Just moved to Seattle from LA, am I too late for summer gardening? What can I plant now that can yield a harvest?
Do you do beets from seeds? I haven't grown them before, but would love to try.
Yup they are pretty easy to grow, just oversow your seeds and thin later as their germination rate is not 100% in my experience.
Thank you so much!!!
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That book rules I’ve given it as gifts to a lot of new gardeners up here.
Thanks for the great response! I don’t think I clarified that we moved to a townhouse so all the planting space we have is containers on a rooftop deck 😭 I guess I’ll have to find out what does well in containers :(
You can take classes at tilth alliance and I just threw kale in a shady planter box and it thriving.
Herbs, greens and lots of places are clearing out their large pots of tomatoes. Swansons has some that have actually set fruit. If you can find large peppers, those too (this all assumes you have good exposure).
If you can get larger containers some blueberry or strawberry starts might be available too. Again, though, you'll need good sun
I gotta go look up this book now!
You’re in luck - lots of things! Tomato and pepper plants, lettuces from seed (in dappled shade), beans, corn, cucumbers and summer squash from seed (full sun), and much, much more. Pay close attention to your place’s microclimate (elevation and proximity to water) and even variations within your property - tree canopy, soil consistency, whether a planting bed is next to a wall (heat sink), etc. And of course till in plenty of organic compost before planting anything.
Territorial Seed has excellent planting guides for the PNW - here’s the fall/winter one: https://territorialseed.com/blogs/fall-winter-growing-guides But their guides, while helpful, are definitely not one size fits all - Territorial is in Southern Oregon, so their calendar is a bit early for places at higher elevations and/or farther north. You’ll learn your new place’s unique microclimate and adjust accordingly.
Word to the wise for next spring - most garden centers and stores in the PNW have veggie starts available LONG before it’s actually the right time to plant them in the soil outdoors. They’re all greenhouse grown and you have no information about whether they arrived at the store yesterday or 2 weeks ago (so no idea if they’re acclimated to the outdoors or whether you still need to harden them off). IMO, you are better off starting from seed indoors and transplanting outside when it’s appropriate for the microclimate on your property. Plus, you can choose the plant varieties you want. And it’s a lot less expensive.
You can make a compact indoor plant propagation setup with wire shelving and inexpensive LED grow lights from Amazon - see Donny Greens’ YouTube channel (for microgreens, but his recommended setup also works perfectly for flower and veggie plant propagation).
If you’re a tomato lover, highly recommend TomatoFest for heirloom seeds for next year. Terrific selection and fantastic germination rate, have bought all my seeds from them for over 20 years.
I'm just starting to plant my fall broccoli and peas and carrots and such. You can also plant lettuce and greens around here almost year round.
Do you mean seeds or cultivars at the nursery? The blueberries are starting to ripen, so it’s still okay to plant hem and eat them for the rest of the season XD
Yeah... I got the Maritime Northwest Garden Guide (2nd edition).
So far, I'm finding Vegetable Gardening in the Pacific Northwest by Lorene Edwards Forkner to be much easier to use as a new gardener. (It’s also focused on maritime Northwest)
I'm not sure why, but the Maritime Northwest Garden Guide reads like a magazine to me. Just random info, articles, dumped randomly. :/ I keep going back to Vegetable Gardening when I actually need specific information.
That being said, I haven't read them both cover to cover, and I certainly haven't gardened enough to know if the advice of either is good or bad.
The Maritime guide is more useful as a "what to do this month" than an overall guide
Our green beans were just planted (germinated in just 5 days!), if you buy zucchini plants rather than putting seeds in the ground, you'll be ready to harvest in a few weeks. Go poke around a garden store and see what's left, they're quieter now..
I've had great experiences with the starts from grocery outlet. organic and inexpensive and ready to be planted now.
Peas do great this time of year
Lettuce and carrots are something I seed constantly all year, Next month is time to start fall crops: peas, beets, broccoli.