Summer Growing Guide — Pacific Northwest
HEARTH & PANE GROWING RESOURCES
Summer Growing Guide — Pacific Northwest
Published by Hearth & Pane LLC, Everett, Washington
A note before you begin: Every plant in this guide was chosen because it carries a story. When you grow these varieties in your home you are not just gardening — you are keeping cultural traditions alive, one container at a time. Growing your own food is an act of self-reliance, cultural pride, and community care.
PLANT 1 — SCOTCH BONNET PEPPER
Caribbean and West African Heritage
Container size: 5 gallon pot minimum
Sun: Full sun — 6-8 hours daily
Water: Regular — do not let soil dry out completely
Days to harvest: 90-120 days1
Growing tip: Transplant outside when nights consistently stay above 55°F2
Among the most culturally significant peppers in the African Diaspora, the Scotch Bonnet has shaped the flavor of Caribbean jerk seasoning, West African pepper soups, and Afro-Caribbean cooking traditions spanning centuries.3 Its distinctively fruity heat — measured at 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville Heat Units — makes it one of the most potent and beloved peppers in the world.4 For communities across Jamaica, Trinidad, Ghana, and Nigeria this pepper is not a condiment — it is an identity.
PLANT 2 — COLLARD GREENS
African American Southern Heritage
Container size: 3-5 gallon pot
Sun: Full sun to partial shade
Water: Regular — keep soil consistently moist
Days to harvest: 60-80 days5
Growing tip: Harvest outer leaves first to keep plant producing all season6
Collard greens have sustained African American families for generations — from the fields of the antebellum South to urban kitchens across America. Brought to the Americas through the tragedy of the transatlantic slave trade, collards became a cornerstone of African American foodways and a symbol of resilience, survival, and communal care.7 The tradition of slow cooking collards with smoked meat, vinegar, and hot pepper reflects centuries of culinary creativity born from scarcity and transformed into abundance. Growing your own collards is an act of cultural reclamation and self-reliance.8
PLANT 3 — THAI BASIL
South and Southeast Asian Heritage
Container size: 6-8 inch pot
Sun: Full sun
Water: Moderate — allow top inch of soil to dry between waterings
Days to harvest: 30-40 days9
Growing tip: Pinch flowers as they appear to keep leaves producing10
Thai basil has a cultivation history spanning around 5,000 years, used across Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, and Cambodian cooking traditions.11 In Thai culture it holds both culinary and religious significance — associated with prosperity and good fortune and used in traditional ceremonies and offerings.12 Thai basil is considered not merely a garnish but a critical component of authentic Southeast Asian flavor — representing generations of culinary wisdom passed down through family recipes and regional cooking traditions. Each dish built around Thai basil reflects a philosophical approach to food preparation — a balanced composition where no single flavor overwhelms another, mirroring broader Thai cultural values of harmony, respect, and interconnectedness.13 When you grow Thai basil on your windowsill you are tending a living connection to five millennia of tradition.
PLANT 4 — OKRA
West African and African American Heritage
Container size: 5 gallon pot minimum — tall varieties need support
Sun: Full sun — loves heat
Water: Regular — drought tolerant once established
Days to harvest: 50-65 days14
Growing tip: Harvest pods when 3-4 inches long for best flavor and tenderness15
Okra — known as okwuru in Igbo, nkruma in Twi, and gombo in French Creole — has been cultivated across West and Central Africa for thousands of years, spreading with the Bantu migrations around 2,000 BCE before crossing the Atlantic through one of history’s most devastating journeys.16
Ancestral grandmothers from the Dahomey region of West Africa braided seeds of okra, molokhia, and Levant cotton into their hair before being forced to board transatlantic slave ships. They hid sesame, black-eyed peas, rice, and melon seeds in their locks — stashing away amara, kale, gourd, sorrel, basil, tamarind, and kola seeds in their tresses.17 These African women believed against the odds in a future of sovereignty on land — and the seeds they carried became the foundation of an entire culinary culture.18
Okra seeds hidden in the hair of the enslaved forced to endure the Middle Passage was a tiny act of resistance that seeded a cultural significance that fuels recipes to this day. It is said that the enslaved could remember their homeland through the bright yellow okra flowers that waved to them on foreign soil.19
While some food historians note that written documentation of this practice remains limited, it is preserved in the oral traditions of African descendant communities and cited by leading Black food sovereignty scholars including Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm as a foundational story of ancestral resilience.20
The word gumbo — Louisiana’s most iconic dish — derives directly from the Kimbundu word quingombo, a linguistic thread connecting the American South directly to Central Africa.21 After Emancipation the only opportunities available to freed enslaved people were in tenant farming and sharecropping — and so home gardening remained a necessity. Those homegrown culinary traditions were passed down over generations eventually becoming the backbone of Black food culture in America.22 Growing okra in a container on your balcony is growing history — a living monument to the women who carried these seeds across an ocean and planted sovereignty in foreign soil.
