Gardening Vegetables and Fruits and garden pests I am likely to have to fight...and locally grown produce (Richland: Home Depot)

[wldgrdnr]

As my moniker shows I like to garden. I am very interested in hearing from people who garden as well...

I'd like to know what things do well there, and what things are not worth messing with.

Specifically some of the fruits I am interested in is fruit trees that do well there, as well as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, plums but am open to any other fruits that grow well there. I'm sure grapes probably do well, but I don't care for grapes...maybe I'll have to try to learn to like them LOL

In the Richland and W Richland areas am I likely to have to fend off deer, rabbits or any other "critters" who want to eat all my "stuff"?

Re vegi gardening I'd like to know what grows easily and what is an uphill battle. There are SO many vegis I am interested in...I don't think I ever met a vegetable I did not like (well except avocados, but I do like guacamole on rare occasions)

Greens (esp chard, mustard, kale, arugula & Romaine lettuce) but greens of any type I would like to hear about...I wonder if you have enough of a cool early spring to grow these easily, or does the hot weather set in too quickly causing them to bolt early in the season?

Tomatoes...can you grow the bigger beefsteak type varieties? Any problems with sun scalding due to the hot summers? Do plum tomatoes grow well there? Is fungus on tomatoes a problem there? How do the sweet cherry types do?

Sweet Potatoes, baker potatoes,red potatoes

Asparagus

Artichokes

Zucchini & Yellow Squash

Cucumbers

Carrots

Beets

Celery

Green Bell Peppers (and can you get them to actually turn Red there as reds are my favorite)

Corn

Winter Squash (esp Delicata Squash) but also butternut, acorn etc...

Onions

Broccoli

Cabbage

Green Beans (esp pole beans)



That is all I can think of off the top of my head but I LOVE vegetables so anything else anyone can think of I am interested in hearing about. I am interested in vegi's you are not likely to find in a typical grocery store. I just get so sick of grocery stores having the same old hum drum stuff.

What pests am I likely to encounter, especially if they are at serious problem levels...Do you have slugs there? (the bain of western WA will eat just about anything you try to grow)

I'll be doing raised beds as I have a bad back and need to have a garden set high enough where I can sit to do most my gardening...is it any problem to get GOOD rich soil to fill a raised bed with? Is it possible to get labor (for a reasonable cost) to build (and fill) some serious raised beds? Neither my hubby nor myself are able to do that kind of heavy work anymore.

Do you have small nurseries there or have home depot and places like that taken over the garden industry as they have in many places...

Do you have good farmers markets with tons to choose from and/or plentiful roadside stands for vegi's?

Here in Western WA we get the worlds worst vegi's...most everything is shipped in before it is ripe...and a lot of the stuff you find in the stores is old, wrinkled...I am tired of having to resort to frozen vegi's most of the time as the "fresh" vegi's here are usually well beyond their prime

Please also let me know if there are any gardening websites you know of specific to your area that would help me learn as much as I can before I "dig in"...

Are there any seed companies you would recommend over others?

I have always used Territorial seeds here as their seeds are formulated for WA, but not sure if they would also do well in Eastern WA...If you have used territorial seeds over there has it worked out well?

Any other info you can impart about gardening out that way would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

J