• UPDATE Jan 2021: One additional soil fertilizer/additive I am introducing in 2021 is lime. Lime is meant to balance pH in the soil. For example, peat moss and compost will make it more acidic, so lime which is alkaline, will bring the pH back. Add lime to your soil mix early on, or sprinkle it on top of the soil.

• UPDATE Oct 2021: my tomatoes developed blossom end rot towards the end of the season, so I will be adding more Garden Lime sprinkled on top and dissolved in water.  Garden Lime contains Calcium which is an antidote for blossom end rot.

Plants I like

You probably have a good idea of what you want to plant. A general rule of thumb: Plant what you like to eat. 

Leafy Greens for Salads:

1. Swiss Chard. It has a better texture than kale in salads and just as nutritious. Plus, it’s super colorful AND it grows all season long. I now prefer it to kale
2. Kale. It is hardy (survives droughts or over-watering). It grows fast. It is nutritious. It grows to relatively large plants. For salads, go for Red Russian Kale and Dinosaur varieties.
3. Arugula. It grows fast. It tastes great. It’s nutritious.
4. Lettuce. It grows fast. It produces a lot of volume.
5. Mustard Greens. It is similar to kale but better tasting. Big plants, fast growing.
6. Spinach. Nutritious, grows fast, medium volume though.

Herbs for taste and flavor:

1. Dill. Tastes great and grows surprisingly fast under the right conditions, produces a lot of volume for an herb. Plant it in the winter.
2. Cilantro. Tastes great, grows fast, not as much volume as dill, but still
3. Parsley.  You have to be patient with it, it takes a while to get going, but once it does, you’ll be adding parsley to all your dishes.
4. Mint. I love black tea with mint, and mint grows super fast and produces a lot of volume. Remember to plant it in a separate container, otherwise, it will take over and will force other plants out.  

Typical daily harvest 

“Meaty” veggies:

1. Radishes. Grow in 4-6 weeks, can seed close to each other, so produces a lot per row.
2. Tomatoes. This is the first one that I have to wait for the harvest for a long time (4 months?), but its usually worth the wait. Usually, a hardy plant that grows very fast and indeterminate type varieties can be harvested for 5-6 months.
3. Snap peas: great success in the winter months here in California.  
4. Cucumbers: mixed success so far with inconsistent watering (which they hate), so this year, I am putting a more consistent watering system in place. I will update you later in the year.
5. Beets: trying them out this year for the first time.

Flowers for decoration and pollinators:

UPDATE Oct 2021: Over the years, I started growing more flowers.  In my opinion they bring so many more insects to my garden and that's good overall.  This year, I am growing Nasturtiums, Violas, Salvia, Marigolds and Petunias.  I see bees in my garden every day now, as well as Hummingbirds.  That can't be bad :)

1. Nasturtium. Grows very well and quickly in my climate, great germination rates and doesn't need much care.  I like it both for cute green and abundant leaves and for pretty yellow, orange, red flowers.  For them to blossom all year long and stay healthy remember to prune them aggressively, and they'll grow right back and blossom.
2. Petunia. Esp. Laura Bush variety.  Love for the color and that they blossom all season long, hardy, drought-resistant, don't need much care (except deadheading once in a while)
3. California Poppies.  Native flowers and our State Flower.  In my experience, not as hardy as the other two, especially in the first few months.  Need to be watered properly and have enough space around them
4. Johny Jump-up Viola.  Super cute family of flowers, smaller and tender that fit in tight spots and self-seed.  Mine died several times but like Phoenix their self-seeding brings them back
5. Red Salvia. Hummingbirds love them, and I love watching hummingbirds 

Drip Irrigation

In my 3rd year, I decided to add a drip-irrigation system to my garden for a number of reasons:

• It's just easier and takes less time to water my 14 planters with them.  I just turn on the spigot in the morning for a few minutes and turn them off.  And if you add a timer, you won't even need to do that
• Less deceases of all sorts.  A lot of fungal deceases develop from overhead watering
• Develops better roots and more even watering

After researching a number of drop-irrigation kits, I finally decided to built my own.  Unfortunately, I haven't found a way around it: you kind of have to design it to fit your specific garden, your layout, your planters, your veggies.  And that means, pen and paper and drawing a diagram of how it will look.

I went with a company Drip Depot as they let you pick individual components, have every single thing imaginable and relatively inexpensive.

My list of parts is long.  Yes, it takes time.  Yes, it's all worth it in the end, considering how much time you save watering your plants every morning.

First set of parts:

and the second part:

 There're roughly 3 parts to the entire system:

• Main plumbing
• Secondary plumbing
• Connection to the main water source

Main plumbing is your main hose, in my case 1/2'' that distributes water to each planter. 

Main 1/2'' hose in two planters with an elbow/L connector

Another main hose line, placed inside the planters. A couple elbow connectors and an end plug.

Secondary plumbing are narrower tubes that distribute water within each planter.  I went with 1/4'' drip lines with water emitters each 6''.  These connect to main 1/2'' tubing.  Think of how your body distributes blood, main arteries and narrower capillaries.

1/4'' drip lines connected to 1/2'' hose with aluminum stakes

Barb tubing coupling for 1/4'' drip lines and main 1/2'' hose

You might also need regular 1/4'' tubing that doesn't drip water but just distributes it.

Regular 1/4'' tubing (no emitters) which then connects to drip lines with "L" connectors

Then you need a set of "T" and "L" connectors for 1/2'' and 1/4'' tubing and drip lines, endcaps for both 1/2'' and 1/4'', and a few valves in case if you want to turn off watering some sections of your garden.

Finally, all of this is connected to your main water source.  This one requires a few parts:

1. Hose Vacuum Breaker
2. Tee water filter
3. Pressure Regulator
4. Timer (optional)

Plan to have a few days to put it all together.  Have a bucket of hot water handy so that you dip vinyl tubing in it first before inserting plastic connectors (your fingers will thank you) and go slow.  This is a really fun high-school science project :). Trust me, you'll be super happy and proud to see it all working :)  

Happy Gardening!

This guide was written by Max Khusid. In his spare from gardening time, Max runs a small art gallery in San Francisco. 

Max's mission with Art House SF is to introduce more people to the amazing world of art.  I hope more people can have original, beautiful, eclectic artwork in the house.

Check out the rest of my website and maybe you can find a special art piece that will make your home even happier. 

Thanks,

Max Khusid