Erica's Notes Collard greens can be grown year round in the Pacific Northwest with a little care. Nearly as cold hardy as kale and more heat tolerant, collards are an easy crop in this region. If you want to harvest year round, start collards inside in late February along with the rest of your spring brassica crops. If space is limited, collard greens - like kale - are well suited to fall and winter culture. Sow outside directly or start…

Erica's Notes The mild Pacific Northwest is generally an excellent climate for artichokes, and if you baby your plants a bit through the winter, there is a good chance they will perform as short-lived perennials for you. However, if you want artichokes from seed this year, you need to start early. Start artichokes in generous 3-inch or 4-inch pots in the last half of January, and be ready to up-pot if needed. Set starts out in very early spring. It's…

Erica's Notes To grow your own onions from seed, start with very fresh, same-year seed. In the Pacific Northwest, start onions from seed from late-January to early-February. Select a long-day variety and sow lightly in a shallow tray filled with potting mix. Make shallow, 1/2-inch deep furrows across your tray, spacing the furrows about 3-inches apart. Aim to sprinkle about 6 onion seeds per inch along the furrows in your tray. Plan on setting starts out in early spring. In…

Erica’s Notes: By around the end of January, I like to have a pretty clear idea of what I'm growing and where I'll be growing it. Typically by the last week in January I've made a list of what seed varieties I want to order and figured out which seed houses have what I want. Like all enthusiastic gardeners, I'm prone to over-buying when it comes to seeds, so before I finalize my spring seed order, I check my existing…

Erica's Notes White or Irish Potatoes (so-called to distinguish them from Sweet Potatoes) are an easy, reliable crop in the Pacific Northwest. I've tried a zillion ways to grow potatoes in tubs, bags, bins, piles of straw - you name it. It's honestly just easiest to stick them in the ground and wait. Don't over-complicate your potato growing experience. But do try different varieties! I like Yukon Gold, Makah Ozette, French Fingerling and Russian Banana. Additional Information My Favorite Seed…

Erica's Notes Fresh Italian parsley is a culinary essential - when you grow your own parsley you start to use this great herb generously, more like a leaf vegetable than a garnish. It's also cold hardy, and is an excellent addition to the fall and protected winter garden. Parsley germinates and grows well in cool soils, so spring direct seeding in March is a good choice if your garden is prepared. If not, start indoors by sowing thinly in deep…

Erica's Notes Because peppers originated in the tropics, they are not well-adapted to handle wide temperature swings from day to night or over the course of the season.  Ideal temperatures for growth and fruiting of peppers are about 85 degrees during the day and 70 degrees at night. Peppers are easy enough to start from seed if you give them bottom-heat and don't overwater them. But try to get them to sprout in damp. 55 degree soil and you're asking for…

Erica's Notes Swiss chard is easy to direct sow - just make sure you thin your chard seedlings when they are a few inches high so they don't crowd. If you want the earliest possible chard, start indoors and set out to a protected cloche in very early spring. I like Bright Lights which has a fun, rainbow-colored stem assortment. Fordhook Giant is the most cold hardy variety I've tried. The red-stemmed chards I've grown are very pretty but have…

Erica's Notes You can put as much work into your tomatoes as you want. If you don’t mind fussing and you have good strong grow lights and you're planning on season extension, start your tomatoes in February with plans to up-pot to gallons if necessary and transplant to a pre-warmed, tunnel-cloched bed in late April, depending on weather. If you just don’t want to put that much work into it, buy starts in late April or early May at a…

Erica's Notes Cauliflower is like the Goldilocks of the Brassica family. She wants everything just right - not t0o cold, not too hot, not too wet, not too dry. If you are a new gardener, I recommend that you start with Romanesco (that's the cool green cauliflower with the amazing spiral patterns). Although it looks like a super-specialty vegetable, my experience is that Romanesco is actually easier to grow than the standard white cauliflowers in spring. Start Cauliflower under lights…