What to Plant This Fall in Your San Diego Edible Garden

Most of the country is putting their gardens to bed right now. Here in San Diego, fall is when the real gardening season starts. The soil is still warm from summer, the days are getting cooler, and the winter rains (when they come) do a lot of the watering for you. If you only plant once a year, plant now.

Here’s what I’m planting in October and November, and what I’m telling clients to plant.

Cool-season vegetables

• Leafy greens: lettuce, kale, chard, arugula, spinach and bok choy. Sow every few weeks for a steady harvest instead of one big glut.

• Brassicas: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. Start from transplants now so they have time to size up before spring.

• Peas: snap and snow peas on a trellis. They fix nitrogen, so they leave the bed better than they found it.

• Roots: carrots, beets, radishes and turnips, sown directly in loose soil.

• Garlic and onions: plant garlic cloves in October or November for a late spring or early summer harvest.

Herbs

Cilantro and parsley bolt quickly in summer but grow happily through our winters. Fall is also a good time to put in perennial herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage, so their roots get established before the heat comes back.

Fruit trees and berries

Evergreen fruit like citrus can go in during early fall while the soil is still warm, which helps the roots get going. Avocados are more frost-tender, so in colder inland spots it’s safer to wait until spring. Deciduous fruit trees (stone fruit, apples, figs, pomegranates) are usually best planted bare root in winter, so now is the time to plan where they’ll go and order the varieties you want. Check our guide to the best fruit trees for San Diego for ideas.

Native and water-wise plants

Fall is the best time of year to plant California natives and other drought-tolerant plants. Planting now lets them grow roots through the cooler, wetter months, so they need far less water next summer. If you’re replacing a lawn, this is also a good season to look into SoCalWaterSmart turf replacement rebates before you start.

Watering in fall

Cooler weather means your plants need less water than they did in August, but new plantings still need regular water until they’re established. Check the soil before you water instead of running the same schedule all year. Our post on the water test explains an easy way to do it.

Mulch now

A few inches of mulch around new plantings keeps soil temperature even, holds moisture and keeps weeds down through winter. Keep mulch a few inches away from trunks and stems.