Sun-Loving Veggies

When planning your garden, it's important to plan around the sun. Keep an eye on your garden and notice which area receives the most sun. A general rule of thumb is if your plant produces fruit (such as tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and peppers) they need the most sun (8 hours a day). If they are leafy or are root based plants they can tolerate less sun throughout the day. So plan accordingly!

Require the most sun (8 hours)

1. Melons

2. Tomato

3. Squash

4. Pepper

5. Eggplant

6. Cucumbers

7. Corn

8. Beans

Partial shade (6 hours)

1. Peas (although the more sun, the sweeter they taste!) 

2. Potatoes

3. Carrots

4. Beets

5. Broccoli

6. Cabbage

7. Basil

8. Strawberries

Require the least amount of sun (2-4 hours) 

1. Most herbs

2. Lettuce

3. Chives

4. Kale

5. Pak Choi

6. Spinach

7. Swiss chard

I usually grow sun loving vegetables in pots, that way I can move the pots around as the sun moves throughout the day! I'm sure my neighbors think I'm crazy.

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Last Frost Date

Seattle's last frost date has come and gone, March 27th, with a safe date of April 15th.

In other news, it snowed in North Seattle yesterday! As I scan the news this morning I see pictures like this:

And articles titled "Seattle Gloom: 40 days without much sun"

I'm desperate!

Ok enough sulking, onto some learning. The average last frost date in Seattle doesn't really mean much. I usually wait until late April to plant outside. Some vegetables that may be able to handle being planted now are pea's, lettuce, beets, spinach, and carrots.

Planting too early will lead to stunted growth, which lowers the plants resistance to disease.  Last year I planted pea's in my garden in early April, and 1 month later planted another set. They ended up growing at the same rate! The left was planted in early April and the right was planted around May 1st (these photo's were taken on the same day):

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