1) Check with your state's Extension Service. Each county should have it's own Cooperative Extension Office which provides free publications and information for the asking. They will have valuable vegetable/gardening tables available specifically for your area determined by universities, and horticultural research scientists have collected data from growing those crops in your state.

See how detailed these examples are:

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Vegetable Planting and Planning Calendar for Missouri (download the pdf) complete with spring and fall planting dates (underneath the spring planting dates for appropriate crops), how much to plant per person, etc. They can also tell you the average last frost date for your area and ideal planting times for specific crops and varieties in your area.

Here is an excerpt:
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2) Get your soil tested by a lab.

You actually save time and money by only adding what you need based on an accurate soil test.

Check with your state's Extension Service. They'll tell you what you need to do to get it tested. It's usually only $6.00 -$12.00 (mine was only $9.00) which is comperable to what home kits cost but don't tell you nearly as much as a lab can tell you. Then you won't be guessing as to what state your soil is in or wasting money on amendments you don't need. They'll tell you exactly how much of what elements you need to add to your soil per square foot (if any).

3) Do you want to ingest pesticides? Do you need to take antibiotics if you're not sick? If you grow your own vegetables, then you can actually control what you put in your body. The only reason to use pesticides or herbicides is if you have a problem and do not want to use natural methods of control.

Just start browsing the existing threads in this forum. You'll learn a ton.

Just speculation, but brick planter boxes are not usually very big, some may or may not have been made correctly so that they drain adequately, but it should be pretty easy to see if yours do or not. If not, perhaps the situation could be remedied. You may already know from having shrubs in them.

A small area would lend it's self to a few tomato plants, or some strawberries, perhaps some onions. You need to decide what you would rather grow. Depending on the size, probably any of the things that you mentioned (but probably not all at the same time) could be grown.

I would surely plant some tomatoes, but that is just me, I like tomatoes and find them pretty productive for the area that they take up.
Good luck with your efforts. Warning! Gardening can be addictive! ":^)
Bill P.

What size is your planting area? How much sun does it get each day? You can get a lot of help here but we need these questions answered. Have fun.

We have one planter that is about 15' by 4', and then one small one that is just 4' by 4'. We're not looking to grow a lot, just something to putter about with. And only 2 or 3 different things at a time.

They're east facing and get some morning and a lot of early afternoon sun. By late afternoon, the shadow of the house would cover them. I have no idea if they drain adequately -- they were built long before we bought this house, but the things that were growing in the boxes before this were growing beautifully. And the woman living here before us supposedly had quite the green thumb, so I assume she would know about drainage when she had them built...

Oh, also, there are sprinkler heads in the boxes. Am I going to want to use those, or water by hand?

Hi Rivkadr!
I suggest growing some tomatoes - try ones that you cannot get easily in the supermarket. You will find that when your tomatoes are ripe, they are also inexpensive in the store. Avoid growing potatoes in the ground, they send out shoots and you will end up with potatoes all over. Grow them in a big pot if you want to try growing them. It doesn't sound to me like your box will get enough sun for strawberries, although you might find it getting more sun as the days get longer and the sun gets higher overhead. One crop that I have had success with from now until about june are leaf lettuce. You can get 6-pack starter plants. I have not grown broccoli, but they seem somewhat similar to lettuce, so you could try it. Another interesting plant that is fairly easy to grow and has pretty flowers is eggplant, especially the japanese eggplant. Of course, herbs are always a good growing choice. Your sprinklers should come in handy, especially in the warm summer months. If you want to try 'water-wise' gardening, you can replace the regular sprinklers with a drip system. Check out the local home depot for all their options. Finally, remember gonfishin's advice: gardening is addictive! Enjoy!

You'd be surprised how much you can grow in that space. And, of course, because we can grow all year round, it should keep you supplied for out-of-hand eating and planting for all 4 seasons.

I'm a bit south of you, but still zone 10 (Sunset 23/24) and find this site to be very helpful in understanding what to plant:

www.digitalseed.com/gardener/schedule/vegetable.html

You can still plant beets, carrots, parsley, beans, potatoes, radishes, squash (both summer/winter), swiss chard in upcoming March (seeds), according to that schedule.

Warmer weather crops in April - peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and many of the above too.

A lot of nice herbs could be planted as well. Nice to have green onions, garlic (though a bit late).

Strawberries take up quite a bit of room - and because we have commercial fields locally, I will buy there for canning, and preserving.

But I suggest you read the chart I mentioned, we have different planting regimens in our "no frost" areas, and gardening can be a lot of fun - all year round.

For soil amendments - compost is highly recommended and can be purchased or home-made. For your small area, perhaps grass clippings and leaves -if available - would be the best compost. Try the Soil Forum for more details.

Good luck and welcome to the forums - nice folks here willing to give a helping hand - free too.

Bejay

My mom and dad live in Whittier, (so very close to OC) and they have one small garden bed- my dad grows tomatos in the corners of the bed, kale and other greens on the shady side, and massive, massive amounts of herbs. He also plants peppers in containers. The herbs and salad greens tend to last year-round- and you would want the tomatos in the sunniest spot possible (because they need heat). On the herbs however, I would suggest that if you plant mint or oregano that you put them in their own container- because they tend to spread and once they spread you will never get rid of them.

How is your garden growing rivkadr?

Since your beds are already conveniently 4' wide, you may want to reference the Square Foot Garden books. You'd be able to plant quite a lot in the two beds that you have.

Here is a link that might be useful: the Official square foot gardening site