Growing Vegetables West Of The Cascades

The BEST gardening book I've found for the North Coast!
This is my all time favorite gardening book right now. If I lived south of here or east of here, it wouldn't be very useful, but in Humboldt Co., it's the only book that can explain how to grow vegetables out here. It's actually geared towards Washington and Oregon, but applies quite nicely to Humboldt, especially the northern end of the county. We're a bit warmer than some of the areas described in the book and our growing season is longer. Where this book is very helpful is when it comes to soil. Our soil here is acidic, just as it is north to us, and that plays a huge part in gardening here. We're also very wet here and not too warm, unless you live inland about 40 miles. This book addresses those issues. This book covers an incredible amount in only 340 pages. From soil to composting, to garden planning to water to starting plants from seeds (as well as collecting your own from your plants) to transplanting the seedlings. He even has a section on predators that are indigenous to our area, as well as how to build a cloche. This book is my gardening bible, and if you are a gardener on the north coast, I highly recommend it. Until Amy Stewart quits messing around with flowers and writing for the North Coast Journal and gets down to the business of writing a garden (especially vegies) book for Humboldt County, this will be the only truly useful gardening book for you coastal Humboldt vegie growers.

You can check it out at Humboldt Library and see if it works for you, or go buy it through Amazon.com or see if any of our fine local book stores carry it.

My first ripe tomato. I've had a couple more since this one, which is amazing for living only a few miles from the ocean. It's foggy here most days and it's near impossible to get a tomato to ripen without a greenhouse. So, I figure I'm doing pretty
darn good!

Otherwise, the garden is winding down a bit. My zucchini plant has died off, thank God! I've had enough zucchini to last
me until next summer! Our corn plants are suffering. It's just too shady and damp where we planted them. Next year
we'll try a different spot. Our artichokes are starting to put out some nice artichokes, and our apple tree is brimming full of apples. We're still harvesting broccoli too. I've got lots of beets and carrots coming if the voles will stay out of them. Our
cantaloupe and watermelon plants look nice, but I think it's too late in the year and we won't see any fruit from them. Especially since my dog keeps peeing on them!

I need to start working on clean up, planting some winter crops, like lettuce, spinach and chard, and planting soil amendments. And my poor roses need attention desperately.

Off to the garden!