🌿 Edible Everett: 5 Tips for Local Gardening 🌿
Editor’s Note: Article originally published April 5, 2017.
Growing food.
Your grandmother probably did it. For her it wasn’t a millennial-with-a-waxed-moustache trend. It was more like food security and frugality.
There are many reasons why growing your own food makes sense right now. You save money. It’s good for your community and the environment. It’s good for you. You know where your food has been.
Want to grow your own produce but don’t know where to start? Here’s a list of local ideas for the would-be urban farmer in Everett.
Where can I grow?
No gardening area at your residence? Rent a local space. Find plots in a variety of sizes at Henry M. Jackson Community Garden. Spots are also available at the Bayside Park P-Patch.
The above are established and organized gardens, but there are more small community gardens scattered throughout Everett. Keep your eyes peeled in your area or check in with your neighborhood association.
These community gardens supply things like tools, mulch, water, soil and tables for washing produce. You don’t have to store shovels or bring in compost in the trunk of your car.
Show up, dig it and haul your goods home.
French heirloom squash from a neighbor in Port Gardener
Where can I get supplies?
Organic seeds, fertilizers and soil amendments are available at the Sno-Isle Food Co-op. They also offer veggie and herb starts.
Canning jars, rabbit hutches, and chickens can be purchased at Co-Op Supply, Inc.
What’s easy to grow in Everett?
Best bets in our maritime climate are leafy greens, potatoes, carrots, peas and onions. Most herbs can be grown in small spaces in containers and are low maintenance.
Backyard potatoes Grown in Delta.
If you’re starting out, consider avoiding sun-intensive crops like tomatoes or peppers. These can be a risky use of your money.
If you’re short on time, you can grow veggies from starts. It takes some of the work out of cultivating plants from seed. Take a tray of starts and fill in a bed in minutes.
Other resources
The City of Everett offers rain barrel making classes. Sign up here.
Pesky potato blight? Got a case of apple rot? The local WSU extension has a master gardener who can answer your questions.
Join your local Buy Nothing Group on Facebook. This is a great way to swap seeds, plants, or score extra whatever.
Richard Porter (me) with local squash.
Also...
Don’t let setbacks get you down. Wilted broccoli happens to everyone from time to time. Patience, creativity and constant garden tweaking can result in a large and delicious harvest.
But if that doesn’t work there’s always grocery stores.
Happy growing!
Richard Porter is a writer for Live in Everett.
