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Edible
landscaping has finally made it to the Pacific Northwest.
Whether by whim or practicality, growing vegetables or other produce
has come into vogue. I am hoping it is more than a craze. If you are
one of those people who boils the water and then picks the corn going
into the pot, you will be eating the ultimate in fresh food. And,
you’ll be assured that your crop has not been sprayed with pesticides.
Want your children to eat more fruits and vegetables? Plant a fruit
tree, add some berry bushes, and plant your own produce.
Where
to Start? Layout
Take a walk around your entire house and note which areas have the most sun. Whether vegetable, fruiting tree or shrub, plants require full sun. The horticultural definition of “full sun” is six hours or more. If we can get more than six, we should. The growing season is short here as it is; we do not need to truncate the growing season further.
Soil
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have been blessed with some odd mixtures of soil. There is gravel till further north, clay soil here in the Eastside region and more sandy soil in the Mercer Island area. However you slice it, there is not enough organic matter which adds nutrients and creates friable soil for vegetable gardening. Vegetables are “heavy feeders,” or they require more nutrients to produce crops. If you choose to fertilize, choose an organic, slow release fertilizer and follow their directions.
Vegetables require good drainage so their roots are not sitting in saturated soil leading to stem rot. Take your shovel and see how deep you can dig. Do you hit hardpan six inches down? That's not enough soil for a vegetable crop. You'll need to add to your soil and amend what you have with compost, especially if it is clay. Vegetables will need a good twelve inches of friable soil to do their best. Shrubs and trees at least 18 inches. Determine the size of the mature plant width by consulting the seed packet and amend a circular area to suit your plant.
Spacing
There is a
world of information on the back of a seed packet. Dig them out and get
an idea of mature plant sizes. Box stores sell short wooden stakes that
can be used to designate areas for planting. Mark the name of the plant
on the stake along with the width x height of the plant. Place your
stakes in the ground starting with the shorter plants in the front,
paying attention to the mature width of the plant.
Planting
Take a look at the stem of your plant and notice where the soil hits it. Plant your seedlings to the same depth. If you are planting a tree or shrub, you will want to measure the root ball’s height and plant no deeper. Then amend the soil with compost in a circular area 4 feet across. You are looking for a mix of 25 percent compost and the balance native soil. Fruit trees or shrubs need a good start so you may also want to add organic slow-release fertilizer to the mix. Check the box and look for small numbers: 4-6-4 or 4-4-4 to ensure that you do not burn the roots. Vegetables can handle 18-10-10 fertilizers but not trees or shrubs.
Starting
Seedlings Since
vegetable maturation rates vary widely,
check the seed packet for a day count to maturity. If you want to
harvest at the end of August, and the maturation time is 49 days and
the germination rate is 7 days, then you would be seed starting around
July 4. Be aware that not all vegetables grow at all times of the year.
There are those suited for cooler weather and others that like it hot
and humid, such as slicing tomatoes. This year I’m planting cherry
tomatoes and Marzanos.
After you
have your strategy in place, call in the extra hands! Get your kids to
help put a sterilized soilless mix in small starter pots. Sterilized,
soilless mix will help to keep soil-borne diseases at bay. A heating
pad can facilitate for speedy, reliable starts especially if you keep
your home on the cool side in the early spring. Seedling heat pads can
be obtained through Growers Supply on-line. A 9” x 18” pad will be
large enough to start 18 4-inch pots which can hold three or four
seedlings. Keep your seeds damp until seeds are germinated.
When the first set of true leaves unfurl, it is time to transplant your seedings into larger pots. Place one plant per pot. At this point, you can transplant your crop and start a new batch of seedlings with the heating pad. If you have seedlings for lettuce planted every two to three weeks, you will have carrots, radishes and lettuce through out the season. I used to work in stained glass, and a tool I used there called a “fid” is the perfect transplant tool for seedlings. By holding on to one leaf of the true leaves, I can lift the new roots out easily using the fid as a small spade.
Hardening
Off If it is
below 50 outdoors at night, you will need to toughen up your plants
before they move outside. Move your seedlings to a protected but
unheated place like a garage or shed for the evenings and return them
to their sunny window during the day. After a couple of days,
place them outside during the day, gradually increasing the time until
they can remain outside all day and night. If you start hardening off
May 1, by May 15 they will be ready to plant.
Planting
Outdoors Want to skip
hardening off? Now there are seeds in biodegradable strips. Once the
soil has warmed up, you can plant these seed strips and not worry about
proper seedling spacing. Or, skip the seeds altogether and purchase
starter seedlings. Spend a Saturday morning planting with your kids!
Plant outdoors after the last hint of frost has vanished, usually
around May 15th in our area. Have your soil ready to go. For
vegetables, use a ratio of 50 percent compost to 50 percent
native/existing soil and mix well. To be sure they don’t get
frosted, cover with Reemay each night until night time temps do not go
back into the 30s or low 40s.
~ Nancy Tom is an environmental horticulturist who designs, installs and maintains landscapes for Down-to-Earth Gardens, Inc. This article was written in 2010 for The Redmond Reporter and the Kirkland Reporter. ~ Archived
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