Master Gardeners Workshop - Winter Vegetables
By Terri Sonleitner Law UC Master Gardener
Q. What vegetables can I plant in my garden now? Cameron, San Luis Obispo.
A. There are many cool season vegetables you can plant now, which produce well from seeds or from transplants, in the cooler months of the year. Among these vegetables are broccoli, carrots, chard, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, spinach, onions and most Asian greens. In San Luis Obispo County, many herbs such as chives, parsley, rosemary and thyme are also hardy year round.
A chart of recommended vegetable planting dates is available through the University of California: http://ucanr.org/sites/gardenweb/files/29040.pdf
If planting and keeping a kitchen garden over the cooler months seems daunting, come to the Master Gardener October “Advice To Grow By” workshop! We’ll feature a talk on kitchen gardens, including how to prepare the garden, grow and enjoy winter vegetables. It will be held in our demonstration garden, the Garden of the Seven Sisters, 2156 Sierra Way, in San Luis Obispo on Saturday, October 20 from 10:00am to noon. Bring a hat, dress for the weather and bring your vegetable and herb gardening questions for our Master Gardener experts.
Q. Every year we’re faced with an invasion of some kind of pest. Once it was mice, and ants are always a problem. What can we do to thwart these pests? Bobbie, Templeton.
A. We have a great resource available! Information on most pests found in California is only a few keystrokes away. The University of California Agricultural & Natural Resources website has a searchable database of research-based information on household pests at the UC IPM Online website: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/menu.house.html
The Master Gardener’s next “Advice To Grow By” workshop will also feature a timely talk about our most common winter pests, ants and mice, including their habits and effective control methods. Come to the workshop on Saturday, October 20 from 10am to noon, at the Garden of the Seven Sisters, 2156 Sierra Way. Park in the lot adjacent to the garden and bring your timely pest questions for the Master Gardeners.
For more information about Vegetable Gardening, visit The San Luis Obispo UC Master Gardeners Website. You can find the Cool Season Vegetable Planting Guide for SLO County (aka Crop Circle) there!