NO MATTER WHERE YOU GARDEN, TIMING CAN BE EVERYTHING

Robin Stanley

UCCE/El Dorado Master Gardener

It’s an “in-between” time in the garden - too late to plant hot weather crops (like tomatoes and peppers), but still too early for fall crops. In fact, as a result of our unseasonably cool spring and summer, even some of our typical summer crops aren’t doing so well this year. Many gardeners, Master Gardeners included, have reported poor fruit set on their tomatoes and peppers. On the plus side, lots of people were still harvesting cool weather crops, like lettuce and chard, into July. Nobody knows whether the heat wave we got in the middle of July will continue, or we’ll have an early fall. It can be a challenge to know what to plant at any given time and place, but Master Gardeners do have some helpful resources that they would love to share with you.

A few years ago, Master Gardeners Randy Rogers and Carolyn Stromberg created the El Dorado County Foothill Vegetable Planting Guide (FVPG). With its attractive layout and eye-catching graphics, it is a valuable resource for foothill gardeners. The FVPG is available for sale in our office (see below for the location) and some local nurseries. It comes laminated, so it can stand up to muddy hands and soggy days in the garden. The guide makes suggestions for what vegetables to plant during any given month. It also tells you whether we recommend starting the plants from seed or planting seedlings that were started earlier (either by you or the nursery). Although it bases the recommended planting dates on the Placerville elevation (1860’), it also gives you hints as to how to adjust for your ideal planting dates, based on the difference between your elevation and Placerville’s. It helps you customize your gardening, no matter where you are gardening on the west slope.

A lot of gardeners use the FVPG, including a few who might surprise you. For example, the Justice Garden at the El Dorado County Jail in Placerville uses our guide. For the last three years, a team of Master Gardeners, led by MG Bob Sherwood, have worked with jail employees and inmates to help them successfully grow fruits and vegetables, which are used to feed jail residents and staff.

The Justice Garden has gone through many transformations over the years and a lot of the success at any given time depends on the interest and talents of the inmates assigned to the garden. Bob says that the jail recently got its own rototiller, which is allowing the inmates to do a better job of preparing the soil. In fact, they now have some newly tilled land that they would like to plant. When Bob was reporting on the Justice Garden at a recent Master Gardener Advisory Board meeting, he took a minute to discuss the FVPG recommendations for July and August and solicit suggestions of what could best be planted this late in the season.

So what did Bob’s fellow Master Gardeners recommend growing in the Justice Garden this time of year? Snap beans seemed to be the best suggestion; and the FVPG confirmed that this would be a good idea. Some of the other crops the guide suggests are already in, like corn and squash, and Bob felt the inmates probably would pass on Brussels sprouts, another recommendation. Many on the board thought Bob should hold off for a few weeks until it is time to plant some fall and winter veggies. Then they could start planting things in the brassica family, like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. They could also sow carrot seeds and, by mid August, lettuce. Other plants, such as peas, garlic and onions, could be started even later. Since these crops are all cool weather vegetables, the gardeners will need to take care to keep them well watered and mulched until the weather cools down and the days start to get shorter.

Because there are 3 inmates working on the garden, they should be able to take care of their young plants just fine. It’s nice to know that inmates are learning how to garden (or improve their gardening skills) because of the good advice and support Master Gardeners are providing.

If you’ve never planted a fall garden, or have been disappointed with previous fall crops, it may be a matter of timing. Perhaps, like many people, you have waited until too late to plant your seeds and plants, and they didn’t get established adequately before the weather turned cold and damp. The Master Gardener Foothill Vegetable Planting Guide can help you with that.