Spacing and growing butternut squash and raspberry

We’ve bought some butternut squash starts, and from what I’ve read online,
they require a lot of space. This will be my first time growing them. We
have 4′ x 6′ x 1′ raised beds, and I’m wondering if one bed will be big enough to plant 1 butternut squash start. Also, I’ve read that they require staking?
Is this true? What should we do with the other 2 starts that we got if we don’t have room for them in our raised beds? Try planting them directly into
the ground? I’d hate to throw them out…

We also bought a raspberry plant, and I’ve read that they should have 14-18″
for their roots. Again, our raised beds are only 1 foot deep. Would we be
better off digging a hole in the ground?

There is conflicting information in different sources about the amount of space butternut squash needs. Most sources say (as Seattle Tilth’s Maritime Northwest Garden Guide does) the gardener should allow 18-24 inches between plants, which would mean you could plant all 6 starts in one 4′ by 6′ raised bed. Steve Solomon, however, says in Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades that winter squashes require much more space, so that you could only plant two in your 4′ by 6′ bed.

Staking winter squash can be done to save space. There is a pretty good description of how to do it in Mel Bartholomew’s book, Square Foot Gardening. Basically, the vines are planted 4 feet apart in a trench prepared with “large-mesh wire fencing” on 6-foot posts, and twined through the fencing as they grow. He says the stems are strong enough to support the heavy squashes. The technique is also mentioned in Vegetables, Herbs & Fruit: An Illustrated Encyclopedia by Matthew Biggs, Jekka McVicar, and Bob Flowerdew.

As for your raspberry, it will grow faster and better with deep, rich soil. However, raspberries have a tendency to spread by underground runners, so it is often a good idea to contain them in some way. Depending on what is under your raised beds (i.e., soil, sand, concrete) you may wish to plant them there despite the shallow depth, or dig/mound up within the raised bed to improve the soil depth, or plant the raspberry elsewhere.

weed-and-feed products and edible gardens

How soon I can plant my edibles after I’ve used weed and
feed?

Do you know which weed and feed product was used? That would help in
determining the chemical’s half life (persistence) in the soil. Regardless of which chemical was used, my
recommendation would be not to plant any edibles in a site which has been
treated with weed and feed, but to find another location for your food
plants (such as containers made of safe materials, or raised beds with a
barrier between the bed and the chemically treated area of the garden).

Local garden writer Ann Lovejoy has discussed weed-and-feed products in
her column. Here is a link.

Here is what retired Washington State University Extension agent Mary
Robson had to say on this subject in one of her columns no longer available online:

Just one note of caution-be careful with all chemicals. Many pesticides
ordinarily used in gardens are not allowed on edibles. An example is Lawn
Weed and Feed which will harm any broadleaf plant whether lettuce or
marigold or petunia. It’s probably safest to keep pesticides out of the
garden if you plan to eat the produce.

Formerly available from the website of Washington Toxics Coalition:

The Hazards of Weed and Feed

“Weed and feed is a mixture of lawn fertilizer with weed killer, usually
2,4-D and related compounds. The problem with weed and feed is that it is
designed to be applied to the entire lawn regardless of whether or not
weeds are actually present. This encourages over use. For example, if 30%
of your lawn is covered in weeds, 70% of a weed and feed application will
be wasted, since the herbicides have no residual action. Since many
people do not realize that weed and feed is a pesticide, they may be less
inclined to read an follow label instructions. For example, did you know
that it is illegal to apply weed and feed more than twice per year on the
same site?

“The herbicides in most weed and feed products are mobile in soils and are
widely found as pollutants in local streams, according to the U.S.
Geological Survey. In addition, 2,4-D is neurotoxic and may be a
carcinogen according to some studies.

“Weed control should be practiced only as needed, not every time you
fertilize. Mechanical controls are preferable to protect health and the
environment. If chemical controls are used, spot treatment should be
utilized to minimize product use and resultant risks from direct exposure
and track-in to the home on shoes and feet.”

Here are links to information on some common weed-and-feed type products
and their hazards:

From the Pesticide Action Network North America

From the Winter 2005 (updated April 2006) article in Journal of Pesticide Reform

vegetables that can tolerate partial shade

What herbs and vegetables grow well in very little sun?

The following is a list of vegetables that can tolerate partial shade. While productions may be greater in the sun, these plants will produce an edible crop when grown in a shady location.

From an article on The Old House Web (no longer available online):

VEGETABLES

Arugula

Beans

Beets

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Celery

Cress

Endive

Kale

Kohlrabi

Leeks

Parsnips

Peas

Potatoes

Radish

Rhubarb

Rutabagas

Salad Burnet

Sorrel

Spinach

Summer Squash

Turnips

HERBS

Garlic

Angelica

Borage

Caraway

Chervil

Coriander

Parsley

Lemon Balm

Lovage

Mint

Tarragon

Thyme

This article (“Best Shade-Tolerant Vegetables”) in Mother Earth News offers more detail about the amount of sun or shade needed.