PLANT 5 — CILANTRO
Latin American, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Heritage
Container size: 6-8 inch pot — wide and shallow
Sun: Partial shade in summer — bolts quickly in full heat
Water: Regular — keep soil moist
Days to harvest: 21-28 days23
Growing tip: Sow seeds every 2-3 weeks for continuous harvest all summer24
Cilantro has been known to almost every Asian, Arab, African, and European civilization throughout history. In ancient China it was believed that coriander bestowed immortality on those who constantly used it in their cooking. In the Egypt of the Pharaohs it was thought to be a food fit for the gods.25 Its use has spanned empires — first recorded as an herb used for cooking by the Romans around 5,000 BCE — and was later brought to Mexico and Peru by Spanish conquistadors, where it took deep root in Latin American cooking traditions.26 Spain actually outlawed cilantro for years in an effort to erase Arab and Moorish cultural influence — yet it survived, traveled to Mexico and Latin America, and became one of the most beloved herbs across the African Diaspora and the Americas.27 Today it is the quintessential Mexican herb for salsa, guacamole, and pico de gallo — indispensable to Chinese dishes and the backbone of Vietnamese cooking.28 Cilantro is not just an herb — it is a story of cultural survival.
PLANT 6 — ETHIOPIAN KALE
East African Heritage
Container size: 3-5 gallon pot
Sun: Full sun to partial shade
Water: Regular — keep soil consistently moist
Days to harvest: 50-60 days29
Growing tip: Harvest outer leaves regularly to keep plant producing30
Known in Ethiopia and Eritrea as Gomen, Ethiopian kale — also called Abyssinian kale — is a staple of East African cooking traditionally sautéed with niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter), garlic, ginger, and berbere spice.31 Unlike European kale varieties Ethiopian kale is more tender, faster growing, and far better adapted to hot conditions — making it one of the most practical and culturally meaningful greens for urban container gardeners in the Pacific Northwest.32 Hardy, prolific, and deeply flavorful, growing Ethiopian kale connects your kitchen directly to the ancient agricultural traditions of the Horn of Africa.
PLANT 7 — TOMATILLO
Indigenous Mexican and Mesoamerican Heritage
Container size: 5 gallon pot — needs two plants for pollination
Sun: Full sun
Water: Regular — consistent moisture for fruit development
Days to harvest: 75-100 days33
Growing tip: Plant two tomatillos near each other for cross pollination and fruit set34
Tomatillos have been cultivated in Mexico and Mesoamerica for at least 2,800 years — pre-dating the Aztec Empire — and remain one of the oldest continuously cultivated crops in the Western Hemisphere.35 The Aztec name tomatl gave us the word tomato, and the tomatillo was a dietary staple of the Aztec, Maya, and other Mesoamerican civilizations long before European contact.36 A foundational ingredient in salsa verde and mole sauce, growing tomatillos on your balcony connects you to one of the oldest agricultural traditions in the Americas.
