vja4Him
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What are You Planting for Fall-Winter (Central California)

What seeds are you planting for the Fall and Winter in the area of Central California?

Depending on which map I use, I'm in Zone #9a, 9, 8, or 14. I grow a garden all year long, and would like to know what kinds of seeds other gardeners are planting in my area (Ceres, California, half-way between Modesto and Turlock.

I know most of the vegetables I can grow, but would like to find more Flowers and Herbs I could grow, or at least try to grow .... I'm also interested in growing Wild Edibles, like Dandelion. I'm about to order some Dandelion seeds, along with a few other seeds (Carnation, Mustard, Stinging Nettle).

I still have some warm-weather plants growing: Peppers, Tomatoes, and Eggplants. Lots of Flowers still growing: Four-O'Clocks, Morning Glory, Calendulas, Verbena, African Daisies, Shasta Daisies, Cosmos, Carnations, Geraniums, Nasturtiums, Ice Plant, Roses, Hollyhocks, and one Unknown Flower ....

Some Greens have come up as volunteers: Red Giant Mustard, Southern Curled Mustard, Chinese Cabbage, Swiss Chard, along with volunteer Radishes.

Herbs still growing: Sage, Lemon Grass, Mint, Stinging Nettle, Thyme, tons of Basil (about 15 different kinds), Rosemary, Onions, and maybe some Chives (?).

Some other vegetables growing now: Radishes, Kohlrabi, Kale, and Carrots.

Still have between four and six weeks of weather above freezing. I planted a bunch of seeds (three different plots) four days ago. Most of those seeds are up already!!!

Even when it freezes, the temperature only stays below freezing for between two and four hours, around 3:00 a.m. until about 6:00 or 7:00 a.m., a few days until 8:00 a.m.

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RamonaGS
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I'm not sure where you are exactly, but I have grown vegetables and fruits in Lompoc and Solvang Ca. In winter, carrots do pretty well where I live, so does broccoli and cauliflower. The brassicas ae supposed to all do well in colder weather too, but have not tried any other than the broccoli, cauliflower, and had some success with brussels sprouts ( though that was not on purpose) we forgot we planted the things, and then we found a bush of them growing in the middle of winter, LOL!

I noticed you posted awhile ago, but maybe you can use some of these ramblings for next winter, LOL :mrgreen:

vja4Him
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RamonaGS wrote:I'm not sure where you are exactly, but I have grown vegetables and fruits in Lompoc and Solvang Ca. In winter, carrots do pretty well where I live, so does broccoli and cauliflower. The brassicas ae supposed to all do well in colder weather too, but have not tried any other than the broccoli, cauliflower, and had some success with brussels sprouts ( though that was not on purpose) we forgot we planted the things, and then we found a bush of them growing in the middle of winter, LOL!

I noticed you posted awhile ago, but maybe you can use some of these ramblings for next winter, LOL :mrgreen:
Thanks for posting. I'm always learning more about Gardening, and now is a good time to start making plans for planting for this Fall and Winter. I plan on starting planting Seeds (I only plant Seeds and a few Bulbs) this year around the middle of August, and will continue planting most of my Fall and Winter Seeds up through the first week of November. Our first below-freezing weather usually hits around Thanksgiving, give or take a week or so.

I might try Broccoli, Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts this year. I do grow a wide variety of plants in the Cabbage Family (several varieties of Kale, Kohlrabi, Collards, several kinds of Mustard Greens), along with other Greens (Lettuce, Swiss Chard). Radishes are also in the Cabbage family, and I've discovered that the Radish Flowers and Seed Pods are edible too!

I also found out that California Poppies grow in the Fall and Winter, and survived below-freezing temperature, even down to the low 20s!!! They did not flower, but the seeds sprouted and the plants grew just fine.

The biggest problem I have is that I need to find more plants to grow during the warm/hot months (early April through late October), because the Heat here is terrible, and many plants wilt every single day, even now, and we are not even into the hottest weather yet. Also, our soil is very poor, and I have no shade.

