Home vegetable gardening

Few experiences can match the pleasure of savoring homegrown vegetables.  The flavor and number of varieties that you can grow far exceed what you can buy at a grocery store.  Growing vegetables does not have to be time consuming or difficult.  Many vegetables can be grown successfully in containers on patios and rooftops.  Experience really is the best teacher, and as your gardening knowledge increases, so will the rewards.

When you grow your own food, you know where it came from and exactly how it was grown.  If you are concerned about the use of chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides, you have control over the fertilizers and soil amendments used to make your crops flourish as well as what you use to fight pests and diseases.  Also, you will know that your vegetables are as fresh as possible.

Below is a collection of resources just for the home gardener. 

Also visit the Horticulture Center link in the gold bar above for details on the vegetable garden at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center.  And don't miss our annual Gardening Guide and Calendar!

Resources

Note: PDF files open in a new window/tab.

Websites

• Vegetable demonstration garden at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center.
  
  
• UC IPM - UC Integrated Pest Management, the University of California's official guidelines for managing pests with environmentally sound methods. 
  
  
• Plant problem diagnostic tool - UC IPM gives you the ability to solve plant problems.
  
  
• Managing pests in the vegetable garden from UC IPM gives cultural tips and guidance for dealing with pests and disorders of more than 20 commonly grown vegetables.
  
  
• Managing weeds in the vegetable garden from the UC IPM program.
  
  
• UC publications catalog - UC Agriculture and Natural Resources offers many free, downloadable publications on gardening topics.
  
  
• UC Vegetable Research and Information Center
  
  
• The California Garden Web answers frequently asked questions about planning, planting, caring for, and harvesting vegetables from the California Garden Web.  Also includes specifics about more than 30 vegetables.
  
  
• Vegetable Growing Guides from Cornell University.
  
  
• Get Growing! with Farmer Fred - Fred Hoffman, Lifetime Master Gardener and host of KFBK Garden Show (1530) and "Get Growing" (KSTE, 650).
  
  

Publications

• Vegetable Gardening 101 (PDF 98kb) covers just about all aspects of growing vegetables in your home garden. (EHN 96)
  
  
• Vegetable Planting Schedule (PDF) shows proper times for planting vegetable seeds and transplants for the Sacramento area. (EHN 11)
  
  
• Monthly tips to help you get the best from your vegetable garden.
  
  
• Vegetable Problems in Summer will help you diagnose problems in your victory garden.
  
  
• Grow your own vegetables (PDF 78kb) tip sheet covers the basics of home vegetable gardening including planting requirements, when and how much to plant.
  
  
• Vegetable Garden Basics (PDF 86kb)  is a 7-page document that covers planning and planting a home vegetable garden. (ANR 8059)
  
  
• Attracting beneficials (PDF) the good guys who help you manage insect pests. (GN 129)
  
  
• Cover cropping (PDF) in home vegetable gardens explains how and why to plant a cover crop to improve soil quality and nutrition.
  
  
• Soil solarization for gardens and landscapes using the heat of the sun to manage soilborne pests from the UC IPM program.
  
  
• Soil solarization research project (PDF 292kb) was conducted in a Sacramento County strawberry field.
  
  
• Crop Rotation lists the top ten vegetable families and their members to help vegetable gardeners plan a crop rotation schedule.
  
  
• Seed packet information (PDF) is explained. (GN 128)
  
  
• Germinating seeds (PDF) - Optimum soil temperatures are given for a wide variety of vegetable seeds. (GN 154)
  
  
• Edible flowers (PDF) includes information about which are edible and ones to avoid. (GN 155)
  
  
• Community Gardens (PDF) tells about all sorts of community gardens and shows you how you can set one up in your own neighborhood. (ANR 8499)
  
  
• Straw bale gardening (PDF) has been practiced annually at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center vegetable demonstration garden since 2013. (GN 160)
  
  
  • 2013 Pumpkins
  • 2014 Watermelon
  • 2015 Melons/Squash
  • 2016 Tomatoes
  • 2017 Tomatoes
  • 2018 Sweet Potatoes
    
    
• Selected vegetables and melons grown by Sacramento County Master Gardeners:
  
  
• Beets gives information about beets, including planting, care, pest problems and harvesting.
  
  
• Carrots provides information about carrot cultural requirements, varieties grown, results, and tasting comments from a demonstration at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in 2007-2008.
  
  
• Growing Lettuce in Warm Weather gives you suggested varieties and cultural tips.
  
  
• Melons (PDF 104kb) provides information about melons, including planting, care, pest problems and harvesting. (EHN 99)
  
  
• Melon demonstration describes melon cultural requirements, varieties grown, results, and tasting comments from a demonstration at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in 2007.
  
  
• Mycorrhizae Test on Melons was performed to see if adding the fungi to plant roots would improve growth and yield.
  
  
• Sweet Potatoes (PDF) in Sacramento gives information for growing sweet potatoes including growing slips, planting, caring for, harvesting and storing them.
  
  
• Sweet potato experiment describes the growing experiment conducted at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in 2013.
  
  
• Tomatoes, cherry (PDF 168kb) describes the cultural requirements, varieties grown (with pictures), results, and tasting comments from a cherry tomato demonstration at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in 2007. (GN 109)
  
  
• Tomato varieties (PDF 104KB) favored by Sacramento County Master Gardeners. (GN 147)
  
  
  • Photos (PDF 2.6MB) 
    
    
• Vegetable Container Planting Tips (PDF) gives information about growing vegetables in containers, including the best vegetables and varieties. (GN 140)
  
  
• Soil and Plant Tissue Testing Laboratories (PDF). (GN 130)
  
  
• Home Vegetable Gardening Resources (PDF) gives you a complete list. (GN 164)

Videos

• Straw Bale Gardening: Part 1, Preparing the Bales (4:43 min.) - UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
  
  
• Straw Bale Gardening: Part 2, Planting (4:09 min.) - UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
  
  
• Straw Bale Gardening: Part 3, End of Season (2:49 min.) - UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
  
  
• Building healthy soil - Healthy soil builds healthy plants, and saves water to!
  
  
• Manage garden pests by watching short instructional videos from UC IPM.
  
  

Helpful Books

• Home Vegetable Gardening Resources (PDF) includes a list of helpful books on vegetables, insects, seed saving and more. (GN 164)

 

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ANR = free publication from the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Catalog
PN = free publication from UC Integrated Pest Management
EHN = Environmental Horticulture Notes from the UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
GN = Garden Notes from the UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County

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