any suggestions for preparing for our REAL season: the Santa Ana winds?
In My Garden Blog:
Southern California Coastal & Inland Valleys
September 24, 2009
By
Yvonne Savio,
Pasadena, CA
Chard will provide nutritious dark leafy greens through next summer!
Transition Time in the Garden
September's mildness makes just about any gardening tasks pleasant. The soil and air are warm but not overly hot. Fresh summer produce is still delicious, but production is slowing down. Garden tasks center around cleaning up the old garden and getting the new one started. Seeds and transplants of cool-weather crops can be planted now for harvests from fall through early spring. Seeds sown now for spring blooms and crops -- especially edible peas and flowering sweet peas -- will encourage strong root and foliar development that will survive most frosts, thrive, and bear sooner in the spring. Soil amendments can be collected and dug in now to break down over the winter, enriching the soil for next year's gardens.
Vegetables that tolerate light frosts and temperatures in the upper twenties will extend the growing season and provide fresh produce all winter long. These include beets, Chinese and savoy-leafed cabbages, collards, kale, butterhead and heading and romaine lettuces, flat-leaf parsley, radishes, turnips, savoy-leafed spinaches, and Swiss chard. Sow or transplant two or three times the amount you would for spring harvest, as these overwintering crops will grow very slowly, and you'll harvest only a leaf or two at a time from each plant. So you need a lot more plants in order to harvest enough for a couple of salads per week.
Plants that have developed deep root systems and mature leaves are more tolerant to the cold. When these plants are 3 or 4 inches in size before the first hard frost, they're mature enough to be harvested throughout the fall, winter, and early spring. These will bolt at the first real warmth of early spring, though, so they can't be counted on to provide a crop after that. But by then you'll have made the first spring plantings, so the gap between harvests won't be too long.
When sowing cover crops for the fall and winter, consider edible ones. Kale and rocket (roquette, arugula) are full-flavored leafy vegetables that withstand freezing. Both germinate in cool weather and are welcome fresh greens for stir-fry and soups all winter long. In the spring, they can be easily turned under as "green manure" when preparing the soil for the main spring and summer crops. This is a great way to feed you and then feed the soil!
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shoeflower | September 28, 2009 | 12:32AM
Yvonne Savio | September 28, 2009 | 1:13AM
Hi, shoeflower -- Yes, indeed: keep plants well watered - deeply - so they'll be hydrated sufficiently to be able to not suffer with the drying winds to come!
msmarm | September 28, 2009 | 3:01PM
For those with an LA City community garden plot, considering 1) Santa Ana winds, 2) hot, nasty weather, 3) LA City reduction in automatic community garden plot watering to not much more than a sprinkle twice a week, and 4) the requirement in community garden plots to keep the plots 'looking nice' - other than going to the plots to water deeply several times a week, might the city either 1) water either more or longer during these high evaporation times or 2) be more lenient about plots looking dry and unkempt?
ellie considine | September 30, 2009 | 12:50AM
When is the best time to transplant established roses? I live in the Pasadena area.
Yvonne Savio | October 14, 2009 | 2:13AM
Hi, msmarm -- Check with the Los Angeles Community Garden Council, http://www.lagardencouncil.org/, re water rates for community gardens -- I understand that at least for LA City, the restrictions have been lessened. To aid water retention and make plots look neat, use lots of compost incorporated into the soil, mulch on top, and keep plants trimmed of dead stuff -- easily done once each week or two. And enjoy this rain!
Yvonne Savio | October 14, 2009 | 2:19AM
Hi, Ellie -- With cooling trend this last couple of weeks, and now this wonderful rain, your established rose's roots will be well hydrated, so you can transplant anytime from now through mid-February. The longer you wait, the more dormant the plants will get, so will take longer in the spring to reconnect with the soil in its new home. Leave as much of the rootball as possible for the least amount of transplant stress. One technique is to slice the roots a foot away from the main stem with a shovel, just digging straight down but not removing any soil, fully around the plant. This will spur new root growth that'll take place after you move the plant in another couple of weeks. But, most roses are hardy enough to take transplanting "abuse" and recouperate well.
