Gardening in Vancouver (Yakima, Minnehaha, Brush Prairie: home search, to buy, shop)

[MzzBelle]

We will be moving to Vancouver this summer from California. We hope to buy a place w/ at least a quarter to half acre so we can grow vegetables, fruits, etc. Which areas in Vancouver have best conditions for this: soil, sun, etc.
It seems Minnehaha and Hazel Dell have best sized lots. Is the soil good there? Thanks in advance for any info.

Margot

Gardening in my dreams

[StealthRabbit]

Generally those soils are Silty Loam, very good for gardening (Hazel Dell is site of WSU experimental farm, on site of old "Poor Farm") ~ 25th Ave and 78th St. This site is transitioning to Brush Prairie location and Developers, the city and county are all salivating over the development potential of the Hazel Dell WSU site. We had a 5 acre fruit farm adjacent to this site (SE corner), off 68th St for many years, next to Hazel Dell Park. It was great growing stuff there. Our corn got to over 15' tall ! We had 50 varieties of trees, (stone fruit + apples and pears). + all kinds of berries. It was a very nice place and we miss it. (moved to the restrictive Columbia Gorge Scenic Area because I got tired of fighting the non-conforming development; now the county has been given jurisdiction here instead of the feds, and it is getting destroyed also, so we will have to move again)

The County extension service can help you out with garden info, I got an extensive "soils map' from them, but you shouldn't need one of the whole county, as I got. I did the Master Gardener Program in the mid 80's and learned a lot + it was fun to help with volunteer events and staff the phones, their program begins in the fall, but sign up early, it will help you bunches with quirks of local gardening dilemmas.

I don't recommend, any area east of I-205 for gardening, as it is a gravel / rock bed (we did not have one rock in Hazel Dell / Minnehaha.) Once you get north of 99th St and east of 50th ave the soils get good again, heading toward Brush Prairie. The Glenwood area is up that way, and quite nice (good community and church too!, those are not easy to find in PNW). As you get away from Vancouver, be careful with your elevation and exposure to east winds, as that will shorten your growing cycle. Sometimes cold spring times (like this year) really put the crunch on getting stuff in the ground. Better to wait, as early plantings will rot. (need 50F soil temp). It is 40F tonight (May 10), but predicted to see 90F next week... usually I planted in Hazel Dell ~ 15 May, but I have been able to plant as late as July 4 and get corn ripe. Summers are long days, and often hot and dry. Native grasses and lawns dry up and turn brown in about a week due to shallow roots. Mulching is very important, as is adding lime and nitrogen (leaches out in rain). Stay clear of heavy forested land, it is too acidic. Use a winter cover crop to reduct soil compaction from rain, and to help dry soils for spring. Find a place that will get lots of south facing sun, you will be very grateful come winter. Trees are nice to look at but terrible companions for your home (mossy roof and plugged drains / gutters).

I know some older folks who may need to sell a couple acres and single level home with shop and small barn in SE Minnehaha. I doubt if large parcels will be too affordable, as they are slated for 'infill' development with 5000 sf lots. You will note how this is taking place near "Kunze Farms", just west of the Mall... too bad...

Good luck, there are some real gems of garden spots out there, but you need to dig to find them.

[MzzBelle]

Thanks JanB! That is great information...I printed it out, and will use to refine our home search. I wonder if you can grow lemons in Vancouver? Do you need a greenhouse? or can you just cover them up for a few nights when it freezes?
Thanks again!

[StealthRabbit]

lemons = indoors or temp controlled greenhouse due to our low light in long winters (+ the cold...)

Think big green leafy stuff, and that is what the PNW (west side) grows well (rhubarb is very happy this week). Think of stuff susceptible to mold or mildew, and those are a battle to keep healthy. Apricots very tough due to early bloom and mildew attacking buds during wet spring. In general fruit trees are tough to keep healthy, (you most certainly have to spray fungicides often to get marketable fruit, it often rains as soon as you spray, thus more often than you wish) new varieties and using espalier trellising to avail plenty of light and air help. You might be best served developing friendship with an orchardist on the east side of mountains for your apples / pears / peaches (Hood River, OR to Yakima / Coulee City) go visit them and help with harvest and bring home abundant gleanings. Even Cherries can be a disappointment if we get a rain just before harvest, as they will split and mold on the tree. When you prune in NW, you always consider adding light and air flow to trees and bushes, they will thank you for it. You often have to vigorously thin the crop to get larger fruit, but we are suffering from a declining bee population, so that may not be the case for long.

Vancouver was the 'prune' capital of the world before and during WWII. Sometimes you can find some old prune trees (Italian and Brooks) and they are fabulous fresh, dried, or canned. some varieties are bigger than lemons !

You will probably want to invest in a food drier, there are lots of great things to fix in them. And a chest freezer. Our farm home had a specially made fruit cellar room in basement with natural convection and thick cement walls, it was 45 - 50 F year round, very nice, and always full

[MzzBelle]

Great advise. I hope I can take the Master Gardener program to learn exactly this kind of local knowledge. The Minnehaha area sound great...older home and large lots. Thanks for your help!
Margot

[deegers]

Is the Glenwood area actually GLenwood or are you speaking of a street?

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by deegers

Is the Glenwood area actually GLenwood or are you speaking of a street?

It's a north Vancouver region between "Pleasant Valley (50th Ave west side)and Brush Prairie" (HWY 503) east & Meadowglade to the (159th ST) North and 109th ST on south

[scottsostuff]

Welcome to Clark County, WA.

This should be very helpful in answering your gardening questions. It is a wonderful gardening website created locally by the WSU Master Gardeners here in Clark County, and was created with the SW Washington gardners in mind. There are over 5 years of articles and photos with new ones added monthly based that month growing conditions.

WSU Clark County Extension

You can contact the WSU Extension to Reasearch a question, their number is (360) 397-6060, email questions to Master Gardners at Ganswerclinic@clark.wa.gov

[MzzBelle]

Thanks for both links! I can spend a lot of time there getting local knowledge and suggestions.