Resources for gardening in Sonoma County
In this section you will find basic information on how to grow your own fruits and vegetables all year long in Sonoma County.
- Year-Round Growing Guide for Sonoma County (pdf)
A concise guide for month-by-month planting, harvesting, and garden maintenance.
- Vegetable Planting Summary (pdf)
An extensive Sonoma County Master Gardener guide to planting times and techniques.
Garden materials and supplies
Check with your local hardware store or nursery for soil amendments and other garden supplies. If you need more specialized materials, look in the Yellow Pages under “Landscaping equipment Supplies” or “Irrigation Systems and Equipment.”
Testing your soil
If you’d like to test your soil for pH (level of acidity or alkalinity), organic matter, and macro and micro-nutrients, Harmony Farm Supply is a local agent for A&L labs, which performs these tests on soil samples that you submit. Call Harmony for information about the soil testing process and cost at (707) 823-9125.
- Getting Started with Home Grown Food (pdf)
Here are some basic ideas to get started planning your food garden.
- Transforming Your Lawn into a Food Garden (pdf)
Techniques to convert lawn into food plants.
- Hints for Composting (pdf)
This Master Gardener document outlines the basics of composting and gives tips for faster composting, reducing particle size, water and aerating, and more.
Gardening how-to’s & soil care
- Growing Vegetables (pdf)
A Sonoma County Master Gardeners guide that describes how to plan a vegetable garden and how to prepare and plant the garden.
- Basic Fruit Tree Planting and Care (pdf)
A guide to choosing, planting and maintaining fruit trees.
- Feed the Soil so it Can Feed You (pdf)
Cover crops, mulch and compost can greatly improve your soil health.
- The Climate-Friendly Gardener (3MB pdf)
The Union of Concerned Scientists’ guide to combating global warming from the ground up.
- Water-Wise Food Gardening (pdf)
How can you grow food without going over your water budget? This simple guide provides “just enough” watering tips and irrigation information.
- Residential Rainwater Management (pdf)
With more concrete and blacktop, it is harder for rainwater to replenish groundwater supplies. Fortunately there are simple low-cost actions that we can take to reduce runoff that can also beautify our gardens and property.
- Greywater Information Brochure (10 MB pdf)
A quick introduction to Sonoma County’s policies on using greywater from your house to water your garden.
- Gardening with less water (10 MB pdf)
Master Gardeners’ tips for using less water in the garden.