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Image caption: This winter salad features grapefruit and shredded cabbage in a Dijon vinaigrette.

Featured: Something juicy, something crunchy to beat winter blues

New! Grapefruit-cabbage salad with Dijon mustard vinaigrette

Sat, Jan 03, 2026

Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Jan. 4

New year starts soggy; watch out for saturated soil

Fri, Jan 02, 2026

Learn how to prune and train climbing roses

Free workshop offers hands-on training for roses growing on arbors, trellises, fences or walls

Thu, Jan 01, 2026

Deadline soon for Saul Wiseman Grants applications

Annual awards presented by Sacramento Perennial Plant Club

Wed, Dec 31, 2025

Happy New (Rain) Year! Drought looks unlikely heading into 2026

No surprise: Sacramento's ahead of average in seasonal precipitation

Tue, Dec 30, 2025

FIMBY: Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

Many varieties are drought-resistant; save water in summer by planting in winter

Mon, Dec 29, 2025

Learn how to prune a rose bush in under 3 minutes

Free rose care workshop tackles winter pruning and much more

Sun, Dec 28, 2025

Sunny orange jam brightens a winter day

New! Thyme flavors an easy not-too-sweet concoction

Sat, Dec 27, 2025

Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Dec. 28

Final days of 2025 offer break from rain, return of fog

Fri, Dec 26, 2025

Recycle your Christmas tree, get free mulch

Where to ‘mulch’ your tree in Sacramento and Yolo counties

Thu, Dec 25, 2025

As gardeners, we receive many gifts all year

The natural world provides joys and food and more

Wed, Dec 24, 2025

Making the case for mistletoe

A bane to trees, this holiday staple is an important food source for birds

Tue, Dec 23, 2025

FIMBY: Is edible gardening possible indoors?

Think small, think green -- and have plenty of good light

Mon, Dec 22, 2025

Why do branches, trees fall during storms?

Expect to see dropped limbs and fallen trees as wet, windy storms continue

Sat, Dec 20, 2025

Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Dec. 21

Sacramento trades fog for rain as winter starts with atmospheric river

Fri, Dec 19, 2025

Soggy holidays ahead as seven days of rain arrive

Sacramento predicted to get more than 7 inches from Christmas week storm

Thu, Dec 18, 2025

Got a 2026 calendar handy? Start saving these dates

Plant sales, open garden days and much more ahead

Wed, Dec 17, 2025

In 2026, expect to see a lot more white, including in gardens

Pantone picks ‘Cloud Dancer’ – a ‘lofty white’ – as its Color of the Year

Tue, Dec 16, 2025

FIMBY: Add asparagus to your edible ornamental garden

This perennial herb produces ferny foliage as well as delicate spears

Mon, Dec 15, 2025

Foggy weather brings on attack of gray mold

Roses, poinsettias and many other favorites succumb to botrytis

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Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series

WINTER:

Dec. 30: Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

Dec. 23: Is edible gardening possible indoors?

FALL

Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden

Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it

Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come

Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying

Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?

Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden

Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden

Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers

Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air 

Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets

Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty

Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?

Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest 

SUMMER

Sept. 16: Time to shut it down? 

Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning

Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?

Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you

Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water

Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers

July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?

July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty

July 15: Does this plant need water?

July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions

July 1: How to grow summer salad greens

June 24:  Weird stuff that's perfectly normal

SPRING

June 17: Help pollinators help your garden

June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests

June 3: Make your own compost

May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?

May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days

May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

WINTER

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting

Local News

Ad for California Local

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Cleveland sage ad for Be Water Smart

Garden checklist for week of Jan. 4

Make the most of non-rainy days – especially when it comes to pruning. Sacramento’s street pickup of garden waste (a.k.a. Claw season) ends Feb. 1.

* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.

* Now is the time to prune fruit trees (except cherry and apricot trees). Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.

* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.

* Prune Christmas camellias (Camellia sasanqua), the early-flowering varieties, after their bloom. They don’t need much, but selective pruning can promote bushiness, upright growth and more bloom next winter. Feed with an acid-type fertilizer. But don’t feed your Japonica camellias until after they finish blooming next month. Feeding while camellias are in bloom may cause them to drop unopened buds.

* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.

* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.

* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.

* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.

* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.

* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.

* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.

* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladiolus for bloom from late spring into summer.

Contact Us

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event.  sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!