A light side-dressing of complete organic fertilizer or compost in late September will grow the hugest plants imaginable.

Varieties: Curly types seem more tolerant to rain and frost during winter than broad-leaf Batavian varieties.  I prefer President (TSC).

Herbs

Most perennial and biennial herbs are actually weeds and wild hillside shrubs from Mediterranean climates similar to that of Southern California.  They are adapted to growing on winter rainfall and surviving seven to nine months without rainfall every summer.  In our climate, merely giving them a little more elbow room than usually offered, thorough weeding, and side-dressing the herb garden with a little compost in fall is enough coddling.  Annuals such as dill and cilantro are also very drought tolerant.  Basil, however, needs considerable moisture.

Kale

Depending on the garden for a significant portion of my annual caloric intake has gradually refined my eating habits.  Years ago I learned to like cabbage salads as much as lettuce.  Since lettuce freezes out many winters (19-21 degree F), this adjustment has proved very useful.  Gradually I began to appreciate kale, too, and now value it as a salad green far more than cabbage.  This personal adaptation has proved very pro-survival, because even savoy cabbages do not grow as readily or yield nearly as much as kale.  And kale is a tad more cold hardy than even savoy cabbage.

You may be surprised to learn that kale produces more complete protein per area occupied per time involved than any legume, including alfalfa.  If it is steamed with potatoes and then mashed, the two vegetables complement and flavor each other.  Our region could probably subsist quite a bit more healthfully than at present on potatoes and kale.  The key to enjoying kale as a salad component is varietal choice, preparation, and using the right parts of the plant.  Read on.

Sowing date: With irrigation, fast-growing kale is usually started in midsummer for use in fall and winter.  But kale is absolutely biennial—­started in March or April, it will not bolt until the next spring.  The water-wise gardener can conveniently sow kale while cool, moist soil simplifies germination.  Starting this early also produces a deep root system before the soil dries much, and a much taller, very useful central stalk on oleracea types, while early sown Siberian (Napa) varieties tend to form multiple rosettes by autumn, also useful at harvest time.

Spacing:  Grow like broccoli, spaced 4 feet apart.

Irrigation: Without any water, the somewhat stunted plants will survive the summer to begin rapid growth as soon as fall rains resume.  With the help of occasional fertigation they grow lushly and are enormous by September.  Either way, there still will be plenty of kale during fall and winter.