Sue, I live in Western Washington, Zone 8, too, and I spring-sow corn usually in April in paper pots, then plant it out when the soil warms. It's the only way I've found that I can get fairly good ears before the first frost. I live at a pretty high altitude for here so my growing season is almost a month shorter than in the valley. I direct sow beans though since they don't take as long to mature as corn. I winter sow almost everything else in the vegetable garden except carrots and beets.

Interesting that you need to spring sow your corn. Here in zone 4 farmers direct sow sweet corn and we eat sweet corn for several months. I buy my sweet corn at Farmers' Markets. No room to grow it in my garden and it is so readily available. Had our last ears in early October but they were not a nice as the earlier ones. Do you think there are earlier maturing varieties that you might try?

I wintersow corn here in zone 5 but only to get an earlier harvest. ( I used to direct sow and got a good harvest) Are you sowing a early corn? I also wSed almost every veggie. I tried carrots and beets but got misshaped roots..so I direct sow those. I don't WS peppers (they need a long season). I'll do those indoors or buy from a nursery. My pumpkin did not come up from from WS.

If you search the cornicupia forum you will find some interesting posts about growing corn.

Here is a link that might be useful: cornucopia forum

I think it isn't only the short growing season, but also the lack of enough heat to ripen the corn here. I have to cover my tomatoes and peppers with clear plastic to get them warm enough to ripen, too. We get quite a few sunny days, but never as many or as warm as most zone 8's. I do plant an early corn, but not the earliest since the reason for planting corn at all is to get a variety that isn't usually available at the market. We like the flavor of Golden Jubilee and dislike the supersweets and sugar-enhanced varieties that most farmers grow around here.

I have to watch for tender annuals, I killed lots of basilk cosmos and zinnias last year by WSing them. Some others also, I forget.

Zone 8, you outta be pretty good tho....

There are some annuals and veggies that are very easy to direct sow, and seem to do well that way (unless they get munched by a pesky cutworm or slug or something). This includes Sunflowers, Zinnias, Poppies, Cucumbers, Beans. I've read that it is possible to WS Poppies, but that they resent root disturbance so much that you have to be plant them out very small and be extra careful when planting them.

Lots of things self-sow in my gardens so well that I don't WS them either, unless desiring a special variety or color. This includes Cleome, Verbena bonariensis, Cosmos, Rudbeckia, Agastache, Echinacea, Scabiosa, Penstemon, Asclepias incarnata, Phlox paniculata, Catnip, Lemon balm, Cilantro. I get occasional seedlings from lots of others.

I expect some of this year's WS bloomers will reseed next year too.

Ahhhh seedling heaven!