We're on the 40th parallel. (It's a point of absurd pride for me -- I have always lived in New Spain.) I stop working in the courtyard by 11 in June and July, because I am a delicate flower of a snowflake. I don't quite turn into a puff of dust when exposed to sun, but it's close.
I'll have to see if I can source bales I trust locally. The last time I got one, it was a disaster, due to bindweed. (That plant is on my eradicate the species list, with mosquitos.) There's some local wheat production which produces some straw, but mostly grasses are for hay and pasture. I don't mind alfalfa much, but I am not spending another ten years eradicating the bindweed I introduced. Last time, it took a propane torch for four years in a row.
I have been square foot or waffle gardening almost all of my life, either in 3x3s or containers, so that's what I know. The only thing I've ever failed at in this climate is asparagus; it's just too dry and our winter usually extends well into May. (We make it up in October and November.) I usually grow lemon cucumbers, beans and peas, tomatoes and smaller summer squash outside, and I keep hydroponic lettuce, cress, spinach and a brassica (usually bok choi) going year round indoors. I know I'm not feeding us year round on a 20 x 20 patch, but anything that reduces some food miles and captures some carbon and rainfall is worth the effort.
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