Preserving Fresh Herbs: Drying, Freezing & Infusing for Year-Round Flavor
When your herb garden produces more than you can use fresh, preservation lets you capture that peak flavor for months to come. This guide covers four drying methods, four freezing techniques, and how to make herb-infused oils, vinegars, butters, and salts, with specific tips for handling Santa Cruz County's coastal humidity.
Cool-Season Cut Flowers for Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County's mild winters are perfect for cool-season cut flowers. These varieties bloom when most gardens are dormant.
Growing Low-Chill Peaches and Nectarines in the Santa Cruz Coastal Fog Belt
Growing a peach in the coastal fog belt of Santa Cruz County is the hardest version of this crop in the county, and it pays to understand why before you dig a hole. Two problems stack up here: low winter chill and a fungus that loves your weather. Get ahead of both and you c
What to Do When a Predator Gets In Your Coop
Emergency response steps for predator attacks on backyard chickens, ducks, and geese, including injured bird first aid and defense upgrades in Santa Cruz County.
Can You Grow Blackberries in a Pot?
Grow blackberries in containers with a suitable variety, the right pot and a practical watering plan. Learn which canes to keep when pruning.
Growing Southern Highbush Blueberries in the Coastal Fog Belt
Along the Santa Cruz, Capitola, and Aptos coast, the cool mild air is exactly what blueberries like. The one thing the fog does not give you is acidic soil, so this is a good blueberry climate that asks you to fix the ground first.
Growing Raspberries in Santa Cruz: What Actually Works
Everything you need to grow sweet, productive raspberries in Santa Cruz County's coastal climate, from choosing the right varieties to harvesting your first crop.
Cut Flower Garden Layout and Spacing
A well-planned cut flower garden produces more stems with less effort. Here is how to lay out beds, plan spacing, and design for continuous harvests.
Square Foot Gardening: Maximizing Space for Higher Yields
Learn square foot gardening techniques adapted for Santa Cruz County. Maximize your harvest in small spaces with planting densities, layout ideas, and local growing tips.
California Poppy: Meaning, History, and Uses Beyond the Garden
Beyond garden beauty, California poppies carry deep cultural meaning and gentle medicinal properties. Explore the history, symbolism, traditional uses, and modern applications of our state flower.
Best Carrot Varieties for Santa Cruz County Gardens
Not all carrots are created equal. Discover 12 varieties that thrive in Santa Cruz County's clay soil and varied microclimates, with specific recommendations for your garden.
Do I Really Need to Rotate My Crops in a Small Garden?
Make a useful crop-rotation plan for a small Santa Cruz garden, with plant families, bed records and realistic steps for recurring disease.
Hatchery Chicks or Rescue Hens? A Santa Cruz Guide
Hatchery chicks or rescue hens? A Santa Cruz County comparison of cost, time to eggs, temperament, and where to find each near you.
Growing Sungold Cherry Tomatoes in the Santa Cruz Banana Belt
If you garden in the county's warm sunny pocket, the hill belts above the fog around Soquel, Aptos, and the sunnier side of Santa Cruz, brace yourself: a single Sungold plant here can bury you in fruit. This is the easy button of Santa Cruz tomatoes.
What Predator Is Getting Into My Coop at Night?
Identify which predator is targeting your coop using the evidence they leave behind. A guide for Santa Cruz County backyard flock keepers.
Growing Cauliflower in Santa Cruz County | Coastal California Guide
How to grow cauliflower in Santa Cruz County. Varieties, blanching tips, preventing buttoning, and why our mild winters give you an edge.
Growing Low-Chill Peaches and Nectarines in the Santa Cruz Banana Belt
The Banana Belt is the best place in Santa Cruz County to try a low-chill peach, but better is not the same as easy. The warm thermal slopes above the fog give you the heat a peach craves to ripen sweet fruit, and the drier, sunnier air eases disease pressure compared with the co
Living with Wildlife: Raccoons, Squirrels & Other Garden Raiders
Practical strategies for coexisting with raccoons, squirrels, birds, rats, and other wildlife in your Santa Cruz County garden while protecting your harvest.
Your January Garden Checklist for Santa Cruz County
Your complete January garden checklist for Santa Cruz County. Bare-root planting, dormant pruning, citrus harvest, and frost protection tips for coastal and mountain gardeners.
What Can I Plant in My Garden in January in Santa Cruz?
January is a surprisingly productive month for Santa Cruz gardens. Here is what to plant, sow, and prepare while the rest of the country waits for spring.