Edible Gardening
Sacramento's
climate is perfect for growing a wide variety of fruits, nuts,
vegetables, and herbs. What's key is understanding that we have two
main growing seasons— warm and cool. Warm-season crops include things like tomatoes, beans, basil and peppers. Cool-season crops include things like lettuce, radishes and spinach. Some edibles, like asparagus and many herbs, persist year after year as perennial crops.
Sacramento's long growing season (240+ days) gives us two major vegetable planting periods— spring and fall. As you'll see from the calendar below, however, there's actually something edible to plant every month of the year.
In late winter to early spring, you'll generally plant warm-season
vegetables like tomatoes, melons, corn and beans. By mid to late
summer, you'll be knocking on neighbors' doors with surplus veggies.
By late summer to early fall, our second, cool-season crop goes in the ground. Successive plantings, selecting "bolt-" or heat-resistant and cold-resistant varieties, cold frames and varying degrees of shade
all allow you to push the planting calendar. Ambitious gardeners can
start vegetables from seed. Convenience-driven gardeners can wait for
small, ready-to-plant vegetable seedlings to show up in nurseries.
Procrastinators should look for gallon-size veggies and herbs later in
the planting season.
When it comes to deciduous fruit and nut trees, shrubs and vines, the winter dormant season is a good time to plant bare-root nursery offerings. Wait until spring to plant citrus and other subtropical fruits.
Some of my favorite edible gardening books are from Sunset Publishing.
Sunset writers and editors understand the particulars of gardening in
the West, and they understand that gardening in Sacramento is very,
very different from gardening in, say, San Francisco. I also like
anything that comes from UC ANR (University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources), and edible landscaping pioneer Rosalind Creasy's books are a colorful delight.
VEGETABLE PLANTING CALENDAR-- A work in progress... don't print yet. ;-)
Beginning
gardeners, try easy-to-grow edibles like beans, Swiss chard, radishes,
tomatoes, sunflowers, squash and melons. And if you stick to the
planting calendar, you'll have less work, less heartache and greater
chances of success. Oh, and don't forget about edible flowers;
Nasturtiums and violas are super easy and fun to grow! Nasturtiums will
even reward you by coming back on their own each year.
| Links below take you to UC Davis profile sheets (.pdf). Requires Adobe Reader |
APR |
MAY |
JUN |
JUL |
AUG |
SEP |
OCT |
NOV |
DEC |
JAN |
FEB |
MAR |
ARTICHOKE
(C, PGA,
Seeds or Transplants) |
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ASPARAGUS
(C, P, Crowns) |
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BEANS, LIMA
(A, S, W, PIP)
plant 2 crops, 2-3wks apart |
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BEANS, SNAP
(A, S, W, Seeds, PIP)
plant 2 crops, 2-3wks apart |
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BEETS
(A, S, W) |
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BOK CHOY/PAC CHOI
(A, C, S, Seeds, Transplants)
Stick with heat-tolerant green-stemmed or Canton varieties |
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BROCCOLI
(A, C, Seeds, Transplants) |
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| BRUSSELS SPROUTS |
better suited to coastal climates... |
CABBAGE
(A, C, Seeds, Transplants) |
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CANTALOUPE
(A, W, Seeds, Transplants) Sow seeds 4-6 weeks before setting out. |
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CARROTS
(A, C, S, Seeds, PIP) |
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CAULIFLOWER
(A, C, Transplants) |
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CELERIAC
(Biennial grown as annual, C, Seeds) Start early from seed, shade seedlings during hot weather, 100-150 days to harvest |
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CELERY
(Biennial grown as annual, C, Transplants) |
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CHARD
(Biennial grown as annual, Seeds, Transplants) |
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| CHAYOTE |
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CORN, SWEET
(A, W, S, Seeds, Transplants)
Plant early-, mid- and late-season varieties to extend harvest, or
plant seeds of the same variety every two weeks during planting season. |
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| CUCUMBER |
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| EGGPLANT |
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| ENDIVE |
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| FENNEL |
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| GARLIC |
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| KOHLRABI |
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| LEEKS |
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| LETTUCE |
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| OKRA |
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| ONIONS, BULB |
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| ONIONS, GREEN |
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| PARSNIPS |
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| PEAS |
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| PEPPERS |
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| POTATOES, SWEET |
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| POTATOES, WHITE |
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| PUMPKINS |
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RADISH
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| RHUBARB |
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| RUTABAGA |
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| SPINACH |
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| SQUASH, SUMMER |
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| SQUASH, WINTER |
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| STRAWBERRIES |
Everbearing |
Everbearing |
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June Bearers |
June Bearers |
June Bearers |
June Bearers |
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| TOMATOES |
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| TURNIPS |
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| WATERMELON |
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APR |
MAY |
JUN |
JUL |
AUG |
SEP |
OCT |
NOV |
DEC |
JAN |
FEB |
MAR |
A = Annual
C = Cool-season
P = Perennial
PGA = Perennial grown as annual
PIP = Plant in place
S = Successive plantings, to extend harvest
W = Warm-season
Plant type = seeds, transplants, crowns, roots
Adapted from the following resources:
UC Davis Vegetable Research and Information Center
"Climatography of the U.S. No. 20, Supplement No. 1", 1988, National
Climatic Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce
Complete Guide to Northern California Gardening, 1994, Maureen Gilmer
Sunset Edible Gardening
Sunset Western Garden Book
UC Fruit & Nut Research Information Center |
Seed Starting Schedules
UC Spring Seed Starting Schedule (.pdf download)
UC Fall Seed Starting Schedule (.pdf download)
Average Frost Dates
Average first frost: Nov 14
Average last frost: Mar 23
Warm-season recommendations from
Redwood Barn Nursery owner Don Shor:
- Corn: Silver Queen and Golden Jubilee are old standards. Try the supersweet or sugar-enhanced varieties as well.
