Today in microclimate blather, we bring to you a video from the Exploratorium's Science in the City. Most of what he is saying applies to Marin as well. Go over the other side of a hill from the coast, and you can usually get out of the fog. This spring and summer so far it's been mostly about wind. Looks like warm and breezy for awhile, so make hay while the sun shines! For visual of the more or less real time wind situation, go to San Francisco Bay Wind Patterns. (This is a snapshot of June 27th I've inserted after realizing that since this image changes, linking to it on the site does not work.)
Pam Peirce sums it up pretty well too, and her book is really helpful to gardeners here. If you are in the real estate search, and you have dreams of growing food here, you may want to take a look. If you are set on tomatoes, I'd avoid purchasing property in most areas of 1,2,3 and 4, or else plan on a green house. Peas and chard and lettuce and kale grow great though. Same story in Marin. Forget tomatoes (maybe, in the most sheltered spots you'll have good luck with cherry tomatoes) in Bolinas, but on the east side of Tam have at it. Plenty of heat on the east side, especially in inland locations that lack direct gaps where wind and fog come through, like San Rafael and Novato.
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| Pam Peirce. Golden Gate Gardening: Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area and Coastal California. Sasquatch Books. 2002 |
Happy Friday, whatever microclimate you find yourself in.
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| City Farmer News |
