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 from the UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County and other external resources. 

Monthly Tips - a calendar of activities for the home vegetable gardener.

Vegetables at the FOHC - a history of the vegetable garden at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center (FOHC).

Summer Problems - pests, diseases and abiotic disorders in summer vegetables.

Planting Plans - lists of what we grow in summer and winter at the FOHC.

 

Master Gardener Publications, Studies and Videos

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• Vegetable Gardening 101 (PDF 98kb) - just about all aspects of growing vegetables in your home garden. (EHN 96)
• Vegetable Planting Schedule (PDF) - proper times for planting vegetable seeds and transplants for the Sacramento area. (EHN 11)
• Slow Food award (PDF) - the FOHC was honored with this award in 2016.
• Crop Rotation - top ten vegetable families and their members to help vegetable gardeners plan a crop rotation schedule.
• Seed packet information (PDF) - explained. (GN 128)
• Germinating seeds (PDF) - Optimum soil temperatures are given for a wide variety of vegetable seeds. (GN 154)
• Edible flowers (PDF) - information about which are edible and ones to avoid. (GN 155)
• 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. (EHN 87)
• Crop rotation enhances soil fertility and helps avoid insect and disease pests.
• Raised beds - details for building the raised planters at the FOHC. 
• 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
• Melons (PDF 104kb) - information about melons, including planting, care, pest problems and harvesting. (EHN 99)
• Sweet Potatoes (PDF) - in Sacramento gives information for growing sweet potatoes including growing slips, planting, caring for, harvesting and storing them. (EHN 102)
• Tomatoes, cherry (PDF 168kb) - 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) 
• Beets - information about beets, including planting, care, pest problems and harvesting.
• Home Vegetable Gardening Resources (PDF) - a list of helpful books on vegetables, insects, seed saving and more. (GN 164)
• Vegetable Container Planting Tips (PDF) - 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) - a complete list. (GN 164)

 

Studies

• Growing Lettuce in Warm Weather - suggested varieties and cultural tips.
• Sweet potato experiment - experiment conducted at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in 2013.

 

Videos

• Video Library - view our many videos about vegetable gardening.

 

External Resources

• 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 - 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 - Cornell University.
• Get Growing! with Farmer Fred - Fred Hoffman, Lifetime Master Gardener and host of the "Garden Basics with Farmer Fred."

 

Publications

• 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) - 7-page document that covers planning and planting a home vegetable garden. (ANR 8059)
• 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) - conducted by UC IPM in a Sacramento County strawberry field.
• Community Gardens (PDF) - about all sorts of community gardens and shows you how you can set one up in your own neighborhood. (ANR 8499)
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Videos

• Building healthy soil - California Water Boards shares tips for healthy soil that saves water too.
• Manage garden pests - a listing of videos and webinar recordings on pests and beneficials. From UC IPM.

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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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