August Planting for Winter and Spring Harvests

As Seattle’s weather took a turn for grey skies and showers, thoughts naturally turn to the crisp and cozy days of fall, waiting just around the corner. After this unusually hot and sunny summer, there’s a certain excitement in the air among Seattlelites, looking forward to getting back to wearing rubber boots and hearing rain against the window. With those coming fall and winter days in mind, here’s a mid August garden update, and some ideas for your winter and early spring garden.

Cabbage planting

April Vegetable Gardening in Seattle

Even though the skies were overcast all day Sunday, the temperature felt invitingly warm for gardening, and I’ve been itching to plant April vegetables. The weather is flirting with coldness at night, but  warm enough with the promise of spring that you can go ahead and plant your April vegetables. I checked the soil thermometer and … it’s warm enough to start planting!

Soil Thermometer Says…

March Planting in Seattle: Vegetables and Flowers

It’s daylight savings weekend – the weekend in which the clocks spring forward and the daylight lasts an hour longer and all of Seattle gets a little giddy from a burst of sunlight and an extra dose of Vitamin D. It’s time to plant the vegetable garden, people!

Broccoli Raab, aka Rapini

October’s Red Kuri Squash Harvest

Fall is officially here in Seattle. Crisp mornings, turning leaves, long and leisurely evenings in the kitchen, and a bountiful harvest of red kuri squash.

Red Kuri Squash Harvest

Sweet Bread and Butter Pickles

Sweet Bread and Butter Pickles are my favorite kind of pickle. These little beauties are so good that I ate an entire jar shortly after they’d all been processed.

Sweet Bread and Butter Pickles

Arugula Pesto with Toasted Walnuts

The garden is overflowing with arugula. We harvested a row and made some lovely arugula pesto with toasted walnuts. It has a bright, rich, garlic-y flavor that’s perfect for fish, pizzas, pastas, cold orzo salads, bruschetta appetizers, and anything else you can think of to smear this green elixir on.

Arugula Pesto with Toasted Walnuts

June Gardening in Seattle: Radishes, Carrots and Sweet Little Pollinators

June is such a lovely time in Seattle. It’s not too hot and not too rainy, and the weather is so perfect for getting outside and gardening… after work, on the weekends, or an occasional moment in the morning, when the air is fresh and the birds are having breakfast. There’s nothing more pleasing than walking about the garden in the morning with a cup of coffee in one hand and a hose in the other, seeing what’s coming up today and how everyone’s doing.

The radishes are starting to come in…

Junior Radishes

May Garden Update: Parsley Madness

We’ve had a heat blast here in Seattle, and while some plants are loving it (the blueberries and strawberries) some plants are kind of scaring us with their enthusiastic embrace of the elements. We cut back an adirondack chair’s worth of parsley this evening…

Runaway Parsley

The Fastest Way to a (Chicken) Lady’s Heart

Last week, we had the joy of watching our friend Jessica’s chickens while she was out of town. Spending time with the three ladies is hilarious, entertaining, and means all the fresh eggs you can eat. Hooray! Of course, we have to thank the ladies for all their greatness.. which we do… with an ingredient guaranteed to win over any chicken’s heart. Here come the girls!

This way? Or… that way?

In the Garden in May: Bok Choi and Climbing Peas

Remember the bok choi and snow peas we planted in the raised beds back in March? Well, they’re growing away! Here’s a little update… Also, if you’re in the Seattle area, this weekend is the Seattle Tilth Edible Plant Fair in Wallingford. It’s a great way to celebrate the beginning of the season and stock up on all kinds of fun starts.

Seattle Tilth Edible Plant Sale!