Regional guide

Sonoma County Vegetable Planting Summary

UC Master Gardener Sonoma guide for local direct seeding, transplanting, weather protection, spacing, and maturity timing.

Climate signals

• The Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County says its Food Gardening Specialists created the Vegetable Planting Summary for home gardeners planting food crops.
• The PDF is titled Master Gardeners of Sonoma County Vegetable Planting Summary, Pub No. 090924, Rev. July 2019.
• The primary purpose of the PDF is to provide basic crop information including the best planting times for Sonoma County.
• The UC page says the guide covers planting dates for warm and cool weather crops, recommended dates for direct seeding and transplanting, mulch, shade and/or frost cloth, spacing, and days to maturity.
• C* indicates hardy vegetables that typically tolerate heavy frost of 25 to 28F depending on microclimate and gardening practices.
• W+ indicates vegetables that can be planted earlier if special techniques are used to keep soil and plants warm early in the season.
• The guide says climate change means Sonoma County is expecting hotter days, more flooding, and unpredictable weather events.

Planning notes

• Watch forecasts, then protect crops from extreme weather with mulch, shade cloth, and plastic sheeting over a frame when needed.
• Transplants may be purchased when ready to plant, or gardeners can start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the planting dates.
• Fall vegetables grow in cool weather where days are shorter, so they may take much longer to mature.
• Beans, bush May-July; Broccoli Mar-Apr and July-Sept with seed March-April then transplant April-May, and seed July-August then transplant August-September.
• Carrots Mar-Sept; Corn, sweet Apr-July and plant every 2 weeks through July for longer harvest or use varieties with short, medium, and long maturity dates.
• Lettuce Feb-Oct and Plant every 2 to 3 weeks for continual harvest; Peas Feb-Apr and Aug-Oct; Radishes Feb-Apr and Sept-Oct.
• Peppers Apr-June; Tomatoes Apr-June; Potatoes, sweet are listed as not normally grown in Sonoma County.
• As a crop-coverage summary, cool-season and warm-season rows include artichokes, arugula and assorted greens, bush beans, beets, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, collards, corn salad and mache, sweet corn, cucumbers, daikon, eggplant, endive, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, melons, mustard, okra, bunching onions, parsnips, peas, peppers, pumpkins, radishes, rutabagas, spinach, winter squash, tomatillos, tomatoes, turnips, and watermelon.
• Asparagus, garlic, potatoes, rhubarb, and sweet potatoes are source rows without priority links.
• Use priority catalog links as crop-row 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
• Astro Arugula Vegetable · Cool · 35 days
• Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
• Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
• White Stem Bok Choy Vegetable · Cool · 45 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
• Minowase Daikon Radish Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
• Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Green Curled Endive Vegetable · Cool · 85 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
• Vit Mache Corn Salad Vegetable · Cool · 50 days
• Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
• Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Clemson Spineless Okra Vegetable · Warm · 56 days
• Evergreen Bunching Onion Vegetable · Shoulder · 65 days
• Hollow Crown Parsnip Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
• Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
• California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
• Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
• French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
• American Purple Top Rutabaga Vegetable · Cool · 90 days
• Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
• Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
• Toma Verde Tomatillo Vegetable · Warm · 70 days
• Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Gardener Program of Sonoma County Vegetable Planting Summary