• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Start Here
  • Calendar
  • The Hands-On Home

Northwest Edible Life

urban homesteading in the pacific northwest

  • Gardening
  • Cooking
  • Food Preservation
  • Animals
  • Productive Home
  • Life & Family

Gardening

213May 2, 2018Gardening by Erica

May Gardening Chores For The Pacific Northwest

Update for May, 2018: Spring is here. The global vibe I’m getting for late April and early May weather is “unpredictable” – wild temperature swings, unseasonable cold snaps, unseasonable heat, general weirdness. The atypical seems to be getting pretty typical. Fortunately, our mild maritime Northwest climate continues to be a bit more restrained. The big…

Read More

309April 30, 2018Gardening by Erica

10 Self-Propogating Herbs and Flowers That Take Over My Garden Every Spring

This time of year is always rewarding; almost overnight things seem to morph from “expanse of wood chips” to “a zillion shades of green.” The days are getting long, temperatures are slowly warming, and perennials and quick-germinating herbs and flowers are responding by popping up everywhere. With a few notable exceptions (looking at you, bindweed), most…

Read More

212April 23, 2018Gardening by Erica

17 Homestead Rules and How I Score For Each

I am forever indebted to Storey’s Basic Country Skills. It is, itself, a perfectly comprehensive and useful book but of no remarkable distinction compared to the numerous all-in-one homesteading, country skills and home how-to encyclopedias also available for sale. Personally, I am more inclined to reach for The Encyclopedia of Country Living, which is similar…

Read More

81April 2, 2018Gardening by Erica

April Gardening Chores For The Pacific Northwest

2018 Update: I think compared to other regions of the country, we in Cascadia have gotten off quite easy so far this spring. There’s a reason they are called Nor’easters and not Nor’westers, I suppose. Time to bring back this old favorite: Which isn’t to say there haven’t been some odd moments. Twice in the…

Read More

93March 14, 2018Gardening by Erica

How To Grow Kale or Collards In The Pacific Northwest

Kale is probably the easiest crop you can grow in the Pacific Northwest. Our cool, mild climate is perfect for kale, which can easily become a year-round source of hipster-approved greens. However, like most cold hardy brassicas, kale tastes best when the weather turns chilly, so if you aren’t a major kale lover, grow this…

Read More

83March 5, 2018Gardening by Erica

March Gardening Chores For The Pacific Northwest

2018 Update: Weather here in the Pacific Northwest isn’t nearly as strange as what our friends in Ireland or on the East Coast are dealing with. What I’m seeing is actually pretty typical for early March in the Pacific Northwest: a back and forth between blustery, cold, wintery weather and drizzly, mild spring weather. In my…

Read More

129February 26, 2018Gardening by Erica

Johnny’s Seeds, Territorial Seeds and Monsanto: a 2018 Update

Way back in 2012, I wrote what became a fairly popular and referenced article on the Monsanto buyout of a seed company called Seminis. To briefly recap: Seminis was a provider of lots of garden seed to lots of different seedhouses. Then, overnight, they were a Monsanto subsidiary and seed companies like Johnny’s Selected Seeds…

Read More

65February 19, 2018Gardening by Erica

All the Seed Terminology You Need To Know

Gardening has lingo. Some of the terminology surrounding seeds, seed starting, and growing is pretty intuitive and some is more obscure or weird. But it helps to understand these seed-related terms if you want to navigate a seed catalog, ask accurate questions, look things up, or just sound like you know what you’re talking about….

Read More

36February 7, 2018Gardening by Erica

My Seed Order for 2018

I think we need to add a new term to the general lexicon. Stress-induced Seed Acquisition Syndrome. SSAS. We can pronounce it like sass. SSAS is closely related to other Homestead acquisition and purchasing disorders, such as: Chicken Math Delusion Syndrome (CMDS) – the belief that your 4 x 8 foot chicken coop can totally…

Read More

76February 1, 2018Gardening by Erica

February Gardening Chores For The Pacific Northwest

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s February. You know what that means? It’s time to get going. I can feel it, and I’ll bet you can too – that little twitch in your hand that says, “alright, baby, let’s start some tomatoes!” February typically marks the beginning of the big seed starting effort around here. Not just…

Read More

191January 24, 2018Gardening by Erica

How To Grow Onions: The 4 Things You Need To Know For Success

Onions can be weird. Here are four things you need to know to grow them successfully. First, they are oddly finicky about daylight length. Second, they can be grown as a fresh eating vegetable or a storage vegetable. Third, there are enough onion varieties to bog down even the most decisive garden planner. Last – but certainly not least in the confusion department – you can grow them from seed, set, or from plant starts.

Read More

14January 22, 2018Gardening by Erica

If Infomercials Targeted Gardeners

Do you have trouble getting your cabbage to head? Are you concerned about your cruciferous credibility? Have brassicas got you beat? Then you, my friend, need kale! Yes, kale! And not just any kale – you need Portuguese Kale. Now I know what you’re thinking, “how could I ever grow kale? Isn’t it a superfood? Aren’t superfoods only for super-gardeners?”

Read More

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 15
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar



Hi! I'm Erica, the founder of NWEdible and the author of The Hands-On Home. I garden, keep chickens and ducks, homeschool my two kids and generally run around making messes on my one-third of an acre in suburban Seattle. Thanks for reading!

Copyright © 2025 Northwest Edible Life LLC ·