← Growing Guide
Zone 9b · Northern Sacramento Valley
Anderson / Redding / Red Bluff Area
This is home ground for Shaggy Ink Farms. Anderson sits on the hot, dry floor of the upper Sacramento Valley between Redding and Red Bluff. Summers are long and brutal, winters are mild, and the whole game here is managing heat and water. Everything below is written from growing on this exact dirt.
Climate Reality
The honest picture
- Long, very hot summers — triple digits are normal in July and August
- Mild winters with light frost, but rarely a hard freeze
- Bone dry May through October — irrigation is not optional
- Spring is short and fast — the window before heat stress is narrow
- Fall is long and forgiving — some of the best growing is September through November
What Grows Well
Vegetables
TomatoesPeppersEggplantOkraCucumbersPumpkinsWatermelonSweet potatoesSquashBeansPeasBrassicas
Flowers
SunflowersZinniasCosmosMarigoldsCelosiaGomphrena
Fruit Trees
FigsPomegranatesPeachesPlums
Berries & Vines
BlackberriesStrawberriesGrapes
Herbs
BasilDillCilantroOreganoThymeRosemary
Cover Crops
CloverVetchField peasRyeBarley
Seeds To Stock
- Sunflowers
- Okra
- Cowpeas
- Bush beans
- Pole beans
- Cucumbers
- Watermelon
- Pumpkins
- Winter squash
- Zucchini
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Basil
- Zinnias
- Cosmos
- Marigolds
- Kale
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Carrots
- Beets
- Radishes
- Peas
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Garlic
- Onion
- Cover crop mix
Direct Sow Now
- Sunflowers
- Okra
- Cowpeas
- Bush beans
- Cucumbers
- Zinnias
- Cosmos
- Marigolds
Start In Trays Now
- Broccoli (for fall)
- Cabbage (for fall)
- Cauliflower (for fall)
- Kale (for fall)
- Collards (for fall)
- Fall herbs
Transplants To Buy
- Basil
- Peppers
- Eggplant
- Heat-tolerant flowers
- Sweet potato slips
This Week's Tasks
- Water early before the heat builds
- Mulch any bare soil — exposed ground bakes and dries out fast
- Shade new transplants for the first week
- Check drip emitters — clogged lines stress plants
- Start fall brassicas in trays, even if it still feels too hot
- Pull weeds before they set seed
- Prep strawberry beds for September planting
- Plan the next succession of sunflowers
Prepare Next
- Fall garden beds — clear summer crops and add compost
- Garlic order — place it early
- Onion planning for winter starts
- Strawberry patch expansion
- Compost system — build or improve it
- Cover crops for empty beds
Heat Notes
- Heat is the main challenge here, not frost
- Deep, infrequent watering trains roots downward and beats daily shallow watering
- Fall crops need to start in trays while it still feels too hot — trust the timing
- 30–50% shade cloth makes a real difference for fall transplants going in during lingering heat
Frost Notes
- Frost is light and usually shows up November through February
- Hard freezes are rare but possible — watch the forecast in cold snaps
- Citrus and basil are the most vulnerable; cover them when frost is called
Irrigation Notes
- Drip irrigation is the backbone of a valley garden here
- Water deeply two to three times a week in peak summer rather than a little every day
- Mulch holds moisture and keeps soil temperature down
- Morning watering reduces evaporation loss
Common Local Challenges
What trips people up here
- Extreme summer heat stalling fruit set on tomatoes and peppers
- Sunscald on exposed fruit
- Spider mites in hot, dusty conditions
- Keeping fall starts alive through September heat
- Gophers and ground squirrels
Recommended Varieties
| Tomatoes | Heat-setting types — Heatmaster, Phoenix, Solar Fire, Celebrity; Sun Gold and Sweet Million for cherries that keep producing through the heat |
|---|---|
| Peppers | Shishito and Jimmy Nardello for steady output; Big Bertha and Gypsy for bells that size up before the worst heat |
| Eggplant | Ichiban and Orient Express love the heat; Listada de Gandia handles it well too |
| Okra | Clemson Spineless and Jambalaya — okra actually wants this weather |
| Cucumbers | Armenian, Lemon, and Burpless out-perform standard slicers when it's over 100°F |
| Watermelon | Sugar Baby and Crimson Sweet ripen reliably in the long heat |
| Pumpkins | Howden and Big Max for carving; Dill's Atlantic Giant for the giant-pumpkin project |
| Sunflowers | ProCut series for cut flowers, Mammoth Grey Stripe for seed and height |
| Beans | Rattlesnake pole and Provider bush both shrug off the heat |
| Brassicas (fall) | Belstar broccoli, Brunswick cabbage, Lacinato and Winterbor kale for the fall garden |
Monthly Planning
Current month is highlighted. Click any month to see the plan.
