As a starting place, I'd recommend getting a good plant guidebook for the Pacific Northwest. I have this one that I love: http://www.amazon.com/Plants-Pacific-Northwest-Coast-Washington/dp/1551050404

It's great, especially if you spend a lot of time in the woods. There are a ton of edible native plants and berries, and the book lists out the historic uses for many. That said, I would also recommend getting a book specifically on edible plants for the NW also, and checking one versus the other.

Some of the things that I know grow here that are edible:
-nettles (once steamed or boiled)
-salal berries (can be made into a jam)
-oregon grape berries (belive these used to be used in a kind of pemmican)
-varieties of mountain sorrel
-certain lilies, like tiger lily or avalanche lily

Ooh, I just found this website -- not an exhaustive list, but a good starting place: http://sharedsurvivalknowledge.com/2011/07/01/wild-edible-plants-of-the-pacific-northwest/

I'm not sure what you mean by herbs that "grow naturally" here in Seattle. This is herb heaven climate wise for many herbs, though, and I think UW still has a an interesting medicinal herb garden- but that is tended.

For herbs that grow well in wild(ish) untended areas the ones that come to mind are fennel (everwhere), rosemary (very common ornamental that is found in wild settings) and foxglove (everywhere).

the list can get quite exhaustive. I'm sure the Master Gardeners can provide some great resources.

The research indicates that foliar spraying is best used when supplementing plants with trace minerals not present in their soil. Cannabis growers do like to go hydroponic so it would make sense that much of the information out there is geared towards them.

It's not something I would recommend as a first-line method of fertilization for plants in good topsoil, because it's time consuming, and plants are pretty good at getting their nutrients from their substrate. If you're worried about your plants doing poorly, get a soil analysis done so that you can supplement with appropriate fertilizers.You could use it for pest control, though. These guys have some recipes that seem pretty solid.

Personally, my foliar sprayer is used strictly for herbicides--I'm waging war against a neighbor's invasive cane-like thing because it's grown under the fence and up my garage and is trying to take over my yard and stump killer is the only thing that's shown any effect against it (boiling water and Roundup only made it angry, I think). But, I don't want to kill the rest of my yard, so I spray selectively, which foliar sprayers are good at.

I prefer Scott Conner's 'Gardening in the NW' on AM 1090, Saturdays from 10am til noon. Go Scott : )

WHYY's own You Bet Your Garden, out of Philly. Good station, good show.

The end of February is when my garden seems to start to come back to life. Daffodils are poking out of the ground and my daylilies are sprouting.  So what to add? 

 Well, for inspiration I plan to  review the Elisabeth C. Miller Library's, Great Plant Picks list. Great Plant Picks "is an educational program of the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden which debuted in 2001 with the first recommendations for a a comprehensive palatte of outstanding plants for the maritime Pacific Northwest. To date over 800 exceptional plants have been selected for gardeners living west of the Cascade Mountains from Eugene, OR to Vancouver, BC."  

I also plan to replace my Wisteria tree I lost during the past snow storm.   As much as I love Wisteria vines, I have never wanted to risk growing them in the ground since the roots can be very aggressive. My Wisteria tree, purchased as a vine, was in a container for 15 years.  It's relatively easy. Place the vine in a container with a very sturdy stake.  Prune off any foliage on the "trunk" of the vine.  Keep the foliage near the top.  As the vine grows, prune off the growth you do not want to become "branches."  By the way, a few years ago I saw a Wisteria tree at a local nursery with a price tag over $100.  

I'm also thinking about growing pole beans and peas!  I'm tired of mediocre vegetables!   I'd love to know what everyone else is planning to grow,  Thanks for getting me to think about putting together my plan for this year!

