November in my garden

In San Diego, November is really my month to transition the garden from summer to fall. My tomatoes and passion fruit are still flowering and fruiting.

The chickens are molting and haven't been laying for weeks. Fire season is over (hopefully) and so far it's getting cooler. Will this month be hot or will it start raining? While we don't know yet, here are my gardening plans for this month:

Plan

Visit botanical gardens for ideas and research before planting.

Prep

Sharpen & oil tools.

Compost fallen fruit (or better yet, preserve it before it feeds the rats).
Rake out old mulch & dead leaves around non-native bushes and shrubs. Spread compost, keeping it away from the trunks.

Plant (as long as it's cooled down)
My hugelkultur beds are spent from tomatoes so I'll be sure to rotate in some nitrogen fixers and leafy crops:

artichokes (already came back from last year's plant), asparagus (maybe next year), beets, broccoli (definitely - I had broccoli for 6 months last year), brussels, cabbage, carrots, celery, cilantro, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, potatoes, radish, parsnips, garlic, wildflower seeds, natives, perennial herbs

Fertilize
Feed roses low-nitrogen fertilizer. (I've got a climber here I've been trying to rehab since roses are edible)

Water

Make sure garden receives an inch of rain (or make up the difference – water in morning). I'll also blast my fruit trees with water a couple times this month to help control ants, aphids, white fly & scale.

Prune

Lightly prune rose. Cut back blackberries. Trim back mulberry, guava and pepper tree. Now is the time before the birdies start to build their nests.

Harvest

guavas, passion fruit, pomegranates, calamondins, tomatoes, winter squash, basil, parsley, thyme, chives, lavender, lemon grass, rose geranium leaves