Your first Northwest vegetable garden

1 Pick the sunniest spot you have

Most vegetables need at least six hours of direct sun a day; tomatoes, squash and peppers want eight or more. Watch your yard on a sunny day and note where the light lasts longest. Leafy crops like lettuce, kale and chard can get by with a little less.

2 Start small

A single 4 × 8 foot raised bed, or a few large containers on a patio, is plenty for a first year. Raised beds suit the Northwest well: they drain after heavy rain and warm up faster in spring than the ground does.

3 Feed the soil

Fill the bed with a mix of garden soil and compost, or loosen existing soil and mix in two to three inches of compost. Most Northwest soils run acidic, so a soil test (your county Extension office can help) tells you whether to add lime.

4 Grow easy crops first

Radishes, lettuce, bush beans, zucchini and kale are forgiving and quick. Leave peppers and big pumpkins for year two.

5 Plant on your local dates

The biggest beginner mistake here is planting warm-season crops too early. A sunny April week doesn't mean the soil is warm, and tomatoes or beans planted into cold soil sit and sulk or rot. Enter your ZIP in the planner to get dates for where you live.

6 Water deeply, not daily

Once summer dries out, give the garden about an inch of water a week (more east of the Cascades) in one or two deep soakings. A soaker hose or drip line on a timer makes this nearly automatic, and keeping leaves dry helps prevent disease.

7 Stay ahead of slugs

Slugs are the Northwest gardener's number one pest, especially for seedlings and lettuce. Check after rain and at dusk, and use iron phosphate bait, which is safe around pets and food crops.

8 Keep notes

Jot down what you planted and when, and what did well. By your second spring you'll know your own garden better than any chart.

Stuck on a word? The glossary explains terms like hardening off, bolting and row cover.