I'm pretty much done with planting for the warm weather, except Beans, Peppers and more Basil, which I will start planting in a few days. I'm burying lots of plant containers to help control the gophers, so have lots more digging to do ....

-- Jim the Wild Gardener

> Climate Zone #8/14
> Hardiness Zones #8-9a

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RamonaGS
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I heard watermelon does VERY well in heat. I do not know for sure, but I am trying them out this year to see how they do. I'll let you know how they turn out for me, lol

vja4Him
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RamonaGS wrote:I heard watermelon does VERY well in heat. I do not know for sure, but I am trying them out this year to see how they do. I'll let you know how they turn out for me, lol
I love Watermelon!!! I've tried growing Watermelon for three or four years, but they always get infected really bad with tons of bugs, which also destroy the rest of my garden.

I had the exact same problem with Cucumbers, Squash, Cantaloupe, and Pumpkin, so I quit growing all of those plants, and don't have problems with bugs anymore!

I'm growing mostly Flowers, with over a dozen varieties of Herbs, lots of Tomatoes, some Peppers and Eggplant, Potatoes, Beans, and a few Greens until the Extreme Heat Wave hits, which is soon.

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RamonaGS
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In Lompoc, watermelon does fine, and so do pumpkins. The real ugly one to grow there is potatoes. Potatoes get slugs and parasites in them. I'm trying them out in Solvang in an above ground container.

vja4Him
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RamonaGS wrote:In Lompoc, watermelon does fine, and so do pumpkins. The real ugly one to grow there is potatoes. Potatoes get slugs and parasites in them. I'm trying them out in Solvang in an above ground container.
We get tons (thousands and thousands!) of Potato Bugs here. They are crawling everywhere, even all over inside our house!!! All over the porch, driveway, front yard, back yard, walkway, everywhere !!!

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RamonaGS
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Lompoc has those nasty potato bugs too. Sounds like you have them worse though, my condolences on THAT! I have not yet seen them in Solvang, but I'm sure they're here somewhere. Solvang does seem to have more crickets than Lompoc though. I am not yet sure what those buggars are going to do to my plants, but it's not going to be good I'm sure, LOL

JohnnyB60
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Well I'm in the high desert of southern CA and I’ve never grown a fall winter crop, but I love spinach and eat over a pound a week by myself. It’s too hot around here in the summer well over 100˚F so I thought I might try spinach this fall to see if I can. Not sure if I'll be wasting my time but I guess its worth a try. 8)

vja4Him
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JohnnyB60 wrote:Well I'm in the high desert of southern CA and I’ve never grown a fall winter crop, but I love spinach and eat over a pound a week by myself. It’s too hot around here in the summer well over 100˚F so I thought I might try spinach this fall to see if I can. Not sure if I'll be wasting my time but I guess its worth a try. 8)
What Growing Zone are you in?

There are many Fall/Winter Vegetables that will grow in weather below freezing. We get many nights that drop below freezing, into the mid-20s F. One year, I measured the Temperature in my garden at 18 Degrees F. (- 7.7 Degrees C.).

I grow many plants during the Fall/Winter: Kale (several varieties), Swiss Chard (several varieties), Southern Curled Mustard (spicy!), Red Giant Mustard, Black Mustard, Kohlrabi, Carrots, Beets, Radishes, Turnips, Collards, Chinese Cabbage, Spinach, Cilantro, Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Stinging Nettles, Henbit, Chickweed, Dandelion, Garlic, Green Onions, Peas, Calendulas, Pansies, and more ....

JohnnyB60
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What Growing Zone are you in?[/quote]
Thanks Jim. I believe I'm in zone 8A according to the USDA Hardiness Zone Finder. I'm a little confused by zones because I’ve seen it listed differently at different places.

