Planting Winter crops in Nor. Cali?When,How?

For veggies, try greens such as spinach, kale, lettuce, cabbage, and chard. You can also plant root vegetables such as radish, beets, carrots, as well as garlic and onions. Peas are also a cool weather crop and will take some frost. You can also grow broccoli and cauliflower. All of these plants prefer cooler temps and will tolerate some frost.

For flowers, pansies and violas are winter hardy and have edible flowers, which look cute in salads or as a garnish.

You can start any of these plants this month, which should give them time to germinate (if you start from seeds) or establish their root systems (from seedlings or onion sets & garlic bulbs) before the soil gets cool. Once established, all of these plants will grow better in cool weather than in the summer's heat. Keep them well-watered but take care not to let the soil get soggy. If you get a hard frost warning, you can cover your plants with row covers or old sheets to protect them, but all the plants listed above will take a good bit of frost without damage.

Some of the plants listed have time to come to harvest before winter (especially radishes and leaf lettuce) and some will overwinter and then provide you with early spring crops.

Check with you local agricultural extension office and local plant nurseries for suggestions of good varieties for your area.

You will want to consider fencing your vegetable garden plot to keep out deer, minimum height to consider is six feet. They often are a problem in the Sierra foothills.

through fact the strawberry plant is perennial, it could bypass interior the floor and coated with mulch. based upon your area and in case you have severe winters, i could placed a minimum of 6-8" + of mulch or pine straw. The plant will unfold and come again interior the spring.