California's extension service is one of the best in the U.S. Your County Agent will have tons of info on every vegetable you want to grow. This material will include many varieties that do best in your area. I have posted the websites below for free publications from your extension service.

Read everything you can on gardening, soil, composting and specific vegetables you intend to grow. Then , read some more.

Prepare your beds with the best soil you can manage. I get horse stable stuff delivered. I am also blessed with leaves and grass clippings from 2 local landscapers. Together with other material I collect, this provides me with the raw materials for a continuous supply of compost.

UCANR Extension Service

http://ucanr.org/findinformation.cfm?findinfosub=6
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/HomeVegetableGardening/

The Napa County Master Gardeners--affiliated with UC Davis--are very active and close to you. Call their hotline and request a list of vegetable varieties they recommend--and they may be able to hook you up with a local seed exchange.
Here's a link to their website: Growhttp://groups.ucanr.org/mgnapa/index.cfm

They have a couple of edible gardening workshops coming up in March.

THE CALIFORNIA MASTER GARDENER HANDBOOK is a thorough resource.
http://www.agriculturesolutions.com/vmchk/Textbooks/California-Master-Gardener-Handbook/Detailed-product-flyer.html

Here is a link that might be useful: HarvestToTable.com

thank you for the resources

Truth is, Not Bob, you can grow just about anything that strikes your fancy in Zone 9. Although you are anti-green,
make sure you find enough veggies that you can grow in the winter, because one of the big advantages of your site is the continuous harvesting, if the garden is properly planned.

Smother the weeds with cardboard or newspapers. Then
start with organic matter everywhere where you plan to cultivate. More of it. Under. Over.

Hmmm, are you 9b USDA, or sunset? I'm in Sonoma CO and I'm only in zone 8ish. I think our areas are very similar.
I have great luck with tomatoes, peppers,eggplant......well, heck everything that the nurseries offer. Go to a good organic nursery or the farmers markets and they will tell you what grows best in your area.
Remember, we're in Luther Burbank country! Nope! That is SONOMA CO> The REAL wine country! LOLOLOLOLOL

Great advice. I think I am zone 9b the last time I checked I went to the usda website if I can remember. And I was borderline 9a 9b. I am more inland in Vallejo not right on the water so it is a little warmer here. I know from my experiences working in Napa for a few years it is quite a bit cooler overnight in that area so Sonoma might be the same. I cant remember the last time I saw frost in the morning so I don't believe it is really a concern at all at my house.
I have been to a nursery on highway 29 in American Canyon, while I didn't have the time to stay and chat much I only went in to check on some topsoil when I first got the idea of doing a raised bed. They seemed nice enough and I believe the soil I was looking at was organic so I am pretty sure that is ok, if not I will definitely source elsewhere.
I am not truly an organic per say but I worry most about water pollution as I have become sick before because of bad water it is my biggest worry. I dont plan on using any non organic means such as pesticides and fertilizer. I am trying to be as earth friendly and as health conscious as I can. So organic will be the way I do it.
Thanks again everybody for the responses. I hope to find time to truly start this garden in the next few weeks. I just started school again so I am busy for the next week or two getting everything sorted with that. But I will definitely read the resources above and start a plan. Its really getting exciting. Spring is nearly here. And sorry to everybody in the places where it actually gets cold but it has been a very pleasant indian summer over here for the past week. And I was tempted to throw some stuff in the ground and push my luck.

Taste is so subjective that I hesitate to offer any advice on what varieties to grow. I'd say try a lot of different ones to see what you like and what grows well where you are. The advice to go to farmers' markets is pure gold ~ buy some of their produce and try it, being sure to ask the grower what variety of veggie you're getting so you'll know what to plant. And write it down! Keeping a garden journal of what you grew, *and what you ate and liked*, is almost imperative as you can't remember it all. Believe me, I've tried (I'm really bad at keeping a garden journal, but I really should get better at it ~ taking LOADS of photos with a date stamp really helps me when I look back later).

