Cool weather doesn\'t mean saying goodbye to your garden

Tag : Vegetable Garden Gardening Organic Vegetables
Some gardeners may be surprised to know that because of the uniqueclimate in the San Diego area, you can grow a fall vegetable gardenthat is the equal of the traditional spring garden.
You simply plant a different set of vegetables in our fall seasonthan you do in our spring season. In the fall we plant thecool-season vegetables that do well in our fall and winter seasons,but will not grow well when planted in the spring. Conversely inthe spring we plant the warm-season veggies that will failmiserably when planted in our fall and winter season.
In Southern California vegetable gardens, the fall season marks thebeginning of our second “spring planting season.” TheSan Diego area is the absolute envy of the gardening world; we livein one of the few regions of the world where gardening is possibleon a year-round basis.
In our area, an autumn garden means growing vegetables that thrivein our warm fall days and cool, crisp evenings. It is my favoritegardening time of the year. The autumn days are warm, yetcomfortable. The weeds grow slower – and there are fewer ofthem. Watering is still necessary, of course, but not as often asspring or summer, and insects slow down their activities and manydisappear and don't return until spring.
Get your garden in as soon as possible; as the days grow shorter,the growing time until harvest increases greatly.
What are the cool-season vegetables to include in your autumngarden? Choose from the following: beets, broccoli, brusselssprouts, cabbage (including Chinese cabbage), carrots, cauliflower,celery, celtuce, chard, collards, cress, endive, escarole, garlic,kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, parsley,parsnips, peas (including edible-podded and sugar snap peas),potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, salsify, shallots, spinach andturnips.
Most of the above will have to be planted from seeds, but some,such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celeryand onions are available as transplants at most local nurseries.You will save about six weeks of growing time by using transplants.
As the sun is not as intense in the autumn, it is necessary tolocate your garden where it will receive a lengthy period ofsunlight each day. Although a few vegetables will tolerate partialshade, most require full sun to make rapid growth. The area youchoose should receive, at the minimum, seven hours of sunlightdaily.
The selected site should be away from trees or other structuresthat might shade the plot. In addition, trees have extensive rootsystems that tend to rob vegetables of nutrients and moisture. Thesouthern side of a home or other building often provides a goodgarden plot as it receives full sun and the building also willshelter the vegetables from northerly winds.
Do not worry if your yard does not contain the ideal growing area.Consider using areas along sunny fences or interplanting vegetablesin your flower beds.
Spade and work your soil and enrich it with organic materials suchas compost and peat moss and add a balanced vegetable fertilizer toit. Water your garden area and let the soil settle for a couple ofdays; then sow your seeds while the soil is still moist.
Plant more seeds than recommended, as some will not germinate. Whenthe young seedlings appear and grow to a couple of inches high,thin them to the distances recommended on the seed packets. It issometimes difficult, especially for the beginning gardener to pullup young, healthy plants, but thinning is an important process insuccessful gardening and must be done ruthlessly.
When transplanting vegetable plants into the garden, try to avoidmaking the transplant during the heat of midday. The besttransplanting time is toward evening so that the plants will havethe cool night temperature to recover from transplant shock. Waterthe plants during the transplanting process.
Generally speaking, until our rainy season begins in late November,you should irrigate your garden weekly. Water more often during hotspells or if you are gardening in containers.
As previously mentioned, weeds will not be as prevalent during thefall, but there will be some; keep them in control. Insects will befewer, however, cabbage worms on all the cole crops and many othervegetables are still a major threat. Control them easily byapplying a spray that contains Bacillus thuringiensis Bt), a biological control that won't harm beneficial insects. Ispray my autumn garden with this material every 10 days and thereis never a worm problem.
Santa Ana winds will be a problem. During these hot, dry winds,sprinkle your garden twice a day.
For many of these cool-season vegetables, the harvest period willbegin in mid-November; some like radishes and leaf lettuce will beearlier, others like brussels sprouts will be later.
If you are new to vegetable gardening, when planning the size ofyour garden, my advice would be to think big, but start small.Start with a small plot and see how you like vegetable gardeningand how much time you have to devote to it. A large garden caneasily overwhelm the novice, as proper garden maintenance makeslarge demands on one's time.
A common mistake of many beginning gardeners is plantingcool-season vegetables during warm weather and warm-season cropsduring cool periods. For instance, peas are a cool-season crop andif planted in our warm season they do very poorly. Beans are awarm-season crop and will fail when planted during the cool season.
If you match the crop to the season, gardening can be a year-roundpleasure in our unique climate. Bill Sidnam is a veteran Southern California garden writer. Hecurrently gardens in Auburn.

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