Discover The Diverse Natural Resources Of Washington State

The hot days of summer are a great time to vacation along the coastline - especially in the cool Pacific Northwest! They're also a great time to cook up some tasty Northwestern-style cuisine, which we will share with you this month in a special series of articles and recipes designed to introduce you to the delicious foods of this unique region of the United States. Read - and eat - on!

When you think of Washington State, do you think of Seattle, the Space Needle, and abundant seafood? If so, you are correct, but only in part. Washington is a large state with a very versatile landscape. If you travel from east to west across Washington State, you may think you've crossed countries, even continents!

The west coast of Washington State is in the Maritime climate zone, meaning it stays cool in the summer and has relatively mild winters. The state is divided by the Cascade Mountains, resulting in a vast difference between the west coast and the central and eastern parts of Washington.

Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains from Space Needle, Seattle, Washington, United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Most of the eastern side of Washington is in the Steppe climate zone, meaning it has hot summers and cold winters. You'll even find a Desert climate zone in the central part of eastern Washington.

These climate zones, created in part by the Cascade Mountain divide, means that while the Seattle/Olympia area (west coast) will have an average rainfall per year around 38 inches, Spokane/Pullman (east coast) will have an average rainfall per year around 16 inches, and the desert zone has on average less than 10 inches of rainfall per year.

Then there is an actual rainforest situated in the Olympic Mountains which has rainfalls on average of 140 inches per year. The city of Olympia, the state capital, is at the southern end of Puget Sound and, just like her northern neighbor, Seattle, receives a fair share of rainfall.

All this rain makes for lush green fields and forests, perfect for growing crops and keeping the waterways well stocked with a wide variety of fish and other seafood.

However, that doesn't mean eastern Washington is barren. On the contrary. As glaciers were receding thousands of years ago, they carried with them fertile top soil that settled to form rich farmland, along with rivers and streams that feed the eastern valleys.

The diversity of this state's topography and climate results in a wide variety of crops; in fact over 200 different crops!  Washington's most valuable commodity is the apple, followed by milk, wheat, potatoes, and cattle.

Red raspberries. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Along with these valuable commodities, Washington State also leads the nation in production of many other crops - over 90% of all raspberries, over 75% of all hops and all spearmint oil, and about 50% of all cherries, concord grapes, and pears. In rich eastern farmlands you'll also find onions, peaches, barley, alfalfa, corn, garbanzo beans, blueberries, and plenty of forestry products.

We may be most familiar with the abundant seafood that comes from the Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound, and a multitude of waterways. We also are surely familiar with the bags and bags of apples we see in our grocery store marked "Washington State."  We may even have sampled a sweet Walla Walla onion at some point. But that just scratches the surface of this state's abundance.

With its naturally mild climate to the west, and its rich glacier fed soils to the east, Washington State has much more to offer than we may see at first glance. If you get a chance, travel this state and get to know (and enjoy!) her diverse natural resources.

Be sure to check back later this week for some tasty recipes using foods of the Pacific Northwest region!