What a relief! It’s finally time to go outside, get away from cable news and practice the art of gardening. Like anything else, the more you practice the better you get.

     Seeds should be more plentiful this year but it’s not too early to stock up. Last year the seed companies were inundated with new gardeners who decided to grow their own vegetables. This year the major seed sources are ready for us.  

     Choose Maritime Northwest seed sources first. They sell seeds for our area. Reliable locals like Ed Hume Seeds (vegetables, flowers herbs), Territorial Seeds, (vegetables, flowers, herbs), Nichols Garden Nursery, (herb seeds), Irish Eyes Seeds (specialize in seed potatoes, vegetables), Uprising Organics, (organic vegetable, flower, herb seeds and grains) and Northwest Meadowscapes (meadow wildflowers).  

     Other favorite and reliable seed sources outside of our area are Renee’s Seeds (heirloom vegetables, flowers and herbs), Seed Saver’s Exchange Heirloom Seeds (rare and organic vegetables, flowers and herbs) and American Meadows (wildflower seeds). All of these seed companies have a section devoted in part to organic seeds. So, what’s the difference between “regular” seeds and…

Organic Seeds?

It’s not that organic seeds produce organic vegetables and flowers. Organic seeds come from a certified organic farm. They only produce organic plants if you don’t spray them with non organic chemicals.  Contrary to popular opinion, plants that produce organic seeds may be sprayed with chemicals but they are organic chemicals.   Organic seeds fend for themselves and “may” be sturdier. The seeds harvested at an organic farm depend on the health of the mother plant. Buying organic seed supports organic farmers. That’s a good enough reason to grow from organic seeds.

     So is it better to grow from seed or…

Time Saving Transplants

    Growing from seed is cheaper and highly satisfying. There are more opportunities to grow oddball vegetables and flowers that nurseries don’t tend to sell.

     Since not everyone has a greenhouse, heat mat or bright enough spot in a window to grow everything from seed, it’s a good idea to do a little of both…seeds and transplants.

     Grow those plants that can be “direct seeded”. This limits us since the South Sound soil doesn’t really warm up until July.

     Easy and reliable vegetables to “direct seed” are leaf lettuces, flat leaved spinach (basically any greens), Danvers and Nantes carrots and bunching green onions. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and especially tomatoes are better from transplants from your local nursery. They take longer to germinate from seed and you don’t generally need large crops of these. Grow annual herbs like Italian basil, parsley and cilantro from seed. Rosemary, English thyme and garden sage are better grown from transplants.

     Herb growing, whether seeds or transplants can fill a…

“Complete Container Herb Gardening” by Sue Goetz

     Sue Goetz, our local author, speaker and herb expert released her third book in December.  “A Complete Container Herb Gardening: Design and Grow Beautiful, Bountiful Herb-Filled Pots” about her favorite subject, the cultivation and use of herbs.

     Sue details how to plant herbs in terra cotta, stone, metal and ceramic containers and even grow bags. She explains where to put the containers and how to maintain them right down to aging a too-new-looking terra cotta pot.

     Displays and designs for mixing herbs in both window boxes and hanging baskets are given the full treatment. Indoor herbs are discussed too. Sue includes easy projects for growing herbs in pots with culinary, personal beauty and home keeping recipes in mind. You can cook, cream and clean with a variety of easy to grow herbs. Fun!

Cool Springs Press, 192 p., $26.99

“Normally”, (remember “normally”?), we’re talking about and looking forward to the annual Northwest Flower and Garden Festival in Seattle which takes place at the end of February. Sad to say it was Covid canceled   One of the most popular components of the show was the well attended seminars focusing on authors and their new books. This year’s show may have been canceled but determined garden writers haven’t stopped turning out wonderful antidotes to isolation. Never has armchair gardening been more important. Begin some armchair garden traveling with…

“Adventures in Eden, An Intimate Tour of the Private Gardens of Europe” by Carolyn Mullet

Private gardens are personal gardens. Visit some of the most beautiful ones in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Italy through the eyes of Carolyn Mullet. These aren’t gardens you have read about over and over, they are gardens whose owners have created their own versions of paradise.  No two gardens are alike.

