Some ideas for winter gardening

For those of you looking for ideas for winter gardening, I wanted to pass along some resources. Check out Golden Gate Gardening, Pam Pierce's guide to year-round gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area. We've got two copies of this helpful book on the shelf in the tool shed.

It includes some good suggestions for crops to grow during the winter months: artichokes, fava beans, garlic, and peas all do well in the winter. Cabbage and lettuce are also good winter crops, although you may have better luck with starter plants than with seeds at this point in the season. Broccoli and brussel sprouts will also grow during the winter, but do better when they are started in late summer so that they are half grown before the coldest part of the year.

Lynette Evans, who writes a weekly gardening column in the San Francisco Chronicle also recently suggested mustard greens and camarosa strawberries for winter planting.

Sheet mulching instructions: If you are planning on sheet mulching your plot, you'll find the instructions on this simple technique for controlling weeds and improving your soil posted on the blog. I'll also post a hard copy on the toolshed bulletin board for easy access from the garden.

Winter gardening workshop: If you missed our workshop on preparing your plot for the winter, you can participate in another one being offered by Garden for Environment on Saturday, November 10, from 10am to 1pm. Topics will include mulching, cover cropping, pest control practices, weeding tips, and a crop selection appropriate for the Bay Area Winter months. The workshop will take place at the GFE garden located at 7th Ave and Lawton Street in SF. To pre-register, call 415-731-5627. There is a $5 suggested donation.

Use it or Lose it: We currently have 15 people on our waiting list for garden plots. If you're not planning on gardening this winter, be sure to take steps to prepare your plot for the season by the end of the year. Plots that aren't prepared for the winter by the end of the year or that aren't being actively used, will be made available to those on the waiting list.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!