Try the Restore. http://www.re-store.org/index.php

What type is scraps? 2x4s, ply wood, pallet wood? Try contacting cabinet makers if you're looking for nicer scraps, pallets you can find for free in areas where there are warehouses ( sodo or George town) you can place an ad on craigslist but be specific in what you're looking for. You can find an impressive amount in dumpsters if you go that route look for large dumpsters. Contacting fabricators directly will sometimes get them to save stuff if you pick it up in a timely manner.

Tom's suggestion of a list of what you want would be of great use.  You didn't mention the size of your garden.  If your gardening is limited to containers or a small area, you may not want to order a large amount of soil or compost--unless you and a neighbor decide to share.  If yes, there are several good sources, such as Cedar Grove Compost.  The downside is the minimum amount you'd have to order to qualify for home delivery!  

So, I'm going to  assume your garden is more like the average small city lot with some vegetable or flower beds, interspersed with containers.  

My go-to garden supply catalog, when I can't find a tool or gadget locally, is Gardener's Supply out of Vermont.  Shipping charges are more than reasonable and the selection for the average home gardener is quite good.  And, yes, you can order potting soil.  

For greenhouse supplies, big and small, check out Charley's Greenhouse and Supplies in Mt. Vernon, WA.  Even if you don't ever want a greenhouse, you can find other helpful tools and potting supplies.  

If you're looking for plants, well there are so MANY small plant sources in Washington and Orgeon.  Here are a few examples:  

A&D Nursery for peonies, daylilies, and hostas. My favorite source for lilies is B&D Lilies near Pt. Townsend.   Fancy Fronds has wonderful ferns and never fails to disappoint when you see their garden display at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show.  

Speaking of the NW Flower and Garden Show, attending is a great opportunity to discover local growers and suppliers.  The show is next month, February 8-12 at the downtown Seattle Convention Center.  While tickets aren't cheap, once in the show you can attend free seminars, view the inspirational garden displays, talk to lots of experts, and shop.

Also, don't forget to view seed catalogs. I always have Territorial Seeds and Johnny's Seeds catalogs on hand for ordering and reference.  

Well, I hope this is a useful beginning.  Happy Gardening!

Post a list of what you need and how much and I'm I and others will be able to help you figure out how to get it all.

Rich and Brandy are spot on, but it does depend on what you really need. If all you need is bark then that is not too expensive to have delivered as it can be blown from a truck and placed right where you need it. there are many different kinds and some are more attractive then others and cost more. Compost and other soil ammendments can start to get a bit pricier as well.

If you just need some cheap mulch to keep down weeds call one of the local tree service folks. They need a place to dump wood chip from grinding up trees. I use Ballard Tree service. I don't recall ever getting charged from them but their quality is entirely dependent on what they just ground up. So if they have jsut taken down a cedar or doug fir (more likely) you may wind up with a hell of a lot of chopped needles.

Craigslist can also have some good deals or even free wood chip.

We have a yard full of ornamental grasses at home (evergreen grasses, like oatgrass or ryegrass), and we don't cut any of them. In mid spring, you can usually see a lot of dead wet growth hanging on from the winter, so here's what you do: Wrap your hands around the base of the grass clump and slowly pull your hands up around the grass and out, like it's a ponytail. Do it a few times. All the dead wet grass will come away easily in your fingers, and the live blades will stay. The end product looks great, and there's no unnatural-looking flat-top.

We had 15 apples in our garage. Now there are none. WHAT!?

Pacific Topsoils is great. BUT...the delivery is what gets ya! If you have a buddy with a truck, you can save a ton - they just load it into the bed for you and its much more cost effective. Plus, they have have many locations...
www.pacifictopsoils.com

There is not one answer for all ornamental grass types. You have to look up each one by name.

This is a good tutorial of sorts that explains why each is done differently and offers some specific info per plant type as well.

http://www.northcoastgardening.com/2009/01/pruning-ornamental-grasses/

As to your friend in Ohio...he may be right or wrong, as the "chopping down" usually happens when the plant is fully brown. If yours never becomes fully brown (and they shouldn't due to our milder temperatures) then the answer is yes IF they ever become fully brown. General rule of thumb, but check each plant species by its name to know for sure.

