May be moving to Oregon

Rachie, one thing about the WA beaches-don't forget the NORTHERN coast!!! Totally rugged and very rural-and NO cars! Kalaloch and north, in Olympic National Park, and by the reservation-La Push, Ozette, etc. Very different from Ocean Shores and Long Beach..

I think I did read somewhere once, though, that WA has the least amount of public or publicly-accessible coastline of any state. In Oregon, I think it's a law that the beach is accessible to all. Even if there are private houses that front the beach, there must still be access points.

Susybell,

I will be harvesting tomatoes until just before first frost, then I'll bring the unripe ones in to let them ripen indoors to prolong the season as long as I can.

Right now I am harvesting daily, I can't keep up with them. I am giving them away left and right, and cooking down and freezing sauce for the winter as fast as I can. I will have to plant fewer tomatoes next year for sure!

Essentialplanet,

Wow! Sounds yummy but maybe a little overwhelming...
Hmm. Is it Farmington Gardens that has that surplus produce for the food banks thing? Maybe you could give some to that program too.

I waited too long last year to bring in the last ones and some of them were awful. I'm trying to time it just right to get as many ripened as possible before it's too cold and they go bleah....

This message was edited Sep 21, 2007 9:53 PM

Hi Kwanjin - I am a native here, and while I have lived in many other places. I prefer the PNW climate. We are not rain-deficient, which is the price we pay for all the green, not to mention the molds/fungus, etc., we are forced to contend with. Typical soil is clay based, and more towards the acid side: can be rocky, too. We have some of the most robust weeds due to the soil's nutrient content.
Oh, and the farther south you go, the greater the build up of heat units, which allows for growing a wider variety of plants.
I live east of Seattle about 15 minutes, and grow both edibles & ornamentals. I have planted a small orchard on my property and have a particular interest in deciduous trees & shrubs. If I could, I'd relocate to Oregon - I prefer more heat. IMO, it should only rain at night, and Summer should not be limited to August.
We can get very low temps here during the winter, but that is not the norm. Typical for the Seattle/Portland area is about 28 - 34° in January & February, with highs hovering in the 80's during our fickle summers.Either way, weather systems are not prolonged or extreme as one might experience in the Midwest. Except for continuous days of drizzle/grey/cool...But that is why it's popular to read gardening catalogues!
I don't think you would be disappointed in relocating to either state, but not sure how the cost of housing / job availability is compared to your present location.
You might want to hang out in this forum - I think you would get a much better feel for the weather and the rhythm of gardening here. Also, I would recommend checking out some of the past threads - there was one that had Nursery suggestions listed for both WA & OR, which would provide you with a great info regarding plant material & availability.
Please don't hesitate to ask questions - it's a great way to gain a broad perspective.
Wishing you the best! K

You all down south must have had it a bit warmer this summer - my tomatoes remain in a very sad state of green. But I had lots of plums & blueberries!
There's always next year.....

EP - favourite thing growing now? Pears. Many pears, but never enough.

Susy - regarding carrots: I sowed OLD carrot seed last Oct just to see what would happen. The germination rate was quite surprising, & I did harvest wee baby carrots in Feb. They were sweet, but tiny. I left most of them in the ground & pulled more in April - bigger & tastier (perhaps because there was more to them?), let the rest go to flower for the Bees, and pulled the rest in August. I believe there are certain types that winter over better than others, but traditionally I sow my final crop in the beginning of July.

Thanks Kayte, I will do that. My biggest problem here is that when I read a label that says "Full Sun", that means "But not for your area". I have killed two japanese maples because of this and countless shrubs because I've had to discover on my own what "Full Sun" actually means.

It's going to be a new experience. One I'm looking forward to. I've been trying to create a japanese garden but have been unsuccessful with some of the plants. The only real shade I have is from the house. The only JM that's done okay was almost killed by the heat even in a mostly shaded area. This shot was early spring. It's all brown now and crispy as can be.

Kwanjin, what's the soil ph in SLC like? Does it tend to alkaline or acid? I think JM like acidy soil. I've always gardened in an acid-soil environs. I don't know what I'd grow in alkaline soil!


Katye, It was both a little warmer but still kind of cool, and a lot drier here-strange combination, really. Still, my tomatoes aren't that great this year, either. I've harvested maybe 15-20 and they have all been on the smallish side. None of them ripened until this month, either. I've got more green ones, but they're stubbornly staying green like yours. I think Essentialplanet must have really good soil and more sunshine than I do.
(Kwanjin, this is the downside to not-hot summers.......IF you like hot peppers, be prepared to be disappointed-they don't get HOT here.)

And, wow! fresh carrots in February and April ! That would sure be nice at the end of winter and early spring. Another idea for next year, to go in the nice veggie garden that I'm still talking DH into.

The soil here is mostly alkaline.The soil has been amended for the trees. I've spoken to some experts and they agree it's the heat doing the JMs in.

