Food Gardening

Don't Forget the Food Garden

Some suggestions for your winter activities list:

2014 composting week poster - US Compost Council, International Composting Week

1) Nurture and protect your soil to promote healthy and productive crops in the coming growing season. This includes compost and mulch as well as cover crops.

2) If you have deciduous fruit trees, follow a schedule of proactive activities to help prevent disease and insect damage. Don't forget winter fruit tree pruning. If you don't feel confident, take a class, watch a video (part 1, part 2) or hire a credentialed arborist.

3) Clean your tools and put them in a dry place during the rainy season. Learn how to clean and sharpen your pruners.

4) Check and flush your drip system. If you don't have drip in your food garden, now is a good time to install it. Drip is the most efficient and healthy way to deliver water to your crops. See our shopping list and step-by-step instructions.

5) If someone has asked for a wish list from you, include garden tools and aids. Do you have orchard root stock that suckers? You'll love a hori-hori knife. And, we know that you've been coveting a certain weeder to replace the large screwdriver you've been using. As we age, a combination garden kneeler/seat is helpful. If you don't have a drip system, how about a watering wand with adjustable output? An angled garden trellis is great to keep squash and pumpkins off the ground (and, underneath the trellis, you can grow heat-tolerant varieties of lettuce throughout the hot summer in the dappled shade). A tool belt is just the ticket to keep your pruners and other prized tools handy (and not lost in the garden greenery).

6) Plan the spring food garden. If you are a novice food gardener, check out what you can grow in a 4'x8' garden space.

7) Purchase vegetable seeds. Need we say more as seed catalogs begin to pour in? Why, yes we do. Buy locally adapted seed whenever possible. You will have better results. See our "Vegetable Seed Sources" publication and check out what the Sebastopol Community Seed Exchange has to offer.

Some people have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads this time of year. Food gardeners have visions too...of lettuce, peas, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, apples and more.

In the Garden

Sustainable Food Gardening. We recently added to our sustainable food gardening series with a new article: "Right Plant, Right Place, Right Time." Check it out!

New Strawberry Varieties For California

Master Gardener Food Gardening Specialist and Rare Fruit Grower Penny Fink shares that UC Davis recently announced five new strawberry varieties. The Davis Strawberry Breeding Program stated, “After more than three years of field tests, we’re seeing higher yields, greater disease resistance and better quality after harvest.” Three of the varieties ('Moxie,' 'Royal Royce' and 'Valiant') perform well throughout the long, warm days of summer. Two varieties ('Victor' and 'Warrior') are bred for cooler climates along California’s coast. We hope to see these in some of the local nurseries/farm supply operations in the next year. Learn more.

Q: There Is Nothing To Plant In The Winter.
A: False

There are perennial crops such as rhubarb and asparagus that can be planted this winter. And, depending on your microclimate, there are a few cool-weather crops such as peas, bulb onions and leafy greens that can be planted in mid- to late-winter for a spring harvest. See "Year-Round Food Gardening in Sonoma County." Purchase these seeds or bulbs early. Bare root plants are available late-December through January. This is a cost-efficient way to start or add to your vineyard, asparagus bed, berry garden and orchard. The Redwood Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers will hold their scion exchange on January 25, 2020. Remember to never work wet soil...this destroys soil structure. Wait a few days after rain to plant. Crops don't like "wet feet" and seeds germinate in moist, not wet, soil. Make sure that soil is well-draining.

Find The Perfect Spot For Next Year's Fall/Winter Food Garden

The simple answer is to place your garden where it will receive the most sun. But with less hours and lower angles of sunlight during the cool season, this is not always obvious. If the weather cooperates (that is, the sky is clear), we can use the moonlight from the full moon nearest the winter equinox to help us make this determination. In 2019, the winter equinox is December 22. The full moon "moonrise" will be at 6:25 a.m. on December 25. You'll be up to see what Santa brought, so why not pop outside to see where the moon provides the most light--this is ideal location for your fall/overwintering cool-weather vegetables.

