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Gardening Basics

If you are new to gardening you can find some useful tips on how to plan the garden, prepare the seedbed, work the soil, and fertilizers among other topics in this link from the University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources. You may also download the document: VegGardenBasics.

For detailed information on particular crops and general gardening topics visit the Vegetable Research and Information Center website and The California Garden Web.

Visit the UC Master Gardeners of Orange County for even more information and check this handout from a class presented by the Master Gardeners on November 2010.

Growing Vegetables

The UCCE Masters Gardeners created an annual calendar entitled A Year of Growing Vegetables that shows when to grow various vegetables in southern California gardens. To open that PDF document, click here.

Find specific information on peppers, eggplant, snap beans, tomatoes, cucumber, summer and winter squash, sweet corn, and melons in this document: Vegetable Info from UC Davis..

If you are interested in growing tomatoes you might find this information useful: Growing Tomatoes.

Weeds & Pest Management

A great resource on how to identify weeds in your garden is to send an email to the hotline at the UCCE Master Gardeners of Orange County. They will be able to give you advice and help you identify the weed you have in your plot.

If you already know about the weed or pest, and don’t know what to do, you can find more information at the Weed/Pests section of the UCCE Master Gardeners of Orange County.

If you don’t have weeds or pests in your garden but want to learn about preventive measures and controls, you can visit the Integrated Pest Management site by the Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California.

Click here to read about AVCG's program to control Argentine ants. Ant bait stations are placed strategically throughout the garden. Please do not remove the covers or move a bait station. If you have questions, send email to AVCG@uci.edu.

Gophers, also known as pocket gophers, can cause a lot of damage to our plants. Learn more about them at the UC Integrated Pest Management site here. Gopher traps are available for use by AVCG gardeners, but must be checked out using the form inside the shed. Learn more here.

Best of the Best -- Larry's Blog

A semi-regular feature by AVCG gardener Larry Selwitz discussing the best varieties of the year. (Larry’s blog contributions have been collected here in one place for convenience).
Larrys Blog --Best of the Best Introduction
Larrys Blog --BROCCOLI
Larrys Blog --BEETS
Larrys Blog --KALE

American Community Gardening Association

AVCG is a member of the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA). They offer events, forums and resources. Visit their website by clicking here.