[coastalmist]

I was really excited to start my first "real" garden this year. It turned out terrible! I planted potatoes, green beans, peas, onions and tomatoes. I could have had some peas, had the deer not eaten them! The beans got about 3 inches tall. The onions I planted rotted, as did the potatoes. The tomatoes I planted in pots and kept inside a small shed in front of the window for heat and sun. The pots were too small and I did not have a good plan for keeping them supported. Unfortunately, the summers here (north Oregon coast), never get hot, let alone warm. Which is great but does not give good growing conditions. The salt and wind from the Pacific along with the cooler temps, have me really discouraged. I need some alternative idea's for these less than favorable conditions. I considered myself an experienced gardener (had very large gardens in Iowa growing up) and thought this would be easier than it turned out to be.

 

[Sweeper]

Raised beds with a windbreak?

 

[scorinth]

Coastal, I live in Alaska and had my first garden since I was a kid in Okla. Vastly different growing conditions require vastly different approaches. You might consider checking with a University or Extension Agent where you live. For me, it was definitely raised beds, except for the tomatoes and cukes I grew successfully in a greenhouse. We had the coldest summer in 40 years but the raised beds did the trick. Still have a big pile of great potatoes, and have finished off the cabbages, beans, peas, and even corn we managed to grow. No luck on the pumpkins but hope to do better next year, now that I've had a chance to try it. Don't be discouraged, Sweeper's advice just might make the difference for you next year. Good luck!

 

[Lady Bug(ging)]

one word - Greenhouse.

 

[meredith]

I think you would need raised beds and wind break too. If you were to use a glass wind break that would help keep things warm too. I have a beach house here in Oregon and we have a glass wind break and lots of things grow well on the east side of the break and nothing on the west side.

 

[coastalmist]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think a combination of the raised beds with some sort of glass or clear acrylic top might do the trick. I don't think a green house could withstand the winds we get in the winter. We have strange little micro climates here, if I could go inland 5 miles, the temperature could be as much as 15 + degrees warmer!