In the Bay Area where we have mild winters, you can grow vegetables year round. Because the days are shorter and the nights cooler, fruit-bearing vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, melons, beans, etc.) will not produce any fruit. However, most leaf and root crops will grow and mature very well and provide a nourishing diet during the winter months.

Soil preparation is critical in the Bay Area to make our clay soil suitable for growing vegetables. See our Vegetable Gardening Care Guide for soil preparation. One or two inches of organic amendment such as Gold Rush or Bumper Crop should be added to the garden area each year; either in the spring or fall. Soil should be kept moist (not wet); soaker hoses run 4 hours once or twice a week are very effective. All should be fertilized one and two months after planting with Master Nursery Tomato and Vegetable Fertilizer or Dr. Earth Tomato Vegetable and Herb Fertilizer.

Varietals Information:

Cole Crops include broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, collards, kale and kohlrabi. All require the same care and growing conditions. Each requires a slightly acid soil so be sure your fertilizer contains sulfur. All of these plants get quite large so if you use transplants from cell packs, they should be planted about 12 to 20 inches apart and can be started about Labor Day. Seeds should be planted two or three weeks earlier about six inches apart and eventually thinned as needed. Full sun all day is desirable but all will grow with at least six hours of full sun. Cauliflower heads are made their pearly white by tying the leaves over the head with a twist-tie. Cauliflower, cabbage and kohlrabi are cut off at ground level when they are harvested. A second crop can be planted in the space previously occupied and harvested later. Broccoli has one large head to be harvested and then the smaller side shoots are cut as they develop. Sprouts are harvested as they mature. If leaves from collards and kale are picked from the outside, the inner leaves will continue to mature and can be picked later.

Aphids may be a problem on some cole crops but can be controlled with insecticidal soap or a pyrethrin spray. If tiny caterpillars show up from the white cabbage moth, control them with Monterey Garden Insect Spray.

Root Vegetables, including beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips and rutabagas, are best planted from seed any time from Labor Day on. All require a loose, stone-free soil. Carrots are slowest to develop and take longest to mature. (This is often disappointing to children learning to become gardeners.) Plant seeds as directed on the package. Thinning is usually required. Beet and turnip "greens" are cooked the same as spinach and are highly nutritious. Adding a couple of teaspoonfuls of vinegar to the beet water intensifies the color.

Leaf Vegetables include lettuces, Swiss chard, spinach, pac choi and others. All of the leafy vegetables can be grown from seeds or transplants starting about Labor Day. Plant a dozen or so of the plants you have chosen in rows two weeks apart so that you have a continuous flow of crops rather than an excess number all ripening at one time. Some gardeners will plants a row of transplants followed by rows of seeds at two week intervals to get an earlier crop. Butter, Bibb and Romaine lettuces all grow well in the Bay Area. Butter and Bibb lettuce are usually cut off at ground level ending those plants. Romaine can be harvested the same way or by picking the outer leaves and permitting the center leaves to continue growing. If lettuce becomes overly mature or goes dry while growing, it becomes bitter. A white milky sap present when the leaves are cut will warn you of bitter lettuce.

Spinach, Chard and pac choi are grown and treated the same as romaine lettuce. The old-fashioned chard has green leaves and white stalks. Newer varieties have red, yellow or orange stalks and are sold under the name Bright Lights. All taste the same.

All leaf vegetables should e harvested when they are young and the leaves 10 inches or shorter. As the leaves get older, they become bitterer.

As with all plantings, it is important to mulch the entire crop with 1 ½ to 2 inches of an amendment such as Gold Rush or Bumper Crop.

Leaf vegetables are subject to aphid attack but can be easily controlled with insecticidal soap or pyrethrin spray. Chard and spinach may also fall victim to leaf miners. Control is to remove the leaves and dispose of them (do not compost) or spray with Monterey Garden Insect Spray.

Peas are an exception to the statement that winter vegetables do not produce fruit. (The pod is the fruit.) Peas are grown and treated the same as string beans (see Vegetable Gardening Care Guide). Mr. Ed grows string beans on a support in the summer and then uses the same support for peas in the winter. Snap peas, sugar peas, English peas, garden peas, dwarf peas and many varietals will all grow and produce in the Bay Area.

Many other herbs and vegetables are available in the Bedding Department of the Nursery as transplants or in the store as seeds. If you have a special request, we can order it or explain that it may not be the proper season and suggest a suitable cultivation time.