I definitely agree with Glib ~ learn what you can grow over winter. Most of those would be your cole crops ~ broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts ~ along with carrots, green (English and snow) peas, spinach and the dreaded lettuce. ;) I'd grow some lettuce in between your larger plants, and in any small space that's empty, just because it's so easy to grow and so many people like it (chicks really dig it ;) ~ you'll meet lots of new friends just giving it away. That space between larger plants would probably go unused anyway, and the lettuce would act as a living mulch to hold in water and smother weeds. Same goes for spinach.

Peppers and tomatoes aren't really hard to grow per say, but they're not as easy as beans and squash, so you may be challenged the first few years with them. Same with corn, melons and pumpkins ~ not really hard, but there's a steeper learning curve with them. Beans and squash almost grow themselves, so I'd definitely grow a lot of those the first couple years to keep your confidence up. Bush beans are easy to grow because they don't need staking and training to grow up something, but they put on most of the harvest at one time with maybe another flush or two after that, while most pole beans spread the harvest out over a longer period of time so harvests are easier to deal with. Summer squash (zuchini, yellow crookneck or straightneck, etc.) are quick from seed to harvest, but winter squash takes longer. Winter squash get their name not because they're grown in winter, but because they can be stored over winter due to their hard shells. Those hard shells take longer to develop, so you should plant those with that in mind (most need 100+ days from seed to harvest while summer squash is significantly quicker).

If your plot is currently covered with an invasive grass like bermuda or Johnson grass, you'll need to solarize it before you can plant (just Google "solarizing soil" for instructions ~ it's not hard). I've tried everything else to get rid of those and it just doesn't work. A neighbor even tried multiple applications of Roundup to no avail. Once I even built a raised bed of 1x12s over some bermuda that I'd mown short and scraped with the front tractor bucket and that stuff grew up through 10" of soil to sprout again. I fought it for two years before finally dismantling that bed, only to find big old fat rhizomes still growing at the original ground level. That stuff's evil, let me tell you.

I like Seeds of Change's seeds, but another place to get open pollinated (ones you can save seed from) seeds of good quality is Seed Savers Exchange and Pinetree. Pinetree does sell some hybrids as well, so be sure to look for "hybrid" or "F1" in the names or descriptions if you want to avoid those. I do most of my ordering from Pinetree since they sell smaller-sized packages of seeds for a smaller price, for instance 15 tomato seeds for a buck or so instead of 50 for three bucks. I don't need fifty seeds of each variety of tomato, so it's nice to find somewhere with good service who offers "home-garden sized" packs.

Of course you could keep your leftover seeds from larger packs in the freezer (find yourself a few large kerr jars and put them in it to freeze, being sure when you take them out to let them reach room temp before opening so condensation doesn't form on the seeds ~ that'll make them lose their viability), and they'd be fine for quite a few years.

Are you wanting to save your own seed? If so, Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth is an invaluable resource for learning how to avoid cross pollination and get true seed (seed that'll grow the same things again next year). It's not all that hard (I find it kind of fun sometimes), and you'll save a bundle in the coming years. If I'd kept up with it, I'd have saved the $96.73 I just spent from Pinetree (I've not gardened for a few years, so most of my seed is too old, kept in not-so-good conditions or lost ~ bad me!). You can imagine how much that would add up over ten or so years, having to order seeds every year.

Whatever you do, have fun with it! And remember that you're not stretching yourself as a gardener if you're not killing a few plants, so don't let the "failures" get you down ~ learn from them and they'll no longer be failures.

Not Bob, I lived in the Bay Area for 5 years, and right now is the time to seed peas, arugula, and spinach. You could even consider corn salad and claytonia, two of my favorite greens. If you inoculate the peas, and plant the arugula and spinach in front (south) of the peas, you won't even need fertilizer.

g'day bob,

we invite you to check the pic's etc.,. on our site there may be some ideas there for you.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

wow everyday I check this post and more great advice shows up. That is fantastic. I am glad I found an online community like this. Thanks again everybody for the advise. I think I might follow the advise and go and get some peas and spinach started. I will take stock of the old gardening equipment that I have. It might be hard to find but I know it is there. And then I will take my seed starting equipment and get working on it.