Straddling Two Seasons

It's been a strange Southern California summer. June, July, and even the first half of August were unseasonably cloudy and cool. Wouldn't you know, yesterday marked our first day of dry, scorching heat. I'm certain it will hit 100 degrees on the first day of school, when I am standing in my markedly unairconditioned classroom with 35 sweaty, prepubescent bodies perspiring all around me. I may have to give my annual lecture on the virtues of wearing deodorant a little early this year.

Our lack of hot summer days is causing many people down here to wonder whether it will be an unusually warm autumn. After all, I can remember spending several Southern California Thanksgiving days in shorts and tank tops. Aside from my firm belief that this is just plain wrong (Thanksgiving should mean crimson leaves wafting from maples and the first dustings of powdery white snow), it's also causing confusion in my garden plan.

Having just finished, harvested, and cleaned up my summer garden, what should I plant next?

In striving for sustainability, I need to be sure that we will have enough hearty veggies to eat through the start of winter. I didn't want to put all my eggs in one climate-dependent basket, so last week I planted another summer garden... and the beginning of my winter one. I figure I'd better be prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws our way.

Here's a checklist of what's happening at Pocket Square Farm this month.

Just finishing or pulled out and composted:
Four cherry and early girl bush tomato plants
My first sowings of Kentucky blue pole beans, and a scattering of yellow, buttery bush beans
Three bell pepper and two chili pepper plants
36 stalks of corn
My spring lettuce patch (5 different varieties)
10 Strawberry plants
10 cucumber plants


Continuing to produce:
Watermelon and "Twice as Nice" cantaloupe (these have really taken off in the recent heat)
Blue lake pole beans (not nearly as nice as Kentucky blue)
One early girl and one big boy tomato plant
Four zucchini plants (these really blossomed after I pruned back withered foliage)
Pumpkins (I have two whoppers that are bright orange and almost finished)
Two neon purple eggplants
One acorn squash vine
Herbs: Lemon balm, onion and garlic chives, Italian parsley, rosemary, four varieties of basil, lemon thyme, and mint
Lots and lots of carrots (orange and rainbow)!
Jalapeños


Just planted (in case of a warm autumn):
Four different colored bell pepper plants
Two more early girl tomato plants, and two Glacier tomato plants
One Japanese eggplant
Four more cucumber seedlings
Mammoth sunflowers (to feed the birds)


Just planted (in case of a cooler fall):
Fava beans
Broccoli and cauliflower seedlings
Many more heads of lettuce
Sweet onions
Black beans
More pumpkins


We also recently added:
One artichoke plant
Two blueberry bushes
One blackberry vine
One boysenberry vine
Many more flowers to attract pollinators


Next on my list:
Finish and pull the remainder of the pole beans to make more room
Order asparagus crowns and seed potatoes
Plant two dwarf apple trees in our one remaining empty raised bed
Set out seeds of winter greens such as cabbages, leeks, spinach, etc. in seed trays to plant out whenever the weather does finally cool
Order rain collection barrels for our downspouts

Many friends have asked me lately what they should plant out now in their gardens. And the answer is, "I'm really not sure!" Not knowing what the weather holds makes garden selections difficult, but I think in mild Southern California the rule is this: if you want it, you might as well try to grow it. The worst that will happen is that a few seedlings might die and you'll have to try again. Like anything, gardening is a learning curve, and one that I enjoy.

So cross your fingers and happy planting!