We are lucky that here in Sonoma County, we are able to grow food sustainably year-round. Enjoy the satisfaction of producing your own delicious, ripe, nutritious fruits and vegetables in your home garden.
The UC-trained and certified Food Garden Specialists of the Master Gardeners have created Sonoma specific information to help you create a thriving and successful home food garden.
- Find our articles to help you create the best infrastructure for your food garden including a vegetable bed layout and drip irrigation instructions.
- Learn how to increase the health of your garden environment using sustainable gardening principles – a thriving food garden begins with good soil.
- Get tips on selecting the right plants for your food garden based on the vegetable and fruit crops that you want to eat and that can grow successfully in your microclimate
Sonoma County has a Mediterranean climate with a hot, dry summer. Learn how to irrigate your crops in fertile soil that can feed you and your household year round with the extensive information on our Food Gardening pages and in our educational videos.
NEW TO FOOD GARDENING?
- Growing Vegetables
- Sustainable Food Gardening
- Enriching Garden Soil
- No-Till Food Gardening
- Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Articles
- Monthly Food Gardening Tasks & Tips
FOOD GARDENING IN A DROUGHT
WHAT TO PLANT AND WHEN
- Vegetable Planting Summary
- Right Crop, Right Place, Right Time
- Choosing Vegetable Varieties
- Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Articles
SEASONAL FOOD GARDENING
- Year-Round Food Gardening in Sonoma County
- Sonoma Microclimates
- Average First and Last Frost Dates for Sonoma County
- How to Calculate Fall Garden Sowing/Planting Dates
- Monthly Food Gardening Tasks & Tips
THE SPRING AND SUMMER GARDEN
- Focus on Spring Vegetables
- Seeding Vegetables Indoors
- Sample Summer Vegetable Bed
- Spring to Summer Succession Gardening
- Harvesting Vegetables
- Summer Garden Minute
THE FALL AND WINTER GARDEN
- Fall and Winter Garden
- Focus on Fall Vegetables
- Cool Season Vegetable Gardening
- Seeding Vegetables Indoors
- Sample Vegetable Bed
- Drought Strategies for a Fall food Garden
- Green-Manure Cover Crops
- Growing Salad Greens
- Sowing Planting Calculation
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- You can watch video recordings of “Veggie Happenings” on the UC Master Gardener of Sonoma County YouTube channel. Here is the corresponding index of Veggie Happenings videos available on YouTube.
- To find references for previous Veggie Happenings Zoom Talks from August 2020 thru June 2022, click here.
- Food Forest Resources
- UC Integrated Pest Management for the Home Gardener
- The California Backyard Orchard
- Master Food Preservers of Sonoma County’s Facebook page and website.
December 2023