Hinkley, CA
ph: 760-514-3440
pennyhar
VEGETABLE PLANTING & GARDENING CALENDAR
For Hinkley, Barstow, Newberry Spring areas in California
Sunset Zone 11 USDA Zone 7 (0 - 10 degrees F)
January
Pruning, tree planting
Prune fruit trees, grapes. Plan where you will plant what this year. Order veg seeds. Start early veg seeds indoors, like onions, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant. Transplant fruit, shade, nut, windbreak trees.
February
Amend, fertilize, cultivate, weed soil where you will plant. Transplant fruit, shade, nut, windbreak trees. Start herb seeds indoors. Root yams and sweet potatoes in jars of water. Plant cover crops.
March
Plant onion sets, asparagus roots. Sow seeds outdoors for root crops like beets, carrots, turnips, radishes. Sow snow peas, cabbage family, spinach, cilantro, parsley. Last chance to transplant fruit, shade, nut trees.
April
Sow seeds outdoors for squash, melons, 1st corn*, okra, cucumbers*, beans, sunflowers. Spring lettuce seeds.
Set out tomato, pepper, eggplant, herb plants with protection from late frosts.
May
Sow seeds
Transplant:
Sow seeds in containers
June
Sow seeds directly in soil for: late crop cucumbers, melons, squash, 3rd corn*, black eyed peas, cow peas, okra, sunflowers, amaranth. Transplant rooted sweet potato slips
Tomatoes need afternoon shade and wind protection, temps over 90 kill pollen, get all leaves and flowers and no fruit until temps cool down below 90 in fall.
Heat also kills pollen in bell peppers, eggplant, cucumbers. Use tomato set spray to increase pollination.
July
Sow seeds
August
Sow seeds for lettuce in August in a cool place. Direct seed in soil: Brussels sprouts, bok choi, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, chard, green beans (short term), arugula, cilantro, parsley.
September
Radish, beets, carrots, turnips, burdock, daikon. Transplant out the lettuce. Tomatoes may revive and start setting fruit again when temps cool down. Pick all tomato fruit before first hard frost or transplant plants into pots indoors. Green tomatoes will ripen indoors very nicely. Last chance to sow snow peas, snap peas, cabbage family. This is the time to plant spinach as August is too hot and October is too cold. Sow other leafy greens, like cilantro, mustard, arugula. Sow winter grains, like barley and wheat, and cover crops where you will plant next year. Harvest pistachio nuts and sunflower seeds.
October
Plant directly in soil: onion seeds, shallots, garlic cloves (3“ under soil). Too late to sow spinach seeds for crop this winter, but will be eating size by next spring. Last chance to sow winter grains, like barley and wheat, and cover crops where you will plant next year.
November
Plant directly in soil: onion seeds, shallots, garlic cloves (3“ under soil)
Transplant fruit, shade, nut, windbreak trees.
December
Start seeds for tomatoes, peppers, eggplant in containers for putting outside in April or May next spring. Transplant fruit, shade, nut, windbreak trees. Prune fruit and nut trees, grapes, after leaves fall off.
Compiled from various gardening books, other high desert gardeners, Victor Valley College agriculture classes, trial and error, planting vegetables in high desert for 11 years at Aquarius Ranch, and John Dromgoole,s “Monthly Garden Calendar for Southwest United States, Organic Gardening Month-to-Month Almanac” on the web. Please share this with other gardeners and let me know what works and does not work for you.
pennyharper@msn.com
May 2012
expanded Oct 2013
updated July 2015
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Hinkley, CA
ph: 760-514-3440
pennyhar