Tomatoes and other Gardens (Sacramento: home, buying, live in)

[CityGirl72]

Color me Jealous.

I had always daydreamed of having a vegetable garden when I finally bought my first home. And I was so looking forward to tomatoes, just like my dad and grandpa used to grow.

THen I realized after moving to Seattle - that you can't have a nice garden without extra added help - because it's so frigid here.

ANyway I was reading the Bee the other day and I guess every one is out in droves at the nurseries buying up the tomato plants and I wondered if there were any gardeners here who could give me advice on good crops (of any sort) for the Sacramento Area.

[Beth26]

I listen to Farmer Fred's garden show on Sundays. He recommends planting at the end of the month. In Sac growing tomatoes, peppers, corn, basil, zucchini, are all very easy!

Check out his website (Farmer Fred): Get Growing with Farmer Fred

[Inthesierras]

You can grow just about any vegetable out there. I have successfully grown carrots, radish, corn, pumpkins, squash, peppers, potatoes, egg plant, lettuce, spinach (lettuce and spinach need a shady area, they cannot take the hot summer sun) and the list goes on. Be sure to read up on whatever you decide to plant. Corn for example needs to have at least 5 rows in order to pollinate. Sac is known for their clay and hard pan. Be sure to amend the soil well. Water in the early morning and be sure to keep the water off the leaves and fruit.

If you won't be there for this growing season, you can start next years prep work early. Start a compost bin, rake up leaves and add them to the soil. There is a lot of prep work you can do in the fall and winter to prepare for a great garden. I don't live in Sac anymore, but *try* to help my MIL when I can with her gardening. I found this website awhile back and its packed with local info: Sustainable Urban Gardens Home Page

I used to buy a lot of great quality plants from garden club sales. Plus the info you can get from these gardeners is AMAZING! garden clubs (broken link)

[wburg]

The Sacramento Valley is probably the best growing soil anywhere. Tomatoes are such a big crop here that Sacramento used to have the nickname "The Big Tomato" (and still does, kind of) because of all the canneries that dealt with tomatoes here, and all the tomato farms surrounding the city. Within the city itself the soil isn't quite as good as the rich farmlands but gardening is pretty easy.

I have grown plenty of tomatoes here--they come out great as long as there isn't too much shade. I have also grown peppers, onions, garlic, various lettuces, artichokes, broccoli, arugula, grapes, and all sorts of herbs here.