I don't have a lot of room so I'm going to limited to what I'll be able to grow

vja4Him
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JohnnyB60 wrote:What Growing Zone are you in?
Thanks Jim. I believe I'm in zone 8A according to the USDA Hardiness Zone Finder. I'm a little confused by zones because I’ve seen it listed differently at different places.

I don't have a lot of room so I'm going to limited to what I'll be able to grow
I've found that we are listed as several different Zones, which is why I've listed both Climate and Growing Zones. We are on the border between Modesto and Turlock.

> Climate Zone #8/14
> Hardiness Zones #8-9a

I also do not have much space for growing. My front yard is my garden, about 1600 square feet in all. Minus the cement walkway, cement dividers, and pathways, I have about 1200 square feet of actually planting space.

JohnnyB60
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vja4Him wrote:
JohnnyB60 wrote:What Growing Zone are you in?
Thanks Jim. I believe I'm in zone 8A according to the USDA Hardiness Zone Finder. I'm a little confused by zones because I’ve seen it listed differently at different places.

I don't have a lot of room so I'm going to limited to what I'll be able to grow
I've found that we are listed as several different Zones, which is why I've listed both Climate and Growing Zones. We are on the border between Modesto and Turlock.

> Climate Zone #8/14
> Hardiness Zones #8-9a

I also do not have much space for growing. My front yard is my garden, about 1600 square feet in all. Minus the cement walkway, cement dividers, and pathways, I have about 1200 square feet of actually planting space.
Thanks Jim for the clarification
Ok that explains it. I didn’t realize that there was a difference between Climate Zone and Hardiness Zone. I Google searched ‘Climate Zone’ and it says 14. No wonder I couldn’t ever get it right. Anyway I'm still confused about the #8 you have listed, but I don't want to highjack this thread so I’ll keep searching.

vja4Him
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I used my Sunset Garden book to look up the Growing Zone, and several websites for the Climate Zone, and also the Growing Zone. Perhaps the Zones have changed slightly over the years, or other factors result in slight differences.

Anyways, I am quite familiar with our Zones, whatever they are. There are many plants that will grow during the Fall and Winter, some which surprised me ....

My California Poppies grew just fine this past Fall and Winter. I allow everything to go to seed, and California Poppies were springing up everywhere in my garden, and survived temperatures down to the low 20s Degrees F. (- 7 Degrees C.).

I planted my Carnation Seeds several years ago in January, when many nights were still in the low 20s, and they have survived for two years now, but they don't start blooming until late January or early February.

I plant everything from Seeds or Bulbs.

Calendulas bloom all year, even down to 18 Degrees F. ( - 7.7 Degrees C.)! I'm amazed at just how Cold-Hardy so many plants are. I planted Potatoes early this year, sometime in January. I didn't think they would survive, but they did, all 43 Potato plants. I need to start digging them up soon ..... I will leave some in the ground to hopefully sprout for a Fall crop.

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RamonaGS
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I'm restricted to mostly containers here where I am in Solvang, So I am sticking to stuff that I can grow that way. I do have some plots where I can plant and grow right in the ground, but I am using those to grow herbs. I LOVE cooking with fresh herbs! So I'm mostly growing culinary herbs, but I did end up with some sad neglected roses that I rehabilitated, so I am trying to grow some lavendar to plant with them, because lavendar and roses smell so beautiful together. :)

I actually have family in both of the places where you each live! I have relatives in Apple Valley, and Modesto :-() And winter gets a lot colder in your areas than it does here. We can usually grow stuff all year long.

I have no idea what climate zone Solvang is in, I just know it's hot and dry here in the summer, lol

vja4Him
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RamonaGS wrote:I'm restricted to mostly containers here where I am in Solvang, So I am sticking to stuff that I can grow that way. I do have some plots where I can plant and grow right in the ground, but I am using those to grow herbs. I LOVE cooking with fresh herbs! So I'm mostly growing culinary herbs, but I did end up with some sad neglected roses that I rehabilitated, so I am trying to grow some lavendar to plant with them, because lavendar and roses smell so beautiful together. :)

I actually have family in both of the places where you each live! I have relatives in Apple Valley, and Modesto :-() And winter gets a lot colder in your areas than it does here. We can usually grow stuff all year long.

