Editor's note: We are excited to introduce this new column, provided by the WSU Ferry County Extension office and written by Master Gardener Ann Miller and Director Dan Fagerlie. Guest writers from the extension office might also contribute occasionally on food preservation and other topics. Our goal is to provide useful information and ideas on gardening and other activities to help you bring healthy food to your table!

A note from Master Gardener Ann Miller: We’ll miss Francis Linscott's monthly garden column and the very interesting topics and ideas she shared. We have been asked to create a new column focusing, as the title suggests, on successfully growing your own food. We'll feature topics of seasonal interest and answer a monthly “Question from the County." Please drop off your question at the Ferry County Extension office in the basement of the Courthouse, mail at 345 E Delaware Ave, Republic, WA 99166, or email to Ann through the contact page on this website or Dan at fagerlie [at] wsu [dot] edu.

There are many methods and applications one can set in place to help with self-sufficiency through home garden practices. One method is to choose open-pollinated (OP) and/or heirloom varieties of vegetables, herbs and grains that can provide opportunities for plants that yield healthy fresh produce as well as food for preserving and seeds that can be collected and preserved for future planting.

Open-pollinated means the seeds are non-hybrid varieties that can reproduce themselves in kind. Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated varieties that have been preserved and handed down over many years, thanks in part to the efforts of seed saving gardeners like you and me.