parsley. Dense plantings serve as a “living mulch” to preserve moisture in the soil; you’ll increase your yield and conserve water at the same time. Growing vegetables and fruits are a great motivator to switch over to organic gardening methods; healthy gardens produce healthy food. - Group vegetables with similar water – and other – growing requirements
Not all veggies need a full day of hot sun. Did you know that many cool season crops (see above), as well as peas, bush beans, chervil, mint, and cilantro actually prefer a little shade in high summer? Cucumbers will produce poorly under dry conditions, whereas a little drought stress prompts late summer tomatoes to ripen their fruit. Before you apply any water check the soil to be sure it’s needed. Avoid irrigating in the heat of the day and overhead sprinkling in general to reduce water wasting evaporation and over-spray.Get the most from watering!
Tips to help you grow great veggies and fruit while using water efficiently:- Amend your soil with compost, and mulch the soil surface, to help retain moisture.
- Plant more densely to grow a bigger harvest with the water used.
- Plant crops with similar water needs together, paying attention to crop rotation and other best practices.
- Select the best watering method for you: soaker hoses or drip watering may be the most efficient, but watering with a water wand works well, too.
- Regardless of method, probe into the soil surface before watering to make sure water is needed, and water in the morning before the heat of the day.
- Choose varieties wisely
Siberian tomatoes and Japanese eggplants have proven themselves productive under growing conditions similar to those in the Pacific Northwest. Select seed varieties – see Resources below – that do well in the cool springs, moderate summers and mild fall conditions of our Northwest gardens. - Buy from the experts
Purchase locally grown organic vegetable starts at independent nurseries, farmers’ markets, and plant sales. These plants will generally be varieties that thrive in our area. - Master the time/space vegetable continuum
Days to maturity: This information appears on every seed packet and most plant labels to indicate when you can expect your harvest.
Catch Crop: Plant fast-maturing vegetables in the space between slower-maturing ones that will later spread.
Double cropping or succession planting: Plant another crop as soon as you’ve harvested the previous one to keep your garden in constant production. This tactic is greatly enhanced by using transplants. - Include continuously bearing vegetables
Chard, kale, pole beans, cucumber, summer squash, broccoli, and “indeterminate” or vining tomatoes are just a few crops that continue to grow, flower and produce if kept picked. - Grow UP!
Employ trellises, teepees, fences, poles, and arbors to take advantage of the growing space above your beds and add a pleasing vertical element to the garden. - Always include herbs and perennial food plants
Don’t forget rhubarb, strawberries, herbs, asparagus, fruit trees, cane berries, blueberries, artichokes and bunching onions. These permanent garden residents produce a broad range of delicious flavors year after year without replanting.
Resources
Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden, by Bill Thorness; Skipstone Press, 2009.
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades, The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening, by Steve Solomon; Sasquatch Books, 2007.
Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide, by Carla Emery & Lorene Edwards Forkner; Sasquatch Books, 2009.
The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide, by Carl Elliot and Rob Peterson; Seattle Tilth, 2000.
