Container gardens

Clay pots not great -- look for thick plastic pots or wooden 1/2 barrels and planters.

Companion plant in large pots but avoid plants that spread aggressively; they should be low growing. Consider herbs.

When planting amend compost with a sprinkle if bloodmeal, a handful each of greensand, rock or colloidal phosphate, and bonemeal. After the first year liquid or dry organic fertilizer.

Over wintering – dormant hardy trees can be stored in the garage through the winter; surround containers with bags of leaves; sink pots into ground and mulch.

Cover crops

Vetches, clovers, peas, and beans are good cover crops for our yard

Certain brassicas are gaining popularity as cover crops -- radishes, mustard, and rapeseed. Biofumigation characteristics -- or their ability to reduce disease, weed and nematode pressure in subsequent crops; also do a really good job of breaking up compacted soils, increasing water permeability
We planted hairy vetch in fall 2008 -- should be planted right after summer crop is harvested; tilled under in early spring when the plants begin to flower. Turned-under green manure should be allowed to break down and mellow for a few weeks prior to planting the main summer crop.

Orchard - plant cover crop that includes perennial plants and self-seeding annual to provide living mulch. This feeds and protects the trees while providing an excellent habitat for beneficial insects and reducing weed pressure. White clover is good; include flowering plants like yarrow or tansy.

Manage Fruit Crop Pests and Diseases

Manage Fruit Crop Pests from Hobby Farms magazine

Vegetables - misc

Burr Gherkins

Pole beans will climb vertically but won't interweave horizontally; look for "cornfield beans" if you plan to grow Three Sisters--more tolerant of shade

Grains

Garden grains from Bountiful Gardens in Willits, CA

Wheat, spelt, triticale

Amaranth is pretty and popular -- grains good to eat, greens good for eating or composting

Single serving sized veg varities

Honey Bear acorn squash
Pot-O-Gold chard
Little Gem lettuce
Garden Babies lettuce
Small Miracle broccoli

Also good for container gardening

Mother Earth News Find Seeds/Plants

Mother Earth News Find Seeds/Plants - find seed companies that sell the specific seed variety you want

Frost definitions and approx dates

FIRST FROST (FALL):
October 8th according to the NV Coop Ext
September 16th according to the National Weather Service

LIGHT FROST:
A frost where the air temp has dropped below freezing but the ground has not. Many plants can survive a light frost but cannot survive a hard frost.
GardenWeb Glossary of Botanical Terms

Generally when air temperatures fall to less than 33° Fahrenheit but remain above 28° Fahrenheit; typically for only a few hours; See also hard frost

HARD FROST:
Defined as temperatures below 28 degrees for a few hours

May 30th for everything but tomatoes, peppers, and melons

June 20th for tomatoes, peppers, and melons

Potatoes

PRESPROUT for harvest a month earlier (start in late February or March) five weeks before planting spread seeds in a single layer in warm, well-let room, and wait for them to sprout from the eyes. Fragile! Large sprouts that break off of the parent potato will often grown anyway when planted in moist soil

PLANTING:
In climates with short springs and hot summers, plant early and midseason varieties three to four weeks before your last spring frost date - plant late April or early May

In climates with long springs and hot summers, plant early and mid season varieties three to four weeks before your last spring frost date; plant late-maturing varieties in early summer so they will mature in cooler fall.

Potatoes like acidic soils (below 6.0) at least 10 inches deep

Prepare beds early April – compost or rotted leaves, along with a half-ration of alfalfa meal, soybean meal or other high nitrogen organic material – do not use manure because it is correlated with an increase in rough patches on the spud skins

Prepare the seeds two days before planting

Cover plants with blankets if a late frost is forecast – they will recover

Mulch heavily

HARVEST:
Begin digging when the foliage starts to yellow and wither; allow the tubers to dry indoors covered with dry towels for a day or two; take care to protect them from sunlight which causes them to turn green and bitter; store most perfect potatoes in a cool 50-60 degree place to be used as seed next year.

Or:

Blooming flowers are a cue that potatoes have reached "new potatoe" size. If you want to harvest new potatoes, dig out a full plant and its tubers, leaving neighboring plants undisturbed. Vines may die back on their own as the potato crop matures, but if they don't show signs of doing so, cugt them off at soil level 2 weeks before you want to dig your crop. This will trigger the potatoes to harden, which helps them LAST LONGER IN STORAGE.

COVER CROP:
After harvest replant space with buckwheat.

SEED SAVING:
Save the most perfect potatoes for seed; need about six pounds of potatoes to plant a 50 foot row – yield will vary from 75-125 pounds