- Eggplant: Dusky (most heat-tolerant), Black Beauty, Ichiban(prolific)
- Melons:
Ambrosia is our all-time favorite. Burpee Hybrid is excellent. Sugar
Baby watermelon is an excellent small-space watermelon; Charleston Grey
is a huge fruit on a huge plant--fun to grow. Casaba is a good producer
here.
- Summer squash: Gold Rush , Ambassador , Sunburst, Summer crookneck, Cucuzzi.
Winter Squash: Sweet Meat, any of the Acorn varieties (Table Queen is very good), Spaghetti
- Bell peppers:
the familiar squarish, lobed peppers, with Yolo Wonder and Bell Boy and
the more unusual Chocolate Beauty, Purple Beauty, Ivory Hybrid, Lilac
Hybrid
- Hot Peppers: Anaheim, Poblano, Jalapeno
Cucumbers: Burpless, Lemon, Armenian, Orient Express and many picklers.
- Okra: Clemson Spineless is an old favorite.
- Pumpkins:
Connecticut Field, Jack O' Lantern for carving; Sugar or Pie for
baking; Jack Be Little, Cinderella, and Lumina for decorating; Big Max
for huge pumpkins
- Beans: Blue Lake, Royal Burgundy, Tendergreen, Improved Golden Wax, Romano
- Tomatoes:
STANDARD VARIETIES-- Ace: "Dependable, sets in a wide range of
temperatures. Heavy on tomato flavor. Beautiful fruit, great salad
variety, but tough skin. Nice compact plant." Great for small spaces.
Better Boy: "Similar to Early Girl, but hasn't got the depth of flavor.
Very productive." Very heavy fruit set on large vines makes it a great
one for sauce production. Celebrity: "Very reliable producer. Excellent
for slicing. Moderate size plants. FAVORITE TOMATO #2!" Champion: Very
good flavor, large vine, large fruit, very productive. The
largest-fruited type that produces reliably here. Early Girl: "FAVORITE
TOMATO #1!" This one routinely wins taste tests in California, and
produces reliably from early summer into the winter. Roma: "Real
workhorse of a tomato. Very productive on compact plants which don't
need staking. Great flavor, even used fresh. Very reliable. FAVORITE
#3!" The best for sauce. Cherry, yellow, and other varieties: Green
Zebra: "Delicious, sprightly. Unusually good flavor for a yellow
tomato. Pretty." Bizarre looking fruit. Husky Gold: "My favorite yellow
tomato!" Husky Red: "Good flavor. Beautiful little plant. Great for
small spaces or containers." Lemon Boy: "Early results impressive.
Better texture than Golden Jubilee." Patio: "Cute little plant. The
best for smaller pots. Sweet, firm fruit." Surprisingly productive for
an 18" plant. SunGold: "YUMMM! My favorite cherry tomato. Dries into
candy. Everyone should grow it!" One of the best tomatoes ever. Sweet
100: "Unbelievably productive. A very good cherry tomato. Kids really
love them. Great for salads (and slingshots!)--small enough to eat in
one bite (unlike most cherry tomatoes)." HEIRLOOM VARIETIES--
Brandywine: "Very popular, mild flavor. Mealy texture." Carmello: "Thin
skinned, mealy. More flavorful than Beefsteak types, with better
acid/sugar balance." Costoluto Genovese: "Impressive; similar to
Marmande. Productive." Marmande: "Very fruity; acid/sugar balance is
great." Marval Striped, and Old German (very similar varieties): "Mild,
thin-skinned, mealy. Slicing tomato. Sweet." Principe Borghese: "I love
it! Wildly productive. Excellent depth of flavor. Makes great sauce,
though with lots of seeds and skin (strain the sauce)."
Cool-season recommendations from Redwood Barn Nursery owner Don Shor:
- Lettuce: Bibb, Black-seeded Simpson, Lollo Rossa, Prizehead, Romaine
- Onions: Stockton yellow, Stockton red, Early California red, Fresno White, Red Torpedo, Walla Walla.
- Carrots: Danvers Half Long or Little Finger for heavier soils. Chantenay does well in raised planters or where soil is sandy.
- Peas:
Snow peas do well here, as do Sugar Snap and Sugar Ann. For regular
peas I love Novella, a compact hybrid that is phenomenally productive.
 Angela's Faves... the short list
- 'Gold Rush' Zucchini
- 'Costoluto Genovese' Itialian heirloom tomato
- 'Sungold' Tomato
- 'Early Girl' tomato (the old standby)
- black tomatoes for flavor and color (still looking for a good one for the Valley)
- 'Heatwave' tomato
- 'Fresno' and 'Anaheim' chili pepper
- Genovese basil
- 'Stella' cherry
- 'Improved Meyer' lemon
- 'Washington Navel' orange
- 'Sugar Snap' peas
- Snow peas
Links
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