PLANT 8 — LEMONGRASS
Southeast Asian and Caribbean Heritage
Container size: 5 gallon pot minimum
Sun: Full sun
Water: Regular — drought tolerant once established
Days to harvest: 75-100 days for stalks37
Growing tip: Bring indoors before first frost — lemongrass overwinters beautifully as a houseplant38
Lemongrass has been cultivated and used medicinally and culinarily across South and Southeast Asia for thousands of years — essential to Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao, and Sri Lankan cooking as well as the traditional medicine practices of dozens of cultures.39 Introduced to the Caribbean through Asian migration and trade, it became deeply embedded in Caribbean herbal medicine and cooking — particularly in Trinidad and Jamaica where it is known as fever grass and used as a healing tea for generations.40 Its bright citrus fragrance transforms soups, curries, and teas while its essential oils have been documented in traditional medicine for their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.41
Every plant on this list carries a story. When you grow these varieties in your home you are not just gardening — you are keeping cultural traditions alive, one container at a time.
Share what you are growing in our Growers Community — we want to see your harvest.
Need seeds to get started? Our heritage seed collections are coming soon. Join our waitlist to be notified at launch.
A NOTE ON THE LAND WE GROW ON
Hearth & Pane is rooted in Everett, Washington — land that has sustained human life for thousands of years before the first seed kit was ever packed or the first course was ever taught.
We grow on the ancestral territory of the Snohomish people and the broader Coast Salish nations — the Tulalip, the Stillaguamish, the Sauk-Suiattle, and others — who have stewarded this land, these waters, and these food systems since time immemorial.42
Their relationship with food was not gardening in the Western sense. It was the stewardship of entire living ecosystems. Coast Salish women tended camas prairies with fire and digging sticks, cultivated wapato in carefully managed wetland gardens, and maintained forest gardens of hazelnuts, crabapples, and berries that researchers are only now beginning to document and understand.43 These were not wild plants passively gathered — they were cultivated, owned, traded, and passed down through generations with the same intentionality and knowledge that any farmer brings to their land.44
The plants we grow in our containers today — okra, collard greens, tomatillos, lemongrass, Ethiopian kale — carry their own stories of diaspora, survival, and cultural resilience. But they do not grow in a vacuum. They grow on land with its own deep food history, tended by people whose agricultural knowledge shaped this region for millennia before colonization disrupted it.
We acknowledge that history. We honor that knowledge. And we commit to supporting Indigenous food sovereignty efforts in Washington State — including the ongoing work of the Tulalip Tribes, the Stillaguamish Tribe, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, the Lummi Nation, and others who are actively restoring traditional foods, ancestral crops, and land practices across our region.45
If you are a member of a Coast Salish or Washington State tribal nation and would like to teach a class, share your food traditions, or partner with Hearth & Pane or Ancestral Rows in any way — we would be honored to hear from you. Please reach out at hello@hearthandpane.com.
FOOTNOTES
1 Cornell University Cooperative Extension. Growing Peppers in Home Gardens. Ithaca: Cornell University, 2022.
2 United States Department of Agriculture. USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Washington D.C.: USDA Agricultural Research Service, 2023. https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov
3 Carney, Judith A. Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001.
4 Bosland, Paul W. and Eric J. Votava. Peppers: Vegetable and Spice Capsicums. Wallingford: CABI Publishing, 2012.
5 Washington State University Extension. Cool Season Vegetables for the Pacific Northwest. Pullman: WSU Extension, 2023. https://extension.wsu.edu
6 University of Maryland Extension. Growing Collard Greens. College Park: University of Maryland, 2022. https://extension.umd.edu
7 Twitty, Michael W. The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South. New York: Amistad Press, 2017.
8 Penniman, Leah. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation Agriculture. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018.
9 University of California Cooperative Extension. Herb Growing Guide: Basil. Davis: UC Cooperative Extension, 2023.
10 Washington State University Extension. Growing Herbs in Containers. Pullman: WSU Extension, 2022.
11 Specialty Produce. Thai Basil: Information and Facts. San Diego: Specialty Produce, 2023. https://specialtyproduce.com
12 May Kaidee Thai Vegetarian Restaurant. Thai Ingredient Index: Thai Basil. Bangkok: May Kaidee, 2023. https://www.maykaidee.com
13 Thai Spoon Las Vegas. “What is Thai Cuisine Culture? Understanding Its Richness.” 2025. https://www.thaispoonlasvegas.com
14 United States Department of Agriculture. Okra: Production Guidelines. Washington D.C.: USDA National Agricultural Library, 2022.
