Planted in the Pacific Northwest | Planted Expo in Seattle

Brittany here from Team Dirty! I went from a meat and cheese-loving desert rat to loving all the plants and living in the Seattle area, so grab a cup of tea coffee, or a handful of berries, and read on!

Over 14 years ago, my husband and I were living in Las Vegas. Times were tough for construction, which my husband works in, and we didn’t want to raise our 18-month-old son in Vegas. I wanted to move to Austin, and Hubs wanted to move to Seattle. We eventually decided we’d lived in a hot, dry climate long enough, so we settled on Seattle. 

Me and my eldest son before we moved (2010)

We’d gotten a decent tax return that year, so we rented a truck 🚚, packed up our lives, and made the move. We only knew one person in the area, had no family nearby, no house, and no plan. 👋

There we were–a loud white truck, a chubby baby, and two young adults who had no idea WTF they were doing. 

We found a rental about 25 minutes south of Seattle, I got a graphic design job and some freelance work, and we started exploring.

I fell in love with the fresh produce at the local markets, which seemed to be everywhere. There were fruits and vegetables I’d never heard of, and there was so much food-centered awesomeness. I started going to the farmer’s market every weekend (a first for me).

We rented a small lot of land for a community garden and changed how we ate. We went from eating meat and cheese at every meal, buying tons of processed food, and getting fast food multiple times a week to focusing more on whole plant foods.

In 2017, I watched What the Health, a documentary about the health effects of meat and dairy versus plants, found Clean Food Dirty Girl, and started eliminating the lingering animal products from our diet. The transition from 2010-2017 was powerful, and I’m not sure any of it would have happened in the smoky casinos of Vegas over another round of Coors Light. Living in the Seattle area ignited our desire to eat healthier food, and here are some of the yums we’ve enjoyed over the years.

Plant based food I discovered in the Pacific Northwest 

Gold beets (who knew beets weren’t from a can?), rainbow carrots, and leeks. I didn’t know what a leek was before I moved to Washington.

Watch out! You might be accused of murder after cutting freshly-picked strawberries—they’re so red and juicy. The strawberry on the top is store-bought, while the strawberry on the bottom was freshly picked from a field. 

We love going strawberry picking every year at Duris Farms in Kent. 

My youngest sleeping on the job.

The blueberries are crazy fresh here and gave me my first mouthgasm! I pick them at my friend’s property every year. My only complaint is that I’ve been ruined for store-bought blueberries since they just don’t taste like the real deal. I freeze as many as I can and make this smoothie from Clean Food Dirty Girl all year.

I love our juicy peaches! I flash freeze a ton in the summer and use them for smoothies and baking all year.

I grow these huge, delicious peas. My daughter usually eats them as fast as they’ll grow. They have the perfect crunch and almost explode out of their pods. 

This gorgeous mushroom is a rare find in the PNW and great served with Plant Based Alfredo Sauce. 

We love finding these chanterelles in the fall. They’re very expensive in the store, but if you know the magic spot, you can enjoy them to your heart’s content! 

Green beans with purple stripes are gorgeous, and you gotta love summer squash.

Enter the land of garlic scapes. You trim these off hard-neck garlic in the early summer so the plant can use its energy to grow a bulb. We sauté ours without oil, cut them up, and serve them in salads or as a pizza topping with the best plant-based mozzarella sauce ever!  

Here’s me happily harvesting my garlic. For the record, I’m not the selfie type unless there’s produce or sourdough involved! I just love our community of Dirties who love a good pic with plants. Join our private Facebook group to connect with us, especially if your fam is tired of hearing about how much we love plants!

Here’s my youngest with a Brussels sprout stalk! I didn’t try them until I was 25 years old, and he’s been noshing on them since he was tiny! These are massive, especially during harvest season. 

Harvest festivals were often very hot in the desert and just didn’t feel very harvest-y since nearly everything was shipped in. We love the ones in Seattle, though. Most of these products are grown right on the farm. Also, my son cut his bangs 😅.

Sometimes, I can find fresh dates at roadside markets. They aren’t grown here, but I love finding little treasures like this.

More planty goodness I discovered for the first time in the Seattle area

• Lemon cucumbers
• Yellow watermelon/black watermelon
• Golden raspberries
• Purple kale
• Romanesco broccoli
• Cucamelon (Google it, it’s the CUTEST thing you’ll ever see)
• Rainier cherries
• So much more

In 2016, we rented a house with a big yard, built a greenhouse, and I’ve been gardening ever since. It has been fascinating watching plants grow and I love the lessons it’s teaching my kids.

A typical harvest from my garden every few days during the summer.

I never have good luck with cabbage. They sure are cute, though. We split these among our family of five. LOL!

Good thing I can find the big ones at the farmers market!

Fast forward to now. We have three kiddos and are still exploring and fueling with all the plants, thanks to Clean Food Dirty Girl and the plant-forward PNW, where I can find any ingredient I need within three miles 😂. 

One time, I found ume plum vinegar, a common specialty ingredient we use in our cheesy sauces, at a small market smack dab in the middle of nowhere when camping in the North Cascades National Park.

Yeah, I take my sprouts camping. #SoNorthwest (I also drive a Subaru, if you’re wondering.)

I love the Pacific Northwest and all its planty goodness.

If you’re in the area, you might have met me and at the Seattle Planted Expo on April 20 – 21. It featured over 150 plant-based edible and lifestyle businesses and brands, as well as informative and inspirational speakers like Dr. Michael Greger. We had an amazing time and I did a follow up post here.

Edit: Event over, but keeping comments open. Talk to me in the comments below about your planty experience in the PNW for a chance to win a free ticket.

Xo
Brittany