Gardening

Food Gardening Tasks and Tips for each month in Sonoma County home gardeners. Click on the month for the list of key tasks for a healthy food garden.

Graceful in the garden, dill plants attract beneficial insects to their flat-headed, yellow flowers and offer both seeds and leaves, called dill weed, when dried.

Like few other vegetables, nearly the entire beet plant can be eaten below-ground bulbs and above-ground foliage. A good crop depends on careful thinning and transplanting crowded seedlings into fertile, amended soil. Bumpy, brown seeds are actually a cluster of several seeds that germinate in a clump.

When selecting garden plants, know that you can minimize maintenance needs and future plant problems when you place the right plant in the right place.

Somewhat surprisingly, rhubarb is a member of the buckwheat (Polygonaceae) family, rhubarb’s perennial, fleshy rhizomes and thick, succulent stalks grow best in cool microclimates where the average summer temperature is less than 75 degrees.

Find a video and additional resources to have a food garden in Sonoma County with limited available water, with tips to scale planting to your family’s likes and needs, and apply water-wise strategies to your vegetable garden.

Learn why soil testing is essential for healthy plants. Discover how to assess and improve soil quality for optimal growth in your garden or farm.

Learn effective landscape watering strategies for drought conditions, helping conserve water while keeping plants healthy and thriving during dry spells.

> 10 Earth-friendly moves > Care for specialized plants > Fall is a good time for garden clean-up Whether your garden is postage stamp or baseball field size, whether filled with succulents, roses, lawn or vegetables, routine maintenance is key to keeping plants healthy and productive.

Colorful flowers and towering trees are lovely, but plants are so much more than that.