I live in Sunol, just a bit south of you. In winter I plant, broccoli, spinnach, chard, carrots, parsley, fava beans, peas, mustard, leeks, garlic, onions, lettuce, cauliflower, bok choi (and other asian brassicas), wheat/rye/barley... Oregano, thyme and rosemary are also happy going in during fall though they're perennials.

Anything that's a brassica will grow in winter here, as well as many other things. I've actually got more variety in winter, and water is free then...

I live in Fremont (actually just about 10 minutes from your promethean) and too am planning for fall. I'm very excited to plant the next round! I'm going to plant some elephant garlic as well as most of what promethean said.

Problem is that tomatoes and other summer stuff generally survives until november before giving up the ghost. By then it's too late to plant stuff in their place for a fall harvest. Planting in november will still yield in march/april, but Dec/Jan are too cold for even the brassicas to grow very much.

I'm planting some determinant tomatoes this summer so I won't feel bad about reclaiming some beds in august/sept.

If anyone wants fava beans for next year I'll have plenty of seed to share, I went a little nuts and planted around 1000 of them from last year's harvest. ;) They'll probably be ripe to pick for seed in 2 weeks or so. Just send me a message. Fava beans really like this climate and improve the soil, provide alot of material for compost as well as beans you can eat.

I'm planning to try elephant garlic next winter too. I'd like to get shallots to work as well, I tried the year before last but they never came up. Not sure why not. It was just some extra bulbs I picked up at the grocery store - perhaps they were treated with growth inhibitors or something.

Add potatoes to your list.

Probably you can plant them around mid August.
They should be ready to harvest by December.If you don't get deep frost just keep them in groud longer.

I also plant all kinds of onion family crops and let them over winter. Especially, garlics. I planted some last August, they overwintered and now are still working on their bulbs. I just pull one up for cooking when needed. Another one, is big radishes like korean and chinese. Even frost down to 18F woud not bother them. Go and pick one when you want all fall and winter long.

Promethean, there is no problem in underplanting tomatoes. Typically, you can plant lettuce transplants under them, while the tomatoes continue producing. The lettuce will benefit from the partial shade in summer. Come november, cut the tomato vine. Other partial sun crops will make it in the open shade of crops such as okra, eggplant, pole beans and pepper. It is only the "weedblocking" things, such as zucchini and watermelon, that do not let any sun in.

How do you eat Fava beans? I might like some for the other areas in my yard to prepare for next year. I have SFG this year, but next year I plan to plant some asparagus and artichokes just in the dirt. I think I have a lot of room in my SFG that I think will be done by September. Do peppers and beans last that long around here?

They do last that long, usually they stop setting new fruit in Oct because it gets too cool, and frost kills the plant in Nov. Before the first killing frost you can take in all the green tomatoes/peppers and let them ripen indoors. It was Jan before all my tomatoes were gone. That's for Sunol at least, I'm 10'F warmer than fremont in the summer and 5'F cooler in winter. A little distance makes a big climate change here in the coastal hills. Dublin climate is very similar to mine.

Fava beans are eaten like lima beans, cooked while plump and green in the pod. They have a waxy skin on each bean, but once cooked you can pinch the bean and the meaty part will pop out of the skin (something like edamame). You can also eat the immature pods like green beans. They are extremely easy to grow, I used a hoe to make furrows in some redwood mulch down to the top of the soil and laid lines of pre-soaked seed on the top of the (unammended) soil and covered back up with mulch last november - then never touched them again, no water, nothing. Now I've got corn-rows of plants nearly ready for harvest.

I'll try out interplanting winter/summer stuff this fall. Thanks for the tip. 8D

Thanks for all the info Prom. We are right outside Niles Canyon, so we are about 5* warmer than the rest of Fremont. I'm quite surprised the difference being against the mountain makes.

How do you eat Fava beans?

hollydoll,

Fresh Fava ( or LIMA )Beans are very tasty. Much tastier than most beans. But they have to get full.

If you shell fresh/green Fava Beans, you will get individual beans. Each individual bean also has a shell that is not edible(too tough) UNLESS THE BEEN IS VERY VERY YOUNG AND SMALL.
I usually steam them as they come in from plant, in pods.
Add some salt, pepper, nutmeg.
Eat them while warm.As I said, open the pod, take one bean at a time and remove its shell and eat the inner part.

If you want to saute and add to, say, rice; you cut each bean in half lengthwise. soak them in salt water for about an hour(or less). Now that tough skin will come off. Throw them away(or in your compost).Now each bean is divided into 4 pieces.

You do the same with dried ones. But You have to soak them in water to get softer first, then cut them and the rest of process as fresh ones.