Remember that most of these plants do not grow in complete shade. Plants will need some morning, evening or filtered sun; a total of two to six hours of direct sun is the minimum.

growing Crucifers and other vegetables in the PNW

We have a couple of beautiful heads of cauliflower and a nice set of broccoli. The cauliflower looked nice until we cut through it to find lots of little bugs, turning some of the flower inside dark. We have a few aphids on our mustard greens, but the cauli bugs do not look like aphids.

Is it possible to grow ANY Cruciferae up here without infestations? I have NEVER been able to grow ANY type without some kind of bugs. At least the aphids wait until the bok choy flowers before they infest….and our yard has lots of ladybugs! Is there any hope?

We recommend that you start your seeds indoors to reduce the threat of insect infestation. Once the plants have begun to establish themselves, you can move them outdoors.

These books have great information about growing vegetables in the Pacific Northwest:

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to OrganicGgardening (by Steve Solomon, Sasquatch Books, 2007)
Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles (Sunset, 2010)
Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest(by Binda Colebrook).

Colebrook explains that crucifers are “susceptible to attack by clubroot, cabbage loopers, imported cabbageworms, cabbage maggots, and gray aphids.” Sunset recommends that to prevent pests, “plant in a different site each year. Row covers will protect plants from aphids, cabbage loopers, imported cabbage-worms, and cabbage root maggots. Collars made from paper cups or metal cans (with ends removed) deter cutworms, which chew off seedlings at the base.”

removing sod and preparing soil for vegetable gardening

We plan to put in a vegetable garden next spring where we now have grass. It is a great sunny spot that we think would work well for this. The question is, after we cut out the sod this fall, someone has suggested we plant rye grass for the winter, is this a good solution? If not, what do we do to the soil this winter? (We plan to bring in some top soil after we take out the sod).

There are several approaches that you can use to get your new garden ready. One is from Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon. He
recommends removing the grass, covering it with no more than 1/2 inch of
completely rotted compost or 1 inch of raw ruminant manure, and spread
agricultural lime at 50 pounds per 1,000 square foot. Do this in early
October. Then scatter small-seeded fava bean seed at 6 to 8 pounds per
1,000 square feet. Rototill no more than 2 inches deep and relax until May.
In late May you rototill deeply and or spade in the overwintered garden
area. Then you can plant.

Another information source, Seattle Tilth’s Maritime Northwest Garden Guide,
recommends using an annual winter cover crop to improve the soil. It
suggests using 85% legume and 15% grain for maximum nitrogen fixation. For
the legume, you can use Field peas, Crimson clover, Fava beans or vetch. For
the grain you can use cereal rye, winter wheat, spelt or barley. Most of
these are applied at about 2 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Again you would
rototill or turn under the cover crop in late April or May.

Solomon’s method will provide a better total approach. You also should
consider having your soil tested to find out what is missing and what your
pH level is.

vegetables to grow on roof gardens

I’d like to plant a vegetable garden on my roof. It will be in a feed trough about 8 feet long, and 2 feet wide and deep. I’m wondering what I can add to lessen the weight of the container (so it won’t just be filled with potting soil and compost). Also, any recommendations for which vegetables to grow would be great–things which are fairly easy and don’t have enormous roots!

To lighten the load of your container, a lightweight organic material like hazelnut shells might make a good bottom layer. You could use perlite, but that may actually be heavier than the nut shells. Here is information about sources of hazelnut shells:
Oregon Hazelnuts (a website of hazelnut growers) (lists several sources)
A Washington State source, often found at local farmers’ markets, is Holmquist Hazelnuts.

The book The Edible Container Garden: Growing Fresh Food in Small Spaces by Michael Guerra (Simon & Schuster, 2000) has a section on rooftop containers, and recommends (after you’ve consulted a structural engineer) using lightweight, well-draining compost, and setting your container(s) on timbers to help with drainage. According to the book, the best candidates for containers are potatoes, chard, lettuce, radishes, shallots, bush tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, squash, dwarf carrots, dwarf beets, mustard and Asian greens, and runner beans. More difficult are cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, parsnips and other deep-rooted vegetables.

The following links may be of interest:

University of Maryland Cooperative Extension

Vegetated Roofs from Oregon State University Extension

Article about the Reading International Roof Garden (Britain) from The Guardian by Emma Cooper (and another article by this author in Permaculture Magazine #53).

on replanting seed potatoes

I would like to plant a second crop of potatoes in July. Could I use
potatoes dug from my first crop this year or should I try to find seed
potatoes?

You can plant mid-season and late potatoes this month, but there are
particular varieties that are best suited to planting at this time. This
is one reason not to plant the potatoes you just dug (which are
an earlier variety).

Here are links to additional information:

From the University of Illinois Extension.

Growing Potatoes in the Home Garden from UC Santa Cruz.

Steve Solomon’s Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades (Sasquatch Books,
2000) says that because of the large number of viruses which can affect
potatoes, you should not carry over your seed (replant). It is safest to
use certified virus-free planting seed. He says that your crop might be
fine the first time you replant your own potatoes, but they will become
increasingly susceptible to viruses.

growing potatoes

I would like to know how to grow potatoes; how/where best to plant, type of soil, sun/shade requirements, how to tend them, how much fertilizer, when to harvest. I would really like a step-by-step process.

