Regional guide

San Mateo/San Francisco Microclimate Calendar

UC ANR calendar for San Mateo and San Francisco hot, sunny, and foggy vegetable planting windows plus year-round bed turnover.

Climate signals

• UC Master Gardener Carol O'Donnell charted the best crops for specific conditions in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties.
• The UC ANR Bay Area Microclimates handout divides the local calendars into Hot, Sunny, and Foggy areas.
• Hot means the southern area of San Mateo County, including Atherton, East Palo Alto, La Honda, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Carlos, and Woodside.
• Sunny means areas of San Francisco and northern San Mateo County, including Belmont, Burlingame, Foster City, Hillsborough, Millbrae, San Mateo, San Francisco, and South San Francisco.
• Foggy means areas of San Francisco and coastal San Mateo County, including Brisbane, Colma, Daly City, Half Moon Bay, Pacifica, San Gregorio, and San Bruno.
• The Foggy microclimate is described as foggy, windy, mild summers of 60-75 F and mild, wet, almost frostless winters.

Planning notes

• The planting calendars use S = Seed, T = Transplants, # = Week 1 & 2, and * = Week 3 & 4; preserve those month-half markers instead of inventing specific calendar-day dates.
• The Hot calendar includes Bean, snap, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Okra, Pepper, Squash, and Tomato rows in spring and summer months.
• The Sunny calendar includes Corn,early, Cucumber, Eggplant, Pepper, Squash, Sunflower, and Tomato rows in spring and summer months, plus cool-season rows before and after those warm crops.
• The Foggy calendar keeps cool crops active across many months, including Bean, fava, Beet, Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, and Spinach rows.
• The year-round edible garden sequence cycles Early Spring cool vegetables, Spring warm crops, Summer replacements, Fall cool vegetables, and Winter plantings for next-year harvest.
• Artichoke, beans, beets, brassicas, celery, chard, corn, cucumber, eggplant, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mustard, okra, parsnip, peas, peppers, radish, spinach, squash, sunflower, tomato, and turnip have conservative crop-level catalog examples.
• Garlic, onions, potatoes, rhubarb, shallots, melon, runner bean, fava bean, and summer squash are source rows with no priority link.
• Use priority catalog links as crop-level examples, not UC cultivar recommendations.

Catalog crop examples

These catalog entries match crops covered by the regional timing source; variety-specific details remain tied to each seed entry's own source.

• Green Globe Artichoke Vegetable · Warm · 120 days
• Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
• Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
• Waltham 29 Broccoli Vegetable · Cool · 74 days
• Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts Vegetable · Cool · 100 days
• Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
• Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
• Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
• Tall Utah Celery Vegetable · Cool · 110 days
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
• Georgia Southern Collards Vegetable · Cool · 65 days
• Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
• Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Lacinato Kale Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
• Early White Vienna Kohlrabi Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• American Flag Leek Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Clemson Spineless Okra Vegetable · Warm · 56 days
• Hollow Crown Parsnip Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
• Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
• California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
• French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
• Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
• Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
• Mammoth Sunflower Flower · Warm · 90 days
• Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days

Related regional guides

• Contra Costa Interior Vegetable Garden A Contra Costa interior guide for Sunset zones 14-16, spring/summer beds, fall/winter resets, bean heat limits, artichoke frost risk, and interior timing.
• Santa Clara County Vegetable Planting Chart UC Master Gardener chart for central Santa Clara County seeding, transplanting, borderline months, and warm/cool seasons.
• Alameda West of East Bay Hills Planting Guide UC Alameda County Master Gardener guide for west of the East Bay Hills maritime gardens, microclimate caveats, and crop rows.
• Sonoma County Vegetable Planting Summary UC Master Gardener Sonoma guide for local direct seeding, transplanting, weather protection, spacing, and maturity timing.
• Napa County Seasonal Vegetable Planting Calendar UC Master Gardeners Napa County guide linking seasonal harvest pages, seed-starting advice, and a calendar-format planting PDF.
• Marin County Monthly Edible Garden Schedule UC Marin Master Gardeners monthly edible schedule for sowing inside/outside, transplants, and maintenance rows.

Source: UC Master Gardeners San Mateo and San Francisco Edible Gardening and Planting Calendars