     Each garden comes with a readable description and a passel of beautiful pictures that typify each country. The gardens tend to be grand gardens, not backyard ones, but all of the photographed plants are ones we can grow here in the South Sound. One thing you might notice…lawns are almost non-existent.

     It’s not surprising that gardens in England are well represented.

      English gardens are favorite destinations for South Sound gardeners because of our similar climates and a great example of that is….

“The Modern Cottage Garden, A Fresh Approach to a Classic Style” by Greg Loades

Cottage gardens tend to have a reputation of being old fashioned. Throw a combination of heirloom annuals and perennials together and you have a cottage garden. 

     “Modern Cottage Garden” maintains that it’s ok to mix things up. Along with the cottage garden plants that have been grown and regrown for decades…mix in some of the newer, more trendy plants and see what happens.

     Prairie style gardening has been trending for many years, filled with swathes of ornamental grasses. Even if that’s not your style the author suggests adding some graceful grasses to update a traditional cottage garden. Experiment. Both annuals and perennials disappear for part of the year but adding ornamental grasses fills in the gaps when the garden is usually naked. Include more shrubs. Embrace change.

     The author encourages the use of containers and presents plenty of recipes for extending the seasons. Once again, all of the plants recommended can be grown in the South Sound.

     Return from touring well-established European gardens and go to a bittersweet story about a New England gardener who is…

“Uprooted” by Page Dickey

When circumstances cause you to leave a house and garden you have nurtured and loved for more than 34 years, how do you cope? One-way is to record as much as you can about it…sweet memories.

    Anyone who has made such a move will recognize the angst and the nostalgia of what you have left behind followed by the anticipation and excitement of where you you’re going.  

     Heartfelt and personal, “Uprooted” is a nostalgic memoir, an adventure and a lesson in enthusiasm all wound up in one well written book. Page Dickey is a garden writer who manages to infuse spirit into a very American story about moving and starting over. This one is also an audiobook.

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“Adventures in Eden” by Carolyn Mullet Timber Press, Dec.2020, 319 p., $40

“Modern Cottage Garden” by Greg Loades, Timber Press, Sept. 2020, 212 p., $24.95

“Uprooted” by Page Dickey, Timber Press, Sept. 2020, 248 p. $27.95,

 A lot of walking and strolling is going on just to get out of the house. If you’re a walker, you have probably noticed exceptionally nice gardens and yards and other walkers who cross the street and give a friendly wave. There is a kind of closeness that is happening among people who have to stay away from one another. Challenging times indeed.

The South Sound is filled with new vegetable gardens. A lot of raised beds have popped up in front gardens. Seed companies have had a hard time keeping up with vegetable seeds orders and many have sold out for the first time. There isn’t a shortage of seed, just a temporary slow down to restock. So there is plenty of time for…

 Summer Seed Sowing

     Bush Beans can be planted until late July. Beets can be planted until August. You can direct seed Broccoli until mid-July. It may sound counterintuitive but summer is the time to sow vegetable seeds for fall and winter vegetables. You can sow seeds of carrot, kale (some people actually like it) and green onions. Even parsley seeds can be planted and harvested through next spring. Brussels sprouts take a little longer until harvesting but if you like them, why not try? Watering is imperative but it’s well worth the time it takes to have your own fresh vegetables into fall and winter.

