December 2025 Newsletter

In this month’s newsletter...

• Harvest Year-to-Date OVER 40,000 pounds!!!
• NEW Garden Manager publication
• Events and Announcements
• Food for Thought - Wine Pairing
• KPTZ In the Garden Podcast
• December In the Garden with Dianna

YEAR-TO-DATE STATS

• 25,134 pounds of produce
• 15,339 pounds of gleaned fruit 
• 1,472 seedlings given away 
• 7,750 volunteer hours

It’s more or less a wrap on 2025 production except for greenhouse greens and cold-worthy crops. It’s amazing what a few gardens and backyard orchards can produce with lots of volunteer love.

NEW Garden Manager publication

ANNOUNCING: The FGB Garden Committee is launching a new monthly publication for Garden Managers. Sproutin’ Off is designed to keep managers up to date on the committee’s ongoing work—both in response to issues raised in the Garden Manager survey and to new needs identified along the way. …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

Join Ben for a scintillating journey through Port Townsend Vineyards  selections of wines, and learn what foods might optimally pair with which

varieties.

Tasting participation is capped at the first 40 RSVPs sent to barbaratusting97@gmail.com

An additional 20 seats are available to enjoy the talk — Free presentation.

Tuesday Dec. 9th - 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Quimper Grange - 1219 Corona Ave, Port Townsend

Now on KPTZ

In the Garden, with Julia Cordz, Barbara Faurot, Mary Beth Haralovich, and Dianna Wiklund.

GO HERE for past shows.

The next show airs Thursday, from 6-6:30pm.

IN THE GARDEN - December 2025

This month looks to be holding to the averages. Lows around 38°, highs around 44° F. Rainfall should be around 2.5 inches. Port Townsend usually gets about 18 days of measurable rainfall. So we need to be watering only in greenhouses and under well sealed cold frames. Other than that, what is challenging in the garden this month is the lack of light. Port Townsend gets about 8 and a half hours of daylight, which is the bare minimum to grow a few winter veggies if you have a very sunny location.

Entering the darkest month of the year is a great time to look forward to getting seeds started. Think about what kind of vegetables you like to eat and see what seeds are available in different garden catalogs.

Seed Catalogues

I try to buy from local seed suppliers so that the seeds I grow have been proven to grow in my area. Some seeds from other parts of the country grow fine here but others do not. Getting your seed from a local source will help you have a more successful garden and support local farmers.

When you are looking through a seed catalog, you might have questions about what some of the designations mean - heirloom, organic, F1, OP. All mean something about how the seed was produced.

• Heritage seeds are those that have been passed down from one person to the next through many generations.  These are seeds that people have liked well enough to save seeds and keep them going.  They are all “Open Pollinated” which means they can cross pollinate with seeds from the same plant family.
• Organic seeds meet strict criteria for organic production meaning they have been raised to meet the current rules of various local and government agencies.  Mainly it means that the seed has not been altered in any way.  Then the plant was raised without chemical pesticides or fertilizer and in a controlled area so it does not cross pollinate with similar plants.
• F1 means that the parent plant has been crossed with a different variant to produce a more vigorous seed in the next generation but only in the next generation.  The seed from that will unlikely produce the same plant.
• OP is open pollinated.  These seeds come from plants that have been allowed to pollinate without a force or specific cross.  All heritage seeds are OP as are most Organic seeds.  F1 is not.

Seed catalogs are usually laid out by plant types. All the beets are together and all the peas are together so it is easy to compare beets to beets and peas to peas. When comparing different variants of a plant you might want to grow, you should look at several things.

• When to start the plant and length of time it takes to grow.  Some plants require a longer growing period than we here on the Quimper peninsula have.  Some can grow fast enough that we can get multiple crops.
• While reading the description of the different variants, consider how you want to use the plant.  Will you be eating it fresh or canning or freezing it?  How well does it hold up to preservation or does it all need to be used fresh.
• Consider how much you can/want to grow and how much seed is in a package.  Is there enough or way too much?  Should you consider sharing with someone else?  If properly stored, many seeds can last several years but others are only really viable in the first year.  Ordering larger packets and sharing can save money as they are often cheaper by the seed/pound in larger packages.  I have found it challenging to compare seed prices because many companies list their seeds in different ways—either by the gram, ounce, seed count or sometimes not at all.  This can make comparisons frustrating but worth doing.
• You might also consider choosing two or more variants of the same type of plant. Different variants can grow under different conditions and with weather variations we never really know what the growing season will be like until we are in it.  I like to grow multiple varieties of green beans for this reason.  Purple beans do well in cool summers, greens do well most of the time, yellow seem to produce best in hot conditions.  So if I have planted all three, then I am likely to get a good harvest from at least one variety if not all of them.  Other veggies are similar.  Plus it is fun to experiment with all the many variants that are available.

Planting

• Garlic can still be planted although your harvest might be a bit later next summer.
• Radishes are another possibility this month but it will be hit and miss as to germination. Try under a cold frame or in a hoop house.  Add cover if temperatures drop below freezing.
• Some people have had luck starting peas in unheated greenhouses and getting an early harvest next spring.  You can do the same with lettuce if we don’t get a hard freeze.

Harvest

• The last of the fall crops can be brought in now.  Mature salad greens and spinach can be harvested before we get a hard freeze.  
• Root veggies like carrots and beets have sweetened up and will add color and flavor to winter soups and salads.
• Brassicas are slowing down but brussel sprouts are said to be sweeter after a frost so try some both before and after to see if you can tell the difference.
• Some winter apples are waiting on our first frost to finish their ripening.

Garden Projects

Now is the time to finish putting our tools in order.

• Clean and oil all hand tools.
• Sand wood handles and consider oiling them or varnishing them for better protection.
• Check and repair fences, look for rabbit-sized holes.
• Think about whether you want to build any cold frames or hoop houses for next year.  This is a good time to gather materials together and study how to assemble them.

In the cold dark of December, it is important to remember that the light and warmth will return. All our overwinter crops can stay safe under their layer of mulch and begin to grow again as the light returns. A new year, a new season brings hope of new beginnings and another chance to explore our world and see what we can grow. We can help others and ourselves by spending time working in the soil of our gardens. I wish everyone a joyous return of the light and a bright new beginning to the coming growing season.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Dianna

Dianna's Garden Consulting

(360) 643-0090 - send a direct text

Give a man a fish you feed him for a day.

Teach a person to garden and you feed their whole community.