Food Garden Specialists

Food Garden Specialists (FGS) are volunteers in the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County. They have a passion for and extra training in sustainable food gardening. In addition to offering food gardening workshops, they provide free advice and consultation services to community gardens throughout Sonoma County. Read more.

Food Garden Tips

December Food Gardening
Tasks & Tips:

Given the uncertainties of weather, it’s advisable to prepare and protect garden beds from possible heavy rain. Wait for a period of dry days to spray or prune trees. Spray after the trees have dried out, and long enough before predicted rain for the sprayed trees to have dried—longer if possible.
Spray fixed copper to peach and nectarine trees after leaves have fallen to control peach leaf curl and brown rot.
Spray fruit trees with organic and vegetable oil-based dormant oil. The oil smothers overwintering insect eggs and pests.
Dormant pruning of fruit trees can be done from the beginning of leaf fall up to bloom. See UC guidance on pruning and training fruit trees. Little or no pruning of citrus is required: prune out any crossing, broken or shaded out branches from the interior of the tree.
If you don’t have a drip system in your food garden, buy supplies so that you’ll be prepared to install the system before your early spring garden is started. Drip is the most efficient way to deliver water to your garden—an important consideration during a drought.
Instead of raking and depositing your leaves in the green bin, run the lawnmower over them to shred them and use them as mulch on your winter veggies beds. These leaves contain many nutrients that the trees pulled out of the soil and atmosphere. In addition to feeding your soil, you will be protecting soil from erosion and moisture evaporation, retarding winter weed growth and preventing splash from rain that could deposit soil-borne disease on your winter crops.
If a heavy freeze is predicted, cover citrus trees with frost cloth, sheets or burlap draped over stakes, keeping fabric away from foliage and fruit. A 100-watt outdoor bulb under the cover will lend a few degrees of added warmth.
Grow sprouts and herbs in a sunny kitchen window.
Read up on cold frames, plastic tunnels, row covers, cloches and other plant protection in order to extend the growing season next year. Take advantage of sales on the supplies you will need for planting early spring crops.
December 21 is the shortest day of the year with the longest shadows. At high noon, note where the yard is sunniest—this is the best place to plant your fall and winter food garden next year.
With fewer gardening tasks, this is a good month to research perennial weed problems. Look at University of California’s weed photo gallery to identify weeds and watch a video on weed control techniques. With the recent rains, your soil should be pretty soaked, so now is a great time to pull weeds before the new root growth is strong enough to anchor them firmly.
Clean, sharpen and oil garden tools and store them in a dry space. Steel wool will remove rust build up (wear gloves); some gardeners use wax paper throughout the year to wipe cleaned and dried blades after use to prevent/reduce rust.
If there is disease in your orchard or food garden, wipe or dip your pruners with alcohol (ethanol or isopropyl) or spray with a disinfectant spray after every cut so that you do not spread the infection.
Fight critters with critters—build a bat or owl house. Bats eat moths like the ones that lay eggs on vegetables, eggs that turn into hungry caterpillars. Voles are a tasty treat for owls.
Inspect crops regularly throughout their growing season for early problem diagnosis and resolution. Refer to University of California’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) site. Spraying with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) will organically control any cabbage worms that you find in your winter garden.
Know what pest you are fighting so that you can select effective pest management strategies. Check out University of California’s natural enemies gallery.
Good cultural practices (i.e., the correct location, light, water, pruning, fertilizer, planting date) contribute to healthy plants. Sanitation is an important aspect of disease prevention: clear garden debris and then clean and disinfect tools with isopropyl or ethanol alcohol.

WHAT TO PLANT THIS MONTH:

RHUBARB, Dec-Mar, C, T, Harvest 1 yr from roots, 3 yrs from seed

C = cool season crops that grow best in soil temps of 60° to 65°F and air temps of 55° to 75°F

T = crops are usually planted from transplants

For more information, refer to the Sonoma County “Vegetable Planting Summary” and individual crop articles on our website.