15 Washington State University Extension. Warm Season Vegetables for the Pacific Northwest. Pullman: WSU Extension, 2023.
16 Growing Abolition. “Meet the Plants: Okra.” May 2022. https://www.growingabolition.com
17 Penniman, Leah. “Black Land Matters.” Cited in Bioneers. “The Seed Was Their Most Precious Legacy: Why Black Land Matters.” July 2024. https://bioneers.org
18 Pomona College Farm. “Okra: How it Got to the United States, How to Grow it and How to Eat it.” November 2024. https://www.pomona.edu
19 Growing Abolition. “Meet the Plants: Okra.” May 2022. https://www.growingabolition.com
20 Croy, Dana. “The Arduous Journey of Okra from Africa to the Southern Table.” May 2024. https://www.danacroy.com; Penniman, Leah. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation Agriculture. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018.
21 Merriam-Webster. Gumbo: Etymology. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 2023. https://www.merriam-webster.com
22 Sierra Club. “The Preservation of Culture Begins With a Seed.” February 2021. https://www.sierraclub.org
23 Washington State University Extension. Cool Season Herbs for the Pacific Northwest. Pullman: WSU Extension, 2023.
24 Gardenary. “The Best Companion Plants for Cilantro in an Organic Kitchen Garden.” 2023. https://www.gardenary.com
25 Arab America. “Cilantro: An Exotic Herb Since Antiquity.” 2024. https://www.arabamerica.com
26 Green Bay Botanical Garden. “Spicing Things Up: 3 Staple Herbs of Latin American Cuisine.” August 2024. https://www.gbbg.org
27 Nuestro Stories. “Loving Cilantro: The Mexican Herb from the Middle East.” August 2024. https://nuestrostories.com
28 Columbia Metropolitan Magazine. “Cilantro.” July 2022. https://columbiametro.com
29 Washington State University Extension. Cool Season Vegetables for the Pacific Northwest. Pullman: WSU Extension, 2023.
30 University of Maryland Extension. Growing Kale and Collards. College Park: University of Maryland, 2022.
31 Falasfa, Daniel J. The Food and Cooking of Ethiopia. London: Aquamarine Publishing, 2010.
32 Washington State University Extension. Alternative Vegetables for Pacific Northwest Gardens. Pullman: WSU Extension, 2022.
33 University of California Cooperative Extension. Tomatillo Production in California. Davis: UC Cooperative Extension, 2022.
34 Old Farmer’s Almanac. “How to Grow Tomatillos.” Dublin: Yankee Publishing, 2023. https://www.almanac.com
35 Sauer, Jonathan D. Historical Geography of Crop Plants: A Select Roster. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1993.
36 Coe, Sophie D. America’s First Cuisines. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.
37 Washington State University Extension. Tropical Plants in Pacific Northwest Containers. Pullman: WSU Extension, 2023.
38 Old Farmer’s Almanac. “How to Grow Lemongrass.” Dublin: Yankee Publishing, 2023.
39 Quattrocchi, Umberto. CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2012.
40 Honeychurch, Penelope N. Caribbean Wild Plants and Their Uses. London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1980.
41 Bhatt, Deepali and Rashmi Bhatt. “Lemongrass: A Review of Its Medicinal Properties.” Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 3, no. 6 (2013): 505-508.
42 Tulalip Tribes. Tulalip — Home of the Lushootseed People. Tulalip: Tulalip Tribes, 2023. https://www.tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
43 Oregon Public Broadcasting. “Superabundant: Exploring the Northwest’s Indigenous Foods.” November 2022. https://www.opb.org
44 University of Washington Press. Keeping It Living: Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2005.
45 Civil Eats. “Native Tribes Are Bringing Prairie Land Back to the Pacific Northwest.” September 2022. https://civileats.com; Lummi Nation. Lummi Nation — Sovereignty, Stewardship, and Self-Determination. Bellingham: Lummi Nation, 2023. https://www.lummi-nsn.gov