Hi Katye,

When I was talking about overwintering the carrots, I was talking about ones planted in July. I also planted in March, but most of those are picked already. The July planted ones were from Territorial Seed, specifically chosen for their overwintering abilities.

I think even the March planted ones would be fine left in the ground however.

Summer of 2006 (it was unusually hot) I was misting my JM frequently. It dropped its leaves a bit earlier than normal, but was fine this year. It may be too late to do this with yours, but worth giving it a try.
As far as growing tomatoes here - well, some years its a crapshoot.
My veg garden is comprised of raised beds, with very well-enriched soil, and is situated in the 'desert' of my yard. The problem is my property is sited in such a way that the cool air comes up over the hill & dumps into it. So while 2006 was a banner tomato year for me - 2007 has turned out to be like many others. The plants are large & have continued to flower; the tomatoes that have ripened are real tasty - I just don't think the majority of them will make it to the "orange" stage. But - there's always next year!
Peppers: hahaha! Even the habaneros aren't hot, but tasty nonetheless.
All this to say that any heat-dependent crops might yield a less than desirable outcome if the summer temps are cooler, and/or you live in a fickle zone (like the ever unpredictable zone 7b).
All of this is a continual learning process...
Susy - remember - they were TINY - more like carrot morsels.

EP - do you remember which type of carrot you overwintered? I use Territiorial seeds exclusively, but can't recall if it was Nantes or Danvers or what....
The reason I sowed that seed was to find out what type of germination rate old seed would have, if any. I was quite surprised that so much did germinate - it speaks highly of Territorial's quality and that storage methods are important, too.

Katye-
I love how you put it "we have some of the most robust weeds" they do have prime growig conditions! This year I managed to get all of the thistle pulled out of the yard and flowerbeds before they sent up spikes, I keep trying to worry out the darn morning glory but it doesn't seem worried at all! Guess I will just keep trying!

Susybell- Very true about the Northern Coast, I need to spend more time up there! Have a good day everyone! I'm going to go and check my tomatoes and see if I have anymore ripe ones. My hubby alreay ate the entire batch of fresh salsa I made on Thursday night, time for some more. Rachel

Byndeweed, I forgot to mention, that yes! That looks like the amazing morning glory I saw.

Rachie, you've got a really good idea-need to check mine again, too. Salsa-yum! And, I'd agree the weed morning glory doesn't seem to worry much about anything....

My morning glory has a mildew growing on the leaves and all it does is go "Bwah-ha-ha!!" at me.

I can see it now, rearing up on its stem, a couple of leaves out to the side for support, almost leering at you "Bwah-ha-ha!"

Seriously!!! That stuff is indestuctable! LOL

kwanjin -

Woodinville is a great place for a japanese garden. I have several japanese maples and they grow well here in both containers and in the ground. They get lots of midday sun in summer but the late sun is covered by the fir trees. They are one of the few things that I don't worry about at all here. I have clay veins, but am at the bottom of a hilly lot and so there are some loamy spots. The jms seem to do well wherever I plant them.

I also have TONS of vine maple and big leaf maple. I have to pull them every year or the following year I get to cut the saplings.

That sounds great! I'm hopeful that we'll go ahead with the move. We discussed it again last night. The only thing stopping us from doing it now is my mom is not so healthy. So we're helping her until...well, you get it.

EP - do you remember which type of carrot you overwintered? I use Territiorial seeds exclusively, but can't recall if it was Nantes or Danvers or what....

Hi Katye,

It was Bolero.
At the same time as I planted those, I also planted Parsnips Gladiator, though the other parsnips I have grown overwinters perfectly as well, and gets sweeter and tastier in the spring, after a freeze.

I also planted Merida Carrot (a little earlier I think), which I also intend to let overwinter.

Thank you so much - I will pass along this info to some other folks I know who want to overwinter their root crops.
I have not let my parsnips stay in the ground all winter - only because I'm impatient & want to eat them!

My tomatoes came out great this year! My favorite breakfast is a ripe tomato off the vine...

Beth, I would adore some of those seeds - thank you!

As far as tomatoes this year - lots of the small ones ripened (cherry & plum), but only a few of the bigger ones. They were absolutely delicious, though! I doubt many more will ripen now, darn it.

O.K. gang for all of us with to many green tomatoes here is a link to the foodnetwork site listing 1642 recipes for "green tomatoes!" http://web.foodnetwork.com/food/web/searchResults/0,7822,1,00.html?searchString=green+tomatoes&sortField=score&sortOrder=desc&searchType=Recipe

Enjoy! Rachel

This message was edited Sep 24, 2007 9:46 AM

Hi Rachel, perfect timing! lol....

as in one thousand, six hundred forty-two?
Good Lord - they will ripen indoors before I can go through all that...
Any favourite ways to prepare? - feeling mighty lazy about bringing them in, not to mention that there is impending doom around the corner in the form of r a i n......
My peppers this year are exquisitely mild - almost tasteless, lol. The habaneros didn't even register in the heat rankings of jalapenos.
I know, I know - there's always next year.

