By Ian Wilson, Portland Edible Gardens
On these shortest days of the year, it’s easy to feel like the growing season is forever away, but in just a couple of months it will be time to start planting vegetables again. January is a great time to plan for spring planting, and nothing gets us in the mood for gardening like ordering seeds.
But why should you buy seeds, anyway? And where should you get them? And what varieties will do well in your PNW garden? We’ve got answers.
While planting vegetable starts from the nursery is convenient and has many benefits, planting from seeds directly in your garden (aka “direct seeding”) has some amazing advantages that shouldn’t be overlooked. For one, successfully direct seeded plantings are more pest and disease resistant, and hardier than veggies that have been transplanted. Root vegetables in particular shouldn’t be transplanted at all, and do best when seeded directly. Sourcing your own seeds will also give you access to an incredible diversity of varieties and save you money.
Looking for a one-stop shop for a diversity of well adapted seeds for the Portland area? We recommend Oregon’s own Territorial Seed Company (territorialseed.com). Crazy about greens? Try Wild Garden Seed, wildgardeenseed.com, featuring over 50 lettuce varieties. Looking for the exotic and rare? Check out Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com).
And while browsing online is convenient, when it comes to seeds we think there’s no substitute for an old-fashioned catalog. So request a few catalogs by mail, pour a glass of wine and plan that garden.
Wondering where to start or what varieties to purchase? Here are five of our favorite and easy-to-grow varieties that thrive in PNW Spring gardens, all available from Territorial.
Super Sugar Snap Pea is the first vegetable we plant in Portland gardens as early as mid-February. It’s a vigorous grower and needs a trellis to climb on, but very productive with abundant sweet succulent pods. It’s consistently a favorite with the kids.
Celesta Radish is a great place to start if you’ve never grown root vegetables before. Beautiful, round, cherry red radishes mature in as few as 30 days from seeds. Don’t forget to “thin” plantings to about half of an inch spacing after they emerge to allow proper space for roots to size up.
Roquette Arugula is one of the easiest greens to grow from seeds, and arugula prefers the cool wet weather that is typical here in the Portland area in March and April. This variety is quick to mature and is tolerant of frost.
Cilantro, despite what you might think, loves cool weather and grows very well from seeds. We sow small “successions” of this beautiful variety monthly through the planting season. The Cruiser variety also has some heat tolerance and resists “bolting” which won us over long ago.
Lofty Salad Mix is a curated mix of lettuce seeds with a variety of colors and textures. Harvest at the baby leaf stage for a stunning cutting mix or let it grow to maturity and harvest whole heads
So get right to it. Start perusing seed catalogues, place your order and get ready to enjoy the magic of direct seeding in your home vegetable garden.
Celesta Radish. Photo by Portland Edible Gardens.
