DIY guide for the urban gardener in the Silicon Valley

Today Silicon Valley conjures up images of mega-rich techies working for FAANG churning out the latest hi-tech gizmo or app that we didn't know we cannot live without. But it was not always the case. 

Not too long ago most of the Santa Clara and surrounding counties were very productive fruit orchards (mostly stone fruits like cherries, peaches, apricots, plums etc) that used the new trans-continental railroads to ship produce to eager customers on the East Coast.

While such fruit orchards have gone the way of the dinosaur, the excellent growing conditions of rich soil, amenable climate etc have not.

This post is to help DIY gardeners get started on their own farm-to-fork experience. So without much ado let's get's started

Four major factors to consider when planning your garden:

1) Sunlight: 6-8 hr per day full sunlight is often needed for majority of summer vegetables plants to thrive. Alternative choose shade loving plants.

2) Soil: Avoid compacted and dry soil. Bay Area soil doesn’t normally require testing and is mostly self-sufficient but minor amendment like aeration with pitch fork, composting, and optionally acidification etc may be needed. Crop rotation is important for tomato/potato/eggplants.

3) Water: Quantity and frequency depends on soil, sun and type/age of plant. Custom drip irrigation tuned to the plant life cycle is best. Mulch to prevent water loss. 

4) Suitability: High-yield repeat harvest produce. Perennials or biennials preferred. Child & pet friendliness concerns. Prevalence of pests like snails, slugs, birds, deer, rabbits, racoons, gophers, squirrels etc. - check out bird bath for thirsty critters and yes even predator urine to discourage larger pests.

Additional information:  https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/vegetables/vegetable-garden-basics/

Planting guide

Luckily for Bay Area residents, the master Gardeners of Santa Clara have a very reliable and easy-to-follow guide available at https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/vegetables/vegetable-planting-chart/ 

Examples

• Summer crop: Tomatoes takes 6 weeks before seedlings are ready to go in the ground by May/June. April planting is a bit risky due to frost.
• Winter crop: Turnips take 4 weeks before seedlings go in the ground either in Fall Sep/Oct or late spring Mar/Apr. Aug/May are a bit risky due to the hot weather.

Planting options

Containers

• Great for driveways, patios, window sills, lawns etc.
• Containers tend to dry out more rapidly in direct sun
• Beware of flood/drought watering
• Great for dwarf trees. Also plants that spread rapidly: mint, raspberries, blackberries etc.
• Beware of plants becoming root bound - up potting every few years
• Reference: https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/container-gardening/ 

Raised beds

• Redwood/cedar planks. 8” - 36” deep. Spread cardboard at bottom as weed barrier
• Great for compacted soil. One-third to one-half of native soil, and the remainder can be compost or other organic material.
• Max 4’ - 5’ wide with access on both side. Otherwise 3’ wide
• Walking pathways with weed barrier or wood chips 
• If gophers are a problem, a screen of ½” wire hardware cloth can be nailed or stapled to the bottom of a wooden frame before it is filled with soil.

Garden beds

• Border planks to delineate walkway from bed.
• Max 4’ - 5’ wide with access on both side. Otherwise 3’ wide
• Walking pathways with weed barrier or wood chips

Permaculture

• No dig gardening
• Ruth Stout method using mounds of soil, compost, manure mulched with hay/straw
• Walking pathways with weed barrier or wood chips

Composting

• Backyard composting using equal amounts of Greens & Browns

• Greens: nitrogen rich: vegetable & fruit scraps, grass clippings, coffee grounds, and broken down manure

• Browns: carbon rich: dry leaves, straw, sawdust, wood chips (avoid tannins), cardboard, and paper

• What’s allowed:

• Kitchen: fruit and vegetable scraps (beware of seeds), tea bags, coffee grounds, and eggshells.

• Yard waste: grass clippings (except Bermuda grass), leaves, pine needles, and shredded wood chips.

• What’s not:

• Animal products (meat, bones, fish, grease, dairy)

• Weeds gone to seed

• Diseased plants

• Vermiculture using red wriggler worms (Eisenia fetida) for earthworm casting and compost tea

• Worm bins - Shallow. Good air circulation. Multi-tray to rotate, drain/collect compost tea

• Bedding: corrugated cardboard, paper, dried leaves, coconut fibre, pine shavings

• Feed: fruits and vegetables, egg shells, used tea bags, used coffee grounds and filters. Avoid citrus

• Keep out of direct sun (55°-75°F). Cover top to avoid fruit flies

• 
  

Additional resources:

https://ucanr.edu/sites/stancountymg/Composting_Basics/ https://ucanr.edu/sites/stancountymg/files/340479.pdf

Drip irrigation

Drip irrigation schematic

Multizone digital timer for more granular control attuned to each zone

½” drip lines spaced 9” apart with staggered drip holes every 12”. 

Pro tip: Use hot water for press fittings
For my plot I used a 4 Zone digital timer (Ace 7005460) as well as the following
¾” Inline water filter

• 4x 25 psi pressure regulator 
• ½” mainline poly tubing: 100’
• ½” perforated dripline: 300’
• ½” compression tee (3-way): 3 packs of 10
• ½” compression elbow (2-way): 2 packs of 10

Local stores: Ewing Irrigation https://ewingirrigation.com and Ace Hardware

Useful online resources

1. Master gardeners of Santa Clara help desk - https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/contact-us/ask-a-gardening-question/ 

2. Plant partnerships in your garden - https://piedmontmastergardeners.org/article/plant-partnerships-in-your-garden/ 

3. Old Farmer’s Almanac planting, watering and fertilizing guide : https://www.almanac.com/vegetable-growing-guide 

4. Harvesting guide : https://harvesttotable.com/vegetable_harvest_times/

5. Succession planting to get constant harvest of fast growing vegetables : https://gardenerspath.com/how-to/hacks/succession-planting/#Succession-Planting-Reference-Chart 

6. Best online resource for plant diseases and pests: U C Davis IPM http://ipm.ucanr.edu  

7. Free horse manure in Saratago Hills, CA for amendment : https://www.cgv.com/compost  

8. Free mulch and compost from SMaRT in Sunnyvale: https://sunnyvale.ca.gov/property/recycling/getrid/center.htm 

9. Ruth Stout no-till method for planting potatoes https://homeguides.sfgate.com/stout-method-planting-potatoes-68189.html 

10. Weed identification : https://www.daylilygarden.com/daylily-questions/identifying-weeds-in-the-garden.html 

11. Native plants for the water conscious : https://gardenplanner.calscape.org 

12. Urban gardening: La Mesa Verde https://lamesaverdeshcs.org

    
    

    Happy gardening. Do drop a comment with how you got along ...