Help for the vegetable garden novice

Now that I live in the beautiful, abundant Skagit Valley after thirty-plus years in an Alaskan coastal rainforest, I have the climate and desire to learn how to grow a vegetable garden. I turned to fellow Master Gardener Cathy Markham and asked her to mentor me.

With many years of experience gained from multiple acres of gardens and knowledge collected from gardeners who have gone before her, Cathy graciously agreed to guide me.

Here are some of the guiding principles Cathy encourages new gardeners to lean on:

Grow what you love to eat. You are more likely to put the work into the garden and harvest the foods you love to eat.

Start small and be successful with easy-to-grow plants. A very small garden can be very productive and rewarding. If you have vertical space, climbing vegetables are a great choice.

Adding nutrient-dense vegetables to our diet is always a plus: dark-leaved greens like kale, spinach and chard; rich dark root vegetables like beets and carrots. Also consider peas and beans, garlic, onions, leeks and shallots; broccoli or broccolini; and tomatoes.

Grow what is expensive or not as flavorful when a store purchase, such as herbs. Tomatoes and English peas (shelling peas) are examples of vegetables that are much better fresh from the garden.

Based on your time and patience, decide what you are willing to deal with in your garden. For example, you may choose to grow only a few vegetables from the cabbage family because you are unwilling to deal with the bugs and worms they attract.

We live in an area with an excellent choice of vegetable starts available. Beans are the exception here; they do best when grown from seed. The huge variety of vegetable choices available in seed sources is a plus for growing from seed. Variety may be a low priority for new gardeners.

Begin at the right time. Don’t start too early. It is so tempting to get the seeds or plants in the garden early. Wait patiently until late May or early June to plant tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and tender herbs like basil. Until the soil is warm, many plants shiver and sit.

Commit to what you start. That is, take care of your garden. And have fun!

As winter turns to spring, Cathy and I will meet, talk, plan and put these guiding principles into action in my newly installed, drip-irrigated vinyl-clad raised bed garden adjacent to our home on a small town lot in La Conner. For a more comprehensive step-by-step primer for novice vegetable gardeners, follow this link to the Ask a Master Gardener Blog at skagitmg.org/veggie-rookie/.

Anne Hays and Cathy Markham are certified Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners, class of 2022. Cathy has a degree in food and nutrition from the University of Idaho and is a registered dietician. Her vegetable garden has been featured in the Seattle Times Sunday Magazine.