This is the busiest time of the year for a garden.  Remember you can easily plant summer crops into early June, so don’t feel like you are too behind if you are still getting in the summer garden.  Read more »

What a difference in the last 2 weeks! A heat wave, long days and no real rain, and suddenly trees are completely leafed out, roses are starting to bloom, and everyone is planting tomatoes. For my garden the biggest changes, (in addition to losing the light in my bedroom window as the grape vines expand), are my irises in full glory, a major artichoke harvest and starting to run my drip system regularly. Read more »

The rains seem to be ending and soil temperatures are warming, planting for summer season is finally here (but not everywhere).   Make sure you know when your last average frost free day is in your microclimate before you start putting out your tomatoes and cucumbers.   Many people who like to plant early, don’t realize that if soils are cold your early tomatoes are just going to sit there cuz they don’t like to grow when their toes are cold.  Often early-planted summer crops are not that much earlier in producing because they just don’t grow.   Read more »

Last month I had some health issues that provided another layer of appreciation for my garden. Some plants that I don’t primarily use for food but that I like having in my garden came to my rescue and helped me heal. With several herbalist friends and growing public interest in herbs for health, I have been thinking more about the importance of herbs. Now that it is full spring but too wet to be doing much in the soil, this might be a good time to consider adding more herbs to your garden. Read more »

Just when many of us were ready to get going full speed in the garden of course the rains really come.  Gotta be thankful though, we needed this. So I have been thinking about my relationship with my home garden. And what strengthens that relationship, how to integrate a garden into daily life and have it be a part of life instead of something that needs to get done. Read more »

 Warm, cold, warm; these big temperature changes are challenging for most living things, but at least it’s not staying too cold or warm for very long now. I’m so grateful for the rain but when it is warm and sunny I’m itching to be out in the garden. I’ve still been doing lots of tree pruning. Although most of the stone fruit are coming into bloom now, unless they are very young trees, it is still OK to prune and you can enjoy the blossoms from your trimmings indoors. The swelling buds direct my cuts to where vigorous new growth or flowers are about to emerge. Read more »

Most of us just plant when we actually can get to it and try to time things close to the right time of year at least.  But this time of year, when I feel like I have more time and can plan the garden a little better, I try to time my plantings with the moon.  There are several theories about when to plant what based on the moon and stars.  I sometimes utilize the more complex approaches, but the main thing I like to do is plant seeds with the new moon.   Read more »

 It might, but it is still early and temperatures are bound to fluctuate, with plenty more chilly temperatures ahead.

Thankfully, we finally had one good rain. But it was a lot in a short time period so much of it ran off.  This points once again to the reasons to have plenty of mulch on the soil – to protect it from pounding rain, reduce erosion and then to keep the moisture in during dry spells. Read more »

Well tonight is predicted to be one of the coldest nights of the year, and it barely warmed up today, but we can still be out gardening! When we get this super cold spell, the main thing we need to worry about is citrus.  We can grow citrus here in Sonoma County but there are a few nights a year that can turn a happy citrus tree to toast.  Cover it with a blanket or build a little structure over it.  Plastic is not good protection and can be a problem if left on and the sun comes out and cooks the tree. Read more »

  Happy New Year! And what a totally different year it is! I was re-reading my blog from a year ago, http://www.igrowsonoma.org/blog/garden-dreaming-planning-and-pruning, when the soil was totally saturated from so much rain. This year the soil has been extremely dry in many places for weeks, with very little rain for over 2 months and strong, desiccating winds around a month ago. Read more »