Lol, yeah, Know what you mean about the peppers.. I could just bite into my jalapenos-seeds and all- as if they were small green peppers....

Katye, just saw on the TV news here that we've been short of rain every single month this year. December was the last "normal" month. Over a half-inch short for July and August-or about half of normal. It's kind of nice to see the numbers confirm what I'd thought, but wish it had been a little warmer to go along with the dry. Better tomatoes!

Susybell -

Isn't that weird? I just saw that yesterday's normal average is 69 and we had a high of 61. Today must have a bit warmer because we had some sun. But it is cold. I finally finished mowing my lawn. I live in fear of not getting that last mow in before the rains come. I have so much shade that parts of the lawn stay wet even through the summer months. This time of year I take a lot of breaks to clean out the lawn mower housing and get everything unclogged - time consuming, not to mention a lot of exercise. :-)

Anyway, now I'm ready for the leaves. My neighbors have two huge big leaf maples that hang over my lawn. And then there are the other smaller ones that I have. It's good to amend my grass piles and such, but I hate dragged around piles of wet leaves in the rain when my hands are freezing. Maybe my hot flashes will help this year. They have to be good for something. LOL.

No, katie, they don't help! lol

Well, you could always use the cold, wet leaves as a way to cool off!
I have experienced ONE dry autumn in the past 22 years - you know it's a truly dry one, when the fallen leaves produce an audible crunch instead of sticking to your shoes like cemented shingles.
I just love it when the NE garden writers speak of "Fall Chores" and describe easy methods of dealing with leaves like how to run the mower over the piles to chop the leaves up.
I will be on yet another leaf-hunting mission this Fall - chasing after landscaping trucks with trailers full of leaves, begging to have them dumped off on my property. The looks are typical: head slightly tipped with one eyebrow raised.
I'll be paying regular visits to the various parks in the area, lurking near the trees with large plastic bags...

That sounds like something I would do!!!

I'd like to get some extra leaves, too. Unfortunately the gardening crews are at work while I'm at work. I think, though, that I may have found a neighbor who'd be excited to get rid of hers, so that will help.

Yeah, usually what brings me indoors from fall/winter chores is wet,cold hands. Nothing that a hot flash would help.

I've got a Raywood Ash that has interesting leaf-dropping habits. If there's a sudden overnight temperature drop, it's been known to drop ALL of its leaves at once. The whole sidewalk and the lawn here was over 6" deep in leaves on Halloween last year. What a huge mess! But at least they were dry and I only had to clean them up once!

I think of fall leaves here as soggy cereal flakes, actually.

How funny, I can see you lurking, waiting to pounce on a leaf!

Oooooh. The luxury of dry leaves. I'll bet that doesn't happen to you every year. It seems like the maples need those big first rains to make them drop their leaves, so wet is the way we go. Unless it's an unusual fall, I don't think I even get the soggy cereal flakes, LOL. But that is a good image.

I need to find some good water-proof yet not-too-bulky gloves to wear while leaf-gathering. I think that'd go quite a ways toward helping me gather them up and get them where I want them. I'd like to create a couple new beds in the lawn and I'm planning on using the leaves and remaining grass clippings to do that.

Hard to believe that Halloween is right around the corner. There's already a ton of Halloween stuff in the store. I don't do much to decorate as I'm at the end of a long dirt road and don't get any visitors. But I make myself carve up a pumpkin every now and then just for kicks.

I'm lucky here, most of the yards are done by services that bag the leaves up separately and leave them for trash pick up. I just go down the street and toss the tidily packaged leaves in the auto.

Hi Kathy,
No, that doesn't happen every year! It's really pretty nice when it does. Ash leaves once they get soggy aren't a lot of fun, either. The individual leaves are small.

I'd like some nice, not bulky waterproof gloves, too. If you find some good ones, will you post them?

Susyb -

Yes. Will do!!! The perfect PNW gardening gloves.

Rjudd -

That's way cool. I live in a populated, but on acre-plus lots area. Many people don't even use yard waste containers, just throw stuff into the wooded areas of their lots. Nothing neat about our leaf-gathering. LOL

Kathy

Hi Susybell,

Thanks for the food bank suggestion. Farmington is much to far to drive, but I connected with my local Wilsonville food bank and they take in donations every Tuesday, so a big load (guessing close to 30 pounds) went over there today.

Wow, EP! That's fantastic!!!

Hmmm, my foggy brain is remembering some kind of gloves with the name fox in them, and no - not the flower!
Perhaps a neoprene - type glove?
I wish I would pay better attention to details like this...

There is a glove I get at my feed store here in town, the fingers and palm are rubber and the top is a knitted cotton really good to work in but not very nice when your working with any thing with thorns, I used them when I use to stock freezers.
There called Alas fit, they come in green and blue.
Tilly