The north Olympic Peninsula’s relatively mild winters, long cool springs, moderate summers and early arrival of fall temperatures can make vegetable gardening a challenge for some.
With a few tricks, however, home gardeners can have a bountiful vegetable harvest, local Master Gardeners note.
A trio of local gardening experts offer “Getting Your Vegetable Garden Going” from 10:30 a.m.-noon on Saturday, March 19, via Zoom, part of the Digging Deeper series.
Get the Zoom link online at extension.wsu.edu/clallam/master-gardener-calendar. To join by phone, call 253-215-8782 (meeting ID 920 0799 1742, passcode 709395).
Clallam County Master Gardeners Audreen Williams, Cindy Ericksen and Bob Cain will teach local gardeners how to grow vegetables successfully on the peninsula, detailing how the local climate affects crop selection and vegetable gardening practices.
They will outline where and when to plant a vegetable garden and care for it optimally, and describe starting seeds indoors to get a jump on the growing season. They will also discuss how to extend the growing period so that your garden produces vegetables in all four seasons.
Williams has been a Clallam County Master Gardener since 2012. Her favorite Master Gardener activities occur at the 5th Street Community Garden in Port Angeles where she oversees the Master Gardener plots and blueberry patch, assists the 4-H Garden Club and coordinates the Second Saturday Garden Walks. She was the 2014 and 2019 Master Gardener of the Year and has attained the Lifetime Achievement status with Clallam County Master Gardeners.
A nurse by profession, Erickson has many years of gardening experience. Since becoming a Master Gardener in 2006, she has grown and contributed thousands of vegetable starts to the Master Gardener plant sale. She has been an avid supporter of the Master Gardener Youth Enrichment Program (YEP) in which Master Gardeners visit second grade classes throughout Clallam County to teach students about plants. Ericksen has attained the Lifetime Achievement status with Clallam County Master Gardeners.
Cain has more than 40 years of gardening experience in Scotland, Ireland, Colorado and Washington state. He joined Clallam County Master Gardeners in 2009 and is a frequent contributor to local newspaper gardening columns and radio programs. He was the Manager of the Woodcock Demonstration Garden for seven years. Cain was the 2009 Master Gardener Intern of the Year and the 2011 Master Gardener of the Year. Cain has attained the Lifetime Achievement status with Clallam County Master Gardeners.
About the series
This presentation is part of the Clallam County Master Gardener’s Digging Deeper educational series. These presentations are free and open to the public and are held 10:30 a.m.-noon on the first and third Saturdays of most months and cover basic gardening topics relevant to most home gardeners. Sessions are scheduled for 90-minutes to allow for demonstrations (or videos) and questions from viewers.
For more information about “Getting Your Vegetable Garden Going” or the Digging Deeper series, call 360-477-0116. To learn about other Clallam County Master Gardener events, visit extension.wsu.edu/clallam/mg/educational-activities.