I have no idea what climate zone Solvang is in, I just know it's hot and dry here in the summer, lol
Even though we have many nights below freezing, even down to the low 20s, I can and do grow a garden all year long! Last year we had one night/early morning that got down to 18 Degrees F. (-7.7 Degrees C.). Most of my plants survived just fine. I've even seen some of my plants completely encased in "Solid Ice!" They survived just fine!!!

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RamonaGS
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Oh wow, that's awesome vja! I have heard some plants can survive frost like that. Which plants were the ones which survived the frost?

vja4Him
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RamonaGS wrote:Oh wow, that's awesome vja! I have heard some plants can survive frost like that. Which plants were the ones which survived the frost?
I have pictures that I took showing the frost and even ice covering my plants!

Let's see .... These are the plants that survive through the Fall and Winter, below-freezing temperatures:

> Southern Curled Mustard, Red Giant Mustard
> Chinese Cabbage
> Swiss Chard
> Radishes
> Beets
> Turnips
> Kale
> Kohlrabi
> Collards
> Carnations
> Calendulas (Flowers still blooming, even down to 18 Degrees F.!!!)
> Verbena
>Ice Plant
> Stinging Nettle
> Cilantro
> Oregano
> Thyme

And a few more plants .....

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RamonaGS
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Good to know. I heard carrots survive frost, but carrots do not survive me. I LOVE fresh carrots, so they are usually gone by the time they are big enough to be eaten, LOL!

vja4Him
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RamonaGS wrote:Good to know. I heard carrots survive frost, but carrots do not survive me. I LOVE fresh carrots, so they are usually gone by the time they are big enough to be eaten, LOL!
Oh yes .... Here are more plants from my garden that survive below freezing temperatures:

> Carrots
> Spinach
> Lettuce
> Henbit
> Mint
> Rosemary
> Sage
> Green Onions
> Garlic
> Pansies
> Chickweed
> Dandelions
> Peas
> African Daisies
> Lemon Grass (dies to the ground, but roots survive, and new shoots grow in early Spring)
> Hollyhock
> Shasta Daisies
> California Poppies
> Dusty Miller
> Rose
> Geranium


and a few more .....

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RamonaGS
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Yeah, I am going to plant carrots this year, but because of them faring well in cold, and the fact that we have a long growing season, I have time to wait before I try to sprout seeds, lol I want to concentrate on cucumbers and squash for now :)

vja4Him
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RamonaGS wrote:Yeah, I am going to plant carrots this year, but because of them faring well in cold, and the fact that we have a long growing season, I have time to wait before I try to sprout seeds, lol I want to concentrate on cucumbers and squash for now :)
I tried growing Cucumber and Squash (also Pumpkin, Watermelon and Cantaloupe), but they got infected really bad with so many bugs, almost completely destroyed my entire garden, two years in a row!!! I tried deadly poison, homemade sprays, but nothing worked. So I don't grow those things anymore and haven't had any problems with bugs.

I do have one plant that appears to be a Volunteer Cucumber. Not sure, but I think that's what it is. I never planted it, so must be from the birds. Will see what happens ... I would like to have some fresh Cucumbers!!!

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RamonaGS
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I'm trying to grow the persian cucumbers this year. My brother's partner introduced me to them and she and I both LOVE them! They have a very thin skin, and mild flavor. Plus they are great for pickling! This is my first season growing in Solvang, but a few years ago when my mom tried to grow cucumbers the thing hardly grew, and we only got 1 cucumber, LOL! Partly because my mom forgot what she had planted and where, so until I saw a cucumber on it, I thought the plant was a melon of some sort, LOL! If we knew it was a cucumber, I would've fertilized it, but like I said, I wasn't sure WHAT was growing there, LOL



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