Editor’s note: These excerpts are from Lorene Edwards Forkner’s latest book, “Grow Great Vegetables Washington” (Timber Press, $21.99).
GROWING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES is a crazy good thing. From chilly spring days when I bundle up and venture outside to briskly poke pea seeds into the wet soil to hot summer afternoons spent staking tomatoes, their sticky foliage enveloping me in a slightly bitter herbal aroma and staining my fingers olive — I find the entire process endlessly appealing. But all that pales next to the sheer pleasure of going into the backyard and harvesting crops in their prime. It’s all about the food, people!
Ours is a land of plenty, ripe with potential. Ample rainfall (ahem), good soil and moderate temperatures grant a long and hospitable growing season. But we grow things a little differently here. All gardening is local and especially so if you happen to reside in a region embraced by mountains, bordered by salt water or divided by rivers. Cool-season crops (like kale, carrots, and cabbages) yield generously, demanding little from us aside from the care of the soil and attention. But if you want your harvest to also include tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and peppers, it pays to approach the growing season with a definite plan and a few simple tricks to maximize summer heat.
Every month in the garden has its own eccentricities, and certain plants and specific varieties are proven to excel in our region. No matter what you’re looking to harvest — a windowsill crop of midwinter microgreens, fresh salads spring through fall, a bumper crop of tomatoes or a few savory herbs to enliven your dinner — specific tips and techniques can help you navigate the delicious possibilities available to the Washington grower. Growing good food means something different to each of us.
Tending a garden teaches us to know our plot and our place more intimately. We become familiar with shifting sun and shade as we move through the seasons. We recover the classroom-like wonder of watching seedlings emerge or discover a favorite (and reliably productive) tomato. Whether you’re new to growing or a seasoned green thumb, cultivating a year-round garden is a continuing education as well as a nearly constant feast.
Some years are more challenging or fruitful than others and sometimes the harshest seasons are the best teachers. Some years we celebrate a bountiful harvest, some years the birds get the berries. Alongside tender lettuce and tasty herbs we learn to cultivate a respect for natural systems and understand the importance of caring for the land that we have access to. In other words, by tending a garden we grow ourselves.
Welcome to another year in the garden. Dig in!
February: Gardening under cover
February can be fickle. In Western Washington, daytime highs may reach 50 F but overnight the mercury still hovers in the low 40s and 30s. In Eastern Washington, even colder temperatures, hard freezes and snow are likely possibilities.
Besides putting up protective covers to warm the soil and shelter early plantings, the main gardening activities this month take place indoors. This includes dropping by your neighborhood nursery for a cozy chat (the knowledgeable staffers would no doubt appreciate the company during this sleepy season), catching an early-season buzz at regional gardening and home shows, and prepping for the busy planting season, just around the calendar corner.
Sow and plant
Plant bare-root plants or hold in a cool, frost-free place until planting conditions are right.
Indoors: Start onions, leeks and shallots, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce and salad greens, mustard and spinach. Late in the month start tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
In the garden: Sow lettuce and salad greens, mustard and broccoli rabe, outside under cover. Late in the month, direct sow arugula, fava beans, (sprouted) peas and radishes (as conditions allow).
Lorene Edwards Forkner is the author of the newly published “Grow Great Vegetables Washington.” Find her at ahandmadegarden.com and at Cultivating Color on Substack.
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