Grow your Own

Eating local can start right in your own backyard

Edible gardening is huge these days, and there’s no doubt that the East Bay is at the heart of the grow-your-own revolution. The architects of change include our very own Michael Pollan, who wrote Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education back in 1991 and continues to influence the national agenda when it comes to food production. Alice Waters pioneered The Edible Schoolyard 13 years ago, and it has taken root across the country. Following in their honorably dirt-trodden footsteps is Novella Carpenter, whose farm on a mean street in Oakland has spawned a book and a loyal following.

The East Bay boasts some of the country’s best community gardens and nurseries. The locavore movement found its voice here, and, of course, our climate ensures we have the highest-quality produce at our fingertips year-round. Chances are you already eat at farm-to-table restaurants, shop at your local farmers market, and grow a handful of herbs on your deck. Isn’t it time to go the whole nine yards and plant your own edible garden?

>> Plant All Year

As we all know, the East Bay has its microclimates. The recommendations below are for planting a garden in Walnut Creek. Seed catalogs and your local nursery can help you adjust our calendar for where you live.

November, December, January:  Peas, Swiss chard, lettuces, cabbage, onions, fava beans, radicchio, shallots, garlic.

February, March (start indoors): Eggplant, leeks, chili peppers, cilantro, rhubarb, tomatoes, basil, melons, okra, squash, pumpkins, potatoes.

April, May: Peas, lettuces, radishes, radicchio, mustard greens, beans, beets, carrots, corn, cucumbers.

June, July, August: Tomatoes, hot peppers, okra, sweet potatoes.

September, October: Arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, daikon radish, winter carrots, kale, mustard greens, onions, spinach, endive.

>> Pump Up the Dirt

Now is the time to start nourishing the soil for next year’s tomatoes, peppers, and melons. Growing beds can be laid out, irrigation installed, and soil amended with compost mulches or cover crops. And don’t dawdle. As Pat Thompson, owner of My Backyard Farmer, a gardening service in the Tri-Valley, says: “If you wait until spring, you’ve missed the boat. The coming rains will carry nutrients deep into the dirt, but soil improvement takes some time. To optimize your garden’s production next year, start now.”

Novella Carpenter, garden expert:

“I plant my broccoli starts and then sprinkle lettuce seeds near the broccoli. This ensures I remember to water the seeds, and as the broccoli plants get bigger, they shade the more delicate lettuce seedlings. Eventually, you have a bed of broccoli, with a ground covering of lettuces—no bare soil, which prevents evaporation and weeds. It’s called interplanting and works for all kinds of veggies.”  —Carpenter is the author of Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer.

>> Raised Beds Are It

If you’re starting from scratch, consider raised beds, which are like boxes or frames that contain your garden. They allow you to control the quality of your soil and offer good drainage, and a concentrated area for watering and fertilizing. Beds can be enclosed fairly easily in wood, dry-stacked rocks, or bricks. Architect and landscape designer Jane Martin made hers with big hunks of cedar lumber (redwood works too, as both are rot-resistant). She deliberately built the borders high so she could sit on them while tending to her vegetables. “You can keep raising the sides to avoid lots of bending over,” she says.

Deva Rajan, garden expert:

“Many wonder why their tomatoes don’t produce abundant fruit. When I ask how often they water, it’s always too much. When you hold off on watering, the plants get the signal: “It’s time to set fruit!” After tomatoes reach three to four feet, stop watering and irrigate only once every two weeks.”  —Rajan is the manager of Moraga Gardens Community Farm.

>> An Extraordinary Suburban Farm

It’s not surprising that the Walnut Creek home of J.D. Massler is so often the scene of social gatherings. Massler is a natural host—as welcoming to friends at home as he is to customers at Prima Ristorante, where he holds the post of sommelier. When he and his friends get hungry, they head into his backyard, for it is in effect a large gorgeous pantry, spilling over with fresh produce—from Italian Nadia eggplants to fiery habanero chilies to fingerling potatoes.

“I live close to the restaurant, so all of us tend to make our way back to my place after [work] to unwind,” he says.

“People go into the garden with a flashlight and pick whatever is ripe to throw onto the grill. We’re often eating and talking until five in the morning.”

Growing food has been a passion of Massler’s since his college days in upstate New York, where he lived on an apple orchard and helped his house-mate work half an acre of vegetables. “I don’t think I’ve missed a season since,” he says.

In the mid–1980s, when Massler cooked at Berkeley’s Café Fanny, he helped tend several edible gardens across Berkeley and El Cerrito. They belonged to friends who valued his expertise, and the fruits of his labor often ended up on the menu at the café. And Prima’s customers ask him to bring in a few of his heirloom tomatoes when they make a reservation.

At summer’s end, his back garden, which is dominated by two 100-square-foot raised beds, is a sea of red and green, bearing witness to his particular skill in nurturing tomatoes and chilies. He has been experimenting with a quasi dry-farming technique for his tomatoes.

The garden also boasts citrus trees—Thai limes, Meyer lemons, and pink Cara Cara navel oranges. Massler likes to keep the blood oranges on his tree as late as November or December. “That way, they taste like candy,” he says.

As winter sets in, he is planning for a typical cold-season crop of carrots, onions, beets, and potatoes. He is also collaborating with Prima’s bar manager, Gwyn Hogarth, to create a cocktail herb garden. “Sages, lemon verbena, several different mints, thyme, tarragon, and rosemary,” he says.

Massler says gardening has a special place in his life. “In my job, I am ‘on’ all the time. Mondays, after a weekend of socializing, it’s just me, my dog, and my garden. It’s my Zen.” 

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>> For a list of resources to start and maintain your own edible garden, CLICK HERE.

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