Depending on your 'season' you might be able to grow year-around. Here where I'm at, NO for most things. Yes there are things that only need the right heat, but there is alot of items that grow depending on day length, heat, moisture.

there is a market forum that have alot of growers that grow in high-tunnels/greenhouses or just in the dirt.

Garlic needs a time of very cold, I haven't been able to get it to work for me.

I harvest fresh fruit, herbs and vegetables each and every day of the year. It takes planning, and you have to do your homework. I didn't get to this place overnight, and neither will you. Set this as a goal and build up to it. Your next question should be --how do I start?

I can't speak to how grocery stores work or how to do large scale container growing. My approach is to plant according to season, grow fully organic whenever possible, rely heavily on compost with as many free inputs as possible, using square foot gardening techniques.

You didn't say what zone you are in. Here in NH I started experimenting with a high tunnel. We had spinach all winter and would have had some other things if I had been smarter about planting. Since the high tunnel is unheated, only winter hardy veggies will survive.
Here in NH I plant hard neck garlic in October. I was able to harvest garlic scapes in late June and yesterday pulled some bulbs. It's time to harvest.
I can extend my season if I protect some plants with a low tunnel. We get a light frost mid-Sept so if protected, bush beans will continue to grow another few weeks.
Parsnips over winter in the ground. We can harvest as soon as cold sweetens them but usually wait until the ground thaws in the spring.
These are examples of having something every month but nothing except maybe spinach is year round. Grocery store produce is shipped from thousands of miles away.
Contact your local county cooperative extension for growing help. Some of the seed catalogs have good planting information for guidance about intervals and season. I recently got emails that it's time to start planting fall crops.

Thanks for all your replies! I live in CA, on the central coast so I think my zone is 8b.

Myfamilysfarm- I live approximatley 40 miles from Gilroy, CA "the garlic capital" I'm wondering how cold it has to be as normally in the winter, it gets to the low 40's. But in the summer it is crazy hot (90's) because they are more inland, so when you drive through Gilroy, you can smell the garlic, it smells soo good! I usually smell the garlic during the summertime though.

mrclint- that's good to hear that you harvest year around! Just exactly how long did it take you to get a system going? And I'm wondering if there is a chart system, or something in a spreadsheet with dates or something that one could use to plant this and when and then expect to harvest it, and then plant again?

defrost49- I am in zone 8b, in CA I don't plan on growing vegetables outside, although, I guess the mild climate where I live is possible. It seems like where you live gets pretty cold and possibly snows? I think it *maybe* gets below freezing a couple of times during the winter.

I guess the interesting thing is, and I just realized, that a lot of produce comes from the valley near where I live, especially artichoke, strawberries, broccoli and salad. I think this is a year round venture because they supply a lot of vegetables to other states. But I could be wrong, I am completely naive when it comes to this whole gardening thing and I guess my next step would be to contact my local co-ops and organic farms in the area.

As with my living situation, I would prefer to garden indoors if possible and maybe use grow lights? That was the only thing I could think of as getting vegetables year around. But I guess if it could be done outside, I could try too...but we have so many critters and things, I really think indoors is a better option...and I rent and so my veggies would have to be in containers anyways, as my landlord isn't very keen on the idea.

Anyways, thanks for all your replies! Hopefully I can get this gardening adventure started.

Pink, you are in a wonderful area to garden (maybe not live, but gardening, YES!)
Check into your county garden extension office for info on what and when to plant. You will be very pleased to find that you can grow almost year round in your area!
I'm way North in Sonoma Co (the REAL wine country), North of SF, and get tomatoes often through November!
I have a hard time making room for winter stuff, cause the summer stuff keeps going on .....and on.... and on!
I keep 2 small beds just for winter gardening (winter is time to rest, right?) and do radish, lettuce, arugula, beets, broccholi, chard, kale and more!
I'm not sure why you want to garden indoors when you have such a great area for gardening, but good luck in your endeavors! Keep us posted! Nancy

You've got to check with your local county extension, master gardener program and even neighbors. Some professional nursery people from a full-featured nursery can be helpful as well (I'm not talking about big-box stores).

Here in LA County we have a month by month guide that is excellent, but much of it might not be very helpful for you. Check out some of the UC Davis information as well. You live in the salad bar for the world, you'll be fine. :)

Thanks Nancy! I am sure since you are growing well into winter, I surely can too.

Mrclint-I will be sure to check out my local resources, thanks for all your help :)

Wish me luck everyone! I will need it, despite the great gardening area I live in LOL.

Great area to garden in but I don't know how indoors will work out. If you can't plant in the ground, can you place large containers outside? Try the Container Gardening forum.

Find some tree pots for the larger pots, some landscapers will be able to either give/sell or tell you someone else that might have some. Tree pots are much larger than the minimum 5 gal that you need for many plants.

Keep in mind that container plants will need watered and fertilized more often. The fruit is usually smaller also. All depends on what size of 'pot' you use.

Why do you want to grow indoors?

It is much, much more difficult and will probably take you many years to get to the point where you can harvest year round.

Can you get a community garden plot, if you don't have a yard?

In your climate, you can grow outdoors all year, and be harvesting all year. I do it. Be prepared for a lot of work, and, even outdoors, several years to figure out what works for you and for your plot of land.

Check out Territorial Seed for info on what to plant when. It might not be too late to plant now for winter eating.