Anderson / Redding / Red Bluff Area
JuneThis month
Plant Now
- Okra
- Cowpeas
- Armenian cucumbers
- Lemon cucumbers
- Beans (succession)
- Watermelon
- Sunflowers
- Zinnias
- Marigolds
Start In Trays
- Broccoli for fall
- Cabbage for fall
- Cauliflower for fall
Harvest
- Zucchini
- Beans
- Cucumbers
- Early tomatoes
- Herbs
- Beets
- Garlic (late month)
Prepare Next
- Start fall brassicas even though it's hot
- Order garlic for fall
- Plan the fall garden
- Switch to deep, infrequent watering
Deep Dive
Growing in Anderson, season by season
The extra detail for our home ground — heat, water, the fall and winter gardens, and the family projects.
Extreme Heat Strategy
- Plan around the heat instead of fighting it. From late June through August, daytime highs sit in the high 90s to 110s, and many summer crops stop setting fruit above about 95°F.
- Get warm-season crops established in spring so they are mature and shading their own roots before the worst heat arrives.
- Use 30–50% shade cloth over peppers, young transplants, and lettuce. It drops leaf temperature enough to keep plants productive.
- Mulch every bare inch of soil. Bare ground in Anderson can hit 140°F and cooks shallow roots.
- Harvest in the morning. Fruit picked in afternoon heat is stressed and stores poorly.
- Accept a midsummer lull. Tomatoes often pause fruit set in July, then come roaring back in September when nights cool.
Watering Strategy
- Drip irrigation on a timer is the single most important system in an Anderson garden.
- Water deeply and less often — two or three long soaks a week beat a little every day. Deep watering trains roots downward where soil stays cooler and moister.
- Run the system before dawn to cut evaporation and give plants a full reservoir before the day heats up.
- Check emitters weekly. Our hard valley water clogs drip lines, and one blocked emitter can kill a plant in a heat wave.
- Combine drip with heavy mulch. The two together can cut summer water use dramatically and keep soil life alive.
Fall Garden Planning
- The fall garden is the best-kept secret of this climate, and the timing feels wrong: you start it in the heat of summer.
- Start broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale in trays in June and July, in a shaded spot, and baby them through the heat.
- Transplant brassicas in late August and September under shade cloth, then pull the cloth as nights cool.
- Direct-sow carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, and radishes from September into October as the soil cools.
- A fall garden here often out-produces the spring one — the plants finish in mild weather instead of racing the heat.
Winter Garden Planning
- Winters are mild enough to grow straight through with the right crops.
- Plant garlic in October and November for a June harvest. It is one of the most reliable crops here.
- Keep kale, chard, spinach, lettuce, and cilantro going all winter, with light frost protection in cold snaps.
- Sow fava beans and field peas as both food and a soil-building cover crop.
- Use the quiet winter months to build compost, prune fruit, and plan the coming year.
Chicken Manure Compost Integration
- The flock is a built-in fertility engine. Barred Rock manure is rich in nitrogen — too rich to use fresh.
- Compost coop bedding and manure for several months before it touches a planting bed. Fresh manure will burn plants and can carry pathogens.
- Layer high-nitrogen manure with carbon — straw bedding, dry leaves, spent garden plants — to keep the pile balanced and cooking.
- Finished chicken-manure compost is excellent worked into beds before heavy feeders like tomatoes, squash, and the pumpkin patch.
- Run spent garden plants and kitchen scraps through the run first; the birds turn and pre-process a lot of it for you.
Strawberry Patch Planning
- September is the time to plant or expand the strawberry patch here.
- Day-neutral varieties like Albion and Seascape produce through our long season; June-bearers like Chandler give one big early flush.
- Plant in well-drained beds amended with compost, with the crown right at soil level — buried crowns rot, exposed crowns dry out.
- Mulch with straw to keep berries clean, hold moisture, and moderate soil temperature.
- Renovate the patch each year and let runners fill gaps, replacing the oldest plants every few seasons.
Sunflower Production
- Sunflowers love Anderson heat and are a signature crop for the farm.
- Direct-sow in succession every two to three weeks from April through July for continuous blooms and cut flowers.
- For cut flowers, grow single-stem ProCut types planted close together; for seed and pollinators, grow branching and Mammoth types with more room.
- Sunflowers are heavy feeders and deep rooters — they handle the heat but still want consistent water while establishing.
- Leave a few heads to dry on the stalk for the chickens and for next year's seed.
Giant Pumpkin Project Planning
- The giant-pumpkin project is a family build, and it starts the season before with soil.
- Prepare a deep, rich patch in fall — heavy compost and aged chicken manure worked in, then cover-cropped over winter.
- Start Dill's Atlantic Giant seed indoors in April and transplant a single, well-spaced plant with plenty of room to run.
- Provide huge amounts of water and feed; a giant pumpkin can put on tens of pounds a day at peak and needs consistent moisture.
- Shade the developing fruit from direct afternoon sun to prevent splitting and sunscald, and protect the vine from our worst heat.
- Bury vine nodes to grow secondary roots, and pick one fruit per plant to put all that energy into a single giant.