I recommend the book, Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon (Sasquatch Books, 2007, 6th edition).

The author says it is important to maintain loose soil around the forming tubers so they can expand well. He recommends planting when all danger of frost is past. Your main crop should go in between May 15 and June 1. Plant the seeds in rows 4 feet apart, dropping seeds one foot apart in the row. Your soil should be open, fertile, and moist below the growing row, and very loose, airy and dryish above and around the forming tubers. Cover seed just barely with well-tilled fertile soil, and then gradually hill up a mixture of soil, compost, and decaying vegetation over the growing vines. This cover should remain loose until harvest time. The ideal planting spot is where fava beans have overwintered and been tilled in shallowly. At planting time, sprinkle complete organic fertilizer in a foot-wide band down each future row. Broadcast a half-inch layer of compost over the row.

Seed potatoes should be free of viruses, which means you should purchase certified seeds. The best are “single drops,” small potatoes of about 2 ounces each.

When vines appear, they begin rapid growth. When they are 4 inches high, hill them up by using a hoe and scraping a little soil up around the vines. Repeat this process weekly for the first 2 months, and by midsummer you will have continuous mounds about one foot high and 18 inches wide. Vines will begin to fall across the mounds. Now just handpull any weeds, and avoid disturbing the soil.

Varieties recommended are Yellow Finns, Nooksack Cascadian, Red Gold, Caribe, and Kennebec.

Here is some additional growing information from University of California at Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.

parking strip vegetable gardening

I want to plant my parking strip for a vegetable garden. Do I need a permit from the city? And if so where do I get a permit?

You do not need a Street Use permit for gardening activities in the planting strip.
Here are the City of Seattle’s current guidelines for parking strip gardening.

Linden Mead, a Seattle Department of Transportation arborist, addresses one of the concerns I would have about planting edible crops next to a street:

“Although the list may not be exhaustive, and gardeners are encouraged
to be creative, they do need to follow some parameters. Plants grown
within the area equal to or less than 30 feet from an intersection
may not exceed 24″ (2 feet) in height at maturity. This is so that
visibility is adequately maintained (cars and pedestrians visible
to each other). When a planting strip is 5 feet wide or less, plants
may not exceed 36” (3 feet) in height at maturity. This is to help
assure pedestrian safety/visibility as well as to maintain pedestrian
walkways and the roadway clear of overgrowth which may impede travel
on the right-of-way. With wider strips, it is possible to put in scattered,
taller plants, if planted in the middle of the strip.

“There are also regulations about ‘hardscape’ – which may include
planting beds in the strip. Raised beds may be constructed from
timber but rocks or bricks that are easily moved (read here ‘picked
up and thrown’) are not allowed. Permits are also required to plant, prune or remove trees.”

Seattle Department of Transportation has specific information about growing food in the planting or parking strip. There are some concerns as well as a few restrictions, described here:
“SDOT prohibits fruit trees because of the slipping hazard for pedestrians from fallen fruit. For some residents, it’s their only sunny area to grow vegetables. But the planting strip is a public space, part of the public right-of-way, so it’s hard to control what pets or people do there. It can be harder to reach with water, and there may be concerns with the soil.” It is also a good idea to test the soil for contaminants before planting edible crops.

Heirloom Vegetable Gardening : a Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting, Seed Saving, and Cultural History

The book “Heirloom Vegetable Gardening” was a classic almost from the moment it was first published in 1997. The author, William Woys Weaver, is a rare scholar of the kitchen garden with a PhD in food ethnography, or the study of cultural eating habits.

Weaver easily could have written a pompous tome. Fortunately, he is a skilled writer and hands-on gardener (and cook, too) who combines dry wit with both practical and historical information. I am not an extensive vegetable gardener, but his stories are compelling and I happily read the encyclopedia of recommend varieties from cover-to-cover.

If you do grow your own veg and enjoy experimenting, this book is an investment that will pay in long-term dividends. Now there is a new (2018) edition. While much of the descriptive material and selection of the varieties is the same as the original, there are minor updates and additions. Both editions are available from the Miller Library.

The author is especially interested in how certain foods have connected different cultures. For example, I learned that lima beans are well named, originating in Peru possibly 7,000 years ago and named in English after that country’s capital city. The Spanish occupiers observed that the indigenous people reserved the crop for the elite of their society.

Is that why the Spanish disseminated these delicious beans to the rest of the world? Perhaps. However, when Weaver was asked to cook a dinner of American foods by friends in Germany, he had trouble finding a source for lima beans. Northern Europeans have not embraced this food like Americans because they are a warm weather crop and don’t thrive north of the Alps.

Weaver references many historical writings and includes a gigantic bibliography of cited sources in his appendices. Many are quite old (dating back to 1591) but still very useful for gardening tips, such as putting out whiskey to discourage crows from corn. “I would use the brand of corn whiskey called Rebel Yell. It seems to fit the remedy and evoke some of the sounds I now associate with the birds at the height of their raucous inebriation. Incidentally, it works.”

Published in Garden Notes: Northwest Horticultural Society, Winter 2019