Many fruits and vegetables are easy to grow in the Puget Sound area and guidance is widely available. Here are some hints to help you get started. Several vegetable and fruit-related WSU publications are also listed in our tip sheet “Gardening Publications,” available at our King County Master Gardener WSU Extension website and plant clinics.
Demonstration Gardens

Local organizations, including those that focus on fruit gardening include the Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation, NWfruit.org, who teams with WSU Mount Vernon, MtVernon.wsu.edu. Their fruit demonstration garden in Mount Vernon, north of Seattle, is open to the public daily, dawn to dusk.
Seattle Tilth (now Tilth Alliance) demonstration gardens are in Seattle (Wallingford, Rainier Beach and Mt. Baker neighborhoods), Kirkland and Auburn. More information is available at their website: www.seattletilth.org/about/tilth-alliance-gardens/aboutgardens
Frost Dates
This and more weather data are available at WSU website: weather.wsu.edu. Data include soil temperature, another important consideration in planting time, especially for heat-loving crops such as tomatoes and peppers.
Extend the Season
- Cool Season Gardener: Extend the Harvest, Plan Ahead, and Grow Vegetables Year-Round by Bill Thorness (2013) and
- Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest: Cool Season Crops for the Year-Round Gardener by Binda Colebrook (2012), available at regional bookstores and libraries. Even without the use of season extenders, crops such as carrots, beets, salad greens and kale can be planted in midsummer to harvest in fall and winter.
Another excellent reference for year-round gardening is Seattle Tilth’s “Maritime Northwest Garden Guide” (2014), available to order at their website www.seattletilth.org or at their offices in the Wallingford district in Seattle.
Location, Location, Location
Seeds or Starts?
Local Plant Sales and Nurseries
Seattle Tilth also hosts edible plant sales. Farmers markets often sell vegetable plant starts; Seattle location listings can be found at: seattlefarmersmarkets.org. A broader listing can be found at www.pugetsoundfresh.org/markets/list.
Local nurseries throughout Puget Sound are a great resource for edibles gardening, from seeds to plant starts, season extenders to gardening advice.
Additional Master Gardener Tip Sheets, including “Gardening Websites” and “Gardening Publications” are available at kingcountymg.org. Also, see WSU’s “Gardening in Washington State” at gardening.wsu.edu and free downloads of WSU gardening publications at pubs.extension.wsu.edu.
Feature image by Jill Wellington. Detail image by Andre Moura.
CLH 12/20/19
WSU Extension Master Gardener Program * 206-543-0943 * king.MG@wsu.edu * kingcountyMG.org Center for Urban Horticulture * Box 354115 * Seattle WA 98195-4115 Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office.
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