Food Gardening

What is Food Gardening?

It is easy to grow your own vegetables whether in a container, your yard, a community garden plot or a on a large ranch property!

To have a successful garden just follow the seven basic rules of vegetable gardening:

Plant only as much as you can easily maintain.
Create a garden plan before you begin.
Grow fruits and vegetables that produce high yields in the space available.
Plant during the correct season for the crop you would like to grow. Select varieties recommended for your climate zone.
Select a garden site that has at least 8 hours of full sun each day, avoid shaded locations.
Prepare the soil and amend and fertilize as needed.
Harvest fruits, vegetables and herbs at the correct stage of maturity.

Questions? Send an email to mgfresno@ucanr.edu
Including photos is helpful. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Vegetable Planting Guide

Home Vegetable Gardening

Plant a Row for the Hungry website for more information on this project.

UC ANR Small Farms Network

University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Small Farms Advisors and program staff serve as an information hub connecting small-scale farms to research and education resources of the University of California. We are a program within UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP).

We serve a diverse clientele including:

Small-scale and diversified family farms
Beginning, immigrant, and refugee farmers
Growers of specialty crops not covered by traditional commodity-based extension programs

Urban Farm

What is urban agriculture?

Benefits of urban agriculture

Urban agriculture can positively impact communities in many ways. It can improve access to healthy food, promote community development, and create jobs. A number of cities in California, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego have recently updated municipal policies to facilitate urban agriculture, due to strong community interest. If you’d like to learn more about some documented impacts of urban agriculture, see Research.

Visit the Urban Farm website

Grow LA Victory Garden Initiative

LA Victory Garden Initiative

The Grow LA Victory Garden Initiative helps new gardeners start their own gardens quickly and easily in a container, in the backyard or at a community garden. Classes are held at various locations in the Los Angeles area. Find out more about the program here

Download the LA Master Gardeners Vegetable Gardening Handbook for Beginners in English or Spanish.

Take a look at their helpful gardening articles.