Best pacific northwest region gardening books according to redditors

Then go for it.

If it seems uncommon here, probably most people here are just too lazy, as it takes time to maintain a veggie garden, so easier for them to go to the store. Also, since we are pretty far north on the globe, our growing season won't be as long as what you might be used to in Turkey, and different kinds of produce might be better for our climate and growing season.

If you really want to get into it, there is a great book written by a guy that founded a great seed company (Territorial Seed Company).

This is his book : https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349

I had a huge garden in my yard one year, based on this book. It was amazing, but it took up a lot of my free time so I scaled back to just a single container to grow a few tomatoes. I'll probably do a large garden again someday -- after I retire.

This is the book that got me into gardening way back in the early 90s. Probably quite a bit updated by now. Steve Solomon is the guy that started Territorial Seed Company.

You pretty much have to read this book. It explains the basics of why our NW soil is unique (basically rain leaches our soil of many essential nutrients while leaving behind a heavy clay soil) and what to do (and not to do) about it. He's a little dogmatic but just breeze through it. It's on sale right now for less than $15 and a quick read. It also has a planting calendar. Portland Nursery also has a (PDF) planting calendar based on the book but if you compare the two you will notice differences.

I think you can seed tomatoes now indoors. Bottom line is that we get a lot of crappy weather and some years are "cabbage years", meaning tropical plants such as tomatoes won't thrive in our short-season climate. Start them indoors early, stagger your plantings\, and make sure to get local varieties selected for our region (the book covers all this).

Also consider indoor systems including hydroponics, especially for herbs and salad/leafy greens. With the amount of slugs and rain around here it's nice to have these available year round and they can be grown with cheap lights that use marginal electricity (as opposed to say growing tomatoes indoors which would use expensive lights).

If you grew tomatoes and corn successfully you're doing just fine. Good luck.

In Seattle you can direct sow lettuce and greens starting around March 15th, we are after last frost date so beans should be ok, though they would perfer warmer soil. Tomatoes could go out under cover pretty soon, I dont usually actully plant them till May. You will have better growth if you plant your pepper and tomatoes (and squash) in black containers, the black pot will help provide the soil heat that the tropical plants need to thrive.

Your plot looks ok, I would bury the grass clods upside down, also you will probably need to lime the soil. Raising the height of the bed above the surrounding area will increase soil temp and make for better drainage. Soil west of the Cascades are universally acidic and low in phosphorus. A quick soil test will tell you the PH, Dolomite lime and Agricultural lime are what you will need to raise your PH. Further details are in Steve Solomons Growing Vegatables West of the Cascades.
http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Edition/dp/1570615349

PS,
Plant Peas to improve your soil, Cascadia and Oregon Sugar Pod II are great varieties for our region, you can direct sow around 1 inch apart any time after valentines.

Good luck and happy gardening.
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/38531/em9057.pdf

> ...with some of our plants like peppers and zuchinni, I feel like we could've done better.

I’m a little further north from you (Cascade foothills, NE of Seattle) but the best twenty or so bucks I ever spent was on a copy of Steve Solomon’s Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades (Amazon link.) Peppers can be tough in our climate (not enough heat units) but if you’re struggling with zucchini you might need to up your game.

I don’t recollect how much Solomon delves into raised beds, but most of the concepts can be applicable to most gardening methods, if you’re OK with reading.

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades has been an extremely valuable resource for me. This year is my first doing serious gardening (in Portland) and having region-specific advice is great.
https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349

These two books helped me a ton! We have a fairly unique climate here that can be difficult at times. Basically sets you up for the best success each year. I love gardening! Happy to have another in our ranks!

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Anniversary/dp/1570619727/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493331258&sr=8-1&keywords=west+of+the+cascades+gardening

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Anniversary/dp/1570619727/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493331258&sr=8-1&keywords=west+of+the+cascades+gardening

Gonna jump on your post here if it's ok...?

This guy's book was a really good read (sounds region-specific, but lots of good advice & I like it, at least the old edition I had from him - not my area but was a really good read nonetheless):

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Anniversary/dp/1570619727/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=61475601532&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIko2K3s_H4wIVkMJkCh2TuQ0uEAAYASAAEgJTbPD_BwE&hvadid=274737938392&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1014167&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3854399460535581594&hvtargid=kwd-307473147769&hydadcr=22602_10370142&keywords=gardening+west+of+the+cascades&qid=1563767514&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Really good author for drilling basics into your head & always seems genuine (in the two books of his I've read in the past)

edit: he talks about soils and spacing quite a bit, at least in the older edition. Newbies would be well advised to check it out; not your garden-variety "more compost + unicorn manure + pretty pictures" gardening book 😉

Plenty of my friends garden here. I think it can be difficult to grow things that need lots of intense sun (tomatoes only do so-so), but lots of other stuff can be grown.

This book:
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening by Steve Solomon is supposed to be pretty definitive for this area. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570615349)

You can also go to the many farmers markets for fresh produce and advice on growing your own.


As others have said, it's not so much the rain, but the grey. I don't think we get that many inches of rain, but late fall, winter, and early spring can be dreary. But you can drive 80 miles up the gorge and be in sunnier but colder weather.

We get very little snow... maybe one or two days a year where it sticks. A couple years ago, we had snow on the ground for almost a week.

I remember calling my dad (who lived in Wisconsin) one day in the spring. I was out mowing the lawn and he had just shoveled 2 feet of snow off the sidewalks.

I love it here. I'd enjoy living short-term in other places, but of all the places I've already been, this is the one I like the most.

I'm sorry, I saw your title in /r/gardening and thought what a great topic!! I couldn't wait to share how important I thought it was for a book to be targeted at a reader's local climate/soil conditions were, and I wanted to share what I had found for the Portland area in "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades" . Then I saw the "perennial flowers" and I'm a bit confused. Find a local nursery they and will sell what will grow in your area and since you aren't going to eat it, feed it with miracle grow or what ever you want to.

If she want's to grow organic perennial's for some reason. The vegtable books should work too.

I would wait. I read that holding off just a bit longer for peppers is usually better for them. Source: Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades. https://www.amazon.ca/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349
Edit: I am in the Lower Mainland

Can't vouch for it yet but am very impressed with the reviews on this book. http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345180353&sr=1-1&keywords=steve+solomon

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Natural Gardening: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/1570612404