As example, I know Hydrangea (not a grass plant) should be pruned all the way down, but our sun season is just too short to do that every year. You would never have a decent sized plant if you did that, even though it is recommended.

Lifehacker did some scientific testing to see what plant can be neglected the longest and still survive:

http://lifehacker.com/5855570/these-unkillable-plants-really-will-survive-your-constant-neglect

I've had great luck with jade plants. I've forgotten mine for months at a time and it's still a beautiful succulent. Very hardy.

http://lawnpatiobarn.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/jade-plant/

Silk ones?

Hoya and Pothos. Virtually immortal, don't seem to need light of any particular kind or water most of the time. Water 2x/month? Pothos would probably like it once a week but it won't kill it to go longer, stuff comes back from the dead. They are both drapey climbers and grow like gangbusters if they are even slightly taken care of. If you get plants from Home Depot I believe they still have a one year return policy, you can bring back the dead ones and they'll give you a new one. You didn't used to need the receipt, you could just yank a nice dead tree out of your yard and exchange it.

Andrea's right - its just flagging! This is completely normal and nothing to worry about. Notice how most of the brown bits are deeper towards the trunk, but the needles towards the branch tips are still green and bright? That's an indicator that you're looking at the death of older, more shaded (and therefore, less likely to pull their own weight photosynthetically) than the newer foliage on the tip. Western red cedar loves shade, but when the summer is especially dry a tree's gotta make sacrifices - and since this species has leaves that can be as old as 16 years (!) its best to sacrifice the oldest ones.

If you saw browning on the new growth, or localized browning (all on one side, for example), that would be trouble! this, though, is just fine.

There is a downloadable program called Match Maker (http://cascademyco.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1272) that I learned about in a mushroom identification class through the Puget Sound Mycological Society. You input as much information about the mushrooms as you can, and it will give you a list of possible matches with an incredible amount of detail and specifics about edibility, etc.

Do NOT eat anything without being absolutely 100% positive of what it is. You can actually bring mushrooms to a PSMS meeting for identification. You may want to consider joining the society as well- they lead about 8-10 field trips a year and have some amazing resources. http://www.psms.org/

I think you almost have to do an internship with someone who knows his/her shit (mycologist possibly) and will take you out into the forest many times until he/she knows you know your shit, too. Really no other safe alternative, IMHO.

It's an admirable talent finding edible mushrooms. I'd like to say it's on my bucket list (like beekeeping), but I know I may not have the time I need to devote and do well. Still, I'd love to go out on a crisp autumn morning and find some chanterelles and oysters because I LOVES me some wild mushroom lasagna - and what a wonderful Saturday night dinner it makes.

Good luck, OMC!

You'd be absolutely fucking insane to eat those.

The rule on gil slits is not true for mushrooms like chanterelles et al.

This is THE time to go mushroom hunting. Chanterelles are coming in like gangbusters. White chantrels as well in higher elevations.

Listen to Russ and get involved with the Mycos. They know their shrooms.

Good luck

I spent a late summer in upstate Maine working to rehab the grounds on a friend's family's commercial camp land on a lake. We collected fungi in the day and spent long nights with a three foot high stack of books keying out the various mushrooms. It is very complicated, there are so many non-edible species as well as completely deadly ones.

You should not eat anything you are not overwhelming convinced is an edible species.

Join the Puget Sound Mycological Society

Take a class in developing identification skills.

Be Safe!

Sorry to have missed this one until now.

This is common and natural with cedars. you'd be hard pressed to find a western red that doesn't have this right now.

I've planted hundreds (thousands?) of these trees and the same thing happens to nearly all every year. I assume it's a old foliage die off but do not know for sure.

I have noticed that is seems to occur less or, at least, with less intensity in riparian areas but have no real data to back that up.