     We’re lucky to be in a region that can grow a year round vegetable garden. While you’re out there planting you can listen…

    Garden Podcasts for Everybody

Garden podcasts have become welcome respites for gardeners who want to learn or just be entertained. Here are a few of the best

 “A Way to Garden” Margaret Roach’s interview show, organic gardening and landscaping

“Cultivating Place” Jennifer Jewell conversations about natural history and the impulse to garden

“On the Ledge” Jane Perrone talks about indoor plants

“Let’s Argue About Plants” funny Fine Gardening duo

“In Defense of Plants” dedicated to botany

“Gardener’s Corner” from Northern Ireland, they visit gardens and take calls. Everything is discussed and it can only be described as “charming”. (my favorite)

Garden podcasts are regional or theme specific. There is one out there for every gardener, experienced or new. Follow your favorite podcast with the other exploding hobby…

“Recipes From a Kitchen Garden” by Renee Shepherd and Fran Raboff

Both cooking and gardening have taken up a lot of our “free” time. With all of the vegetables to harvest it’s always great to have some tried and true delicious ways to use them.

     Chances are you bought some of Renee’s Seeds. She sells flower and vegetable seeds that nobody else sells. The cookbook, first published in 1993, has been updated and republished. It’s all about the vegetables you have been growing. A family favorite is the Fire and Ice Tomato Salad. It’s a compact cookbook filled with great veggie recipes. Order it from www.reneesgarden.com, $14.95, Shepherd Publishing, 164 p.

Some of us think being told what to do and when to do it sounds too much like another job (hand flies up). So, let’s just say cleaning and winterizing the garden “sometime” in November is close enough. What to do…what to do…

      Gardening during the holiday season is nearly at a standstill except for harvesting late vegetables and enjoying late fall color. But there is more…add to that appreciating those cold hardy herbs that keep going straight through the winter. Herbs like…

‘Tuscan Blue’ Rosemary

Location, location, location…that’s all you need to grow enough Rosemary to supply the neighborhood. Rosemary officianalis ‘Tuscan Blue’ is an evergreen shrub that blooms winter through spring. It only requires a sunny, infertile spot with occasional deep watering. It grows best in the ground but can also be grown in a container. And it only fails when it’s too wet in winter; not because it’s too cold in winter. It survives temperatures as low as ten degrees. “Tuscan Blue” is particularly cold hardy. Plant it in soil that doesn’t retain water. Once it takes off you can forget about it until: it’s getting in your way, or you need it for cooking or making hair rinse (really).  And you can put Rosemary branches on a baking sheet and bake on low for about an hour just to fool people into thinking you cooked, a trick you can apply year round. Soooo many uses for Rosemary and its Mediterranean friend…

The Noble Sweet Bay

Laurus nobilis “Sweet Bay” is a trickier herb to grow but it’s definitely worth the effort. Further south it’s a tree but in the South Sound Sweet Bay is a darkest green shiny leaved shrub. Like all of the Mediterranean plants that grow well here, its needs are simple: as much sun as possible and excellent drainage. Bay is slow growing and thrives particularly well in a moveable container, one that can be placed in a sheltered spot if we get the dreaded “Arctic Blast.” Freshly dried bay leaves add a slightly floral or herbal fragrance to soups, stews and spaghetti sauce. Fresh-from-the-tree bay adds a menthol, minty or clove-like fragrance to meats and stews. Bay is evergreen and deer resistant. Cook with it or mix it in a holiday wreath. It’s the fragrance that makes Bay the most used herb. Rosemary and Bay are both culinary and ornamental marvels and loom large in…

“A Taste for Herbs” by  Sue Goetz

The second book by Sue Goetz, Tacoma’s local herb expert is a companion book to her first book, “ The Herb Lover’s Spa Book” Sue is a designer (www.thecreativegardener.com) and popular speaker, both locally and nationally. She knows herbs and their uses inside and out. This companion to her spa herb book focuses on herbs as seasonings, mixes and blends. 

     “A Taste for Herbs” is filled with unique ways to mix and use herbs you probably already grow. Sweet mixes like Basic Herb Sugar for baking or Rosemary Infused Agave are explained along with savory herb flavored oils and vinegars and mixes for flavorful tea infusions. Page 120 has a good Mojito recipe.

     Add to this some timely explanations about the various crazy sugars and salts available now and you have a recipe for another fun and informative herb book by Sue Goetz. St. Lynn’s Press,

$23.95