How to start a home garden in San Diego, CA??

Question

I live in San Diego, Ca,, pretty sunny most of the year, but can get pretty cold in the winter.. I'm hoping to start my own veggie and herb garden this summer (august 08) but don't know if it's the right season to do it, or if I should just wait. Since I'm just starting, I would like to begin with herbs and a few veggies (tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, snap peas, peppers) do these grow well in this area???

As to prepping the ground, after loosening it, weeding it, what needs to be done??

Thank you!

Answer 1

You need to add some fertilizer, (In Australia something like Blood'n bone).  dig it in, and also heap the soil up into rows (to help drainage).  Someone else was asking about Vegie gardens in the Australian part of this, and one person suggested newspaper around the plants to suppress the weeds.  This is a great idea.  Go to your local nursery and see what vegie seedlings they have in stock now.  Or ask there as they will know what is in season.  Goodluck with your garden  :)

Answer 2

I'm in inland San Diego county and have a veggie and herb garden growing, but started it a little earlier in the spring.  You still should be okay starting tomatos, zucchini, peppers and peas, but it is a little too hot for starting Iettuce right now.  All will do fine because we have such a long growing season.  As for herbs, oregano, thyme, sage, parsley and chives are all doing well, but the basil this year looked terrible just about everywhere.  If you are inland, we have DG soil, which you will need to amend (you can use compost or a product called amend that you add and work into the soil.  If you don't amend the soil, water doesn't saturate into the soil, it will sit on the top and not get to the plant roots.)  I have some of my peppers and tomatoes in containers mainly so that I can move them around the yard to see where they produce the most, but if you put them into the ground be sure to support them because they get heavy with the fruit and start to bend over breaking some of the stalks.  Also, mulch around plants that are in the ground to retain the water and meet our new conservation guidelines. Nothing like growing your own veggies and sharing them with the neighborhood!  Good luck.