December Gardening & Seasonal Eating Guide for Zone 9

Here in Central California Zone 9 we are so fortunate because you can garden and harvest every month of the year! I’m a life-long gardener sharing tips I’ve learned myself as well as generational knowledge passed down to help get you ready to grow!

What To Plant This Month:

It has sure been a chilly and rainy fall season so far! With winter soon approaching most plants in the garden are settling in. Winter crops grow slower and since to many of them are harvested whole toward the end of the season, there's less day to day tending needed. A great way to use this extra time is by making note of what successes and failures you had in the garden this year and reflecting on changes you might consider for next year. I personally keep a physical journal on hand to jot down thoughts and doodles but your notes-app works just fine! Will you grow more tomato next spring? Less Zucchini? Try something new?

In my home garden, the sugar snap peas are reaching the top of their trellis and I'm seeing more and more tiny pea pods emerge as the weeks go by. I'm hoping I planted enough for a few good harvests this winter! Some of my other plants, like broccoli and cauliflower are getting bug eaten holes, so I'll be spraying some neem oil soon. My garlic is sprouting up several inches tall already, which is exciting! My 50 yellow onion are tucked into my new in-ground bed. I just harvested my third round of cilantro! Overall I've planted just about everything I hoped I would this season. Now it's time to sit back and watch it grow. I've only had to water a couple times since fall planting since the rain has been so consistent lately.

Popular Winter Plantings:

• Dormant Fruit trees, bushes and vines!! - Read more here about why the cool season is better for these permanent plantings!

  • Stonefruits such as peach, plum, nectarine, ect

  • Berries such as strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, ect

• Carrots - cold weather carrots tend to be sweeter than those grown in summer!

• Lettuce

• Onions

• Spinach

• Leek

• Garlic

The list is shorter this month since most winter crops should have already been planted by now, the plants above are additions you can still make!

Gardening Tasks:

              There's always plenty to do in the garden! This list is designed to help put focus on tasks that are best completed in a timely manner to set you up for success in the coming growing season.

• Consider adding trees, shrubs or permanent perennial plantings to your landscape. This is the best time to plant them so they wake up in spring ready to go. Read more about this here! Be sure to water consistently if there's no rain!

• Get your gardening journal out or just snap a few pics of the garden! Take note of which plants did well for you this year and what needs changing for next springs plan.

• Consider adding non-living garden elements - you could mulch or rock new garden pathways, dig in the soft wet soil to plot out new planting beds, add bricks or pavers to bed edges, build a firepit or picnic table! Have an eyesore area that needs work? How could you improve your garden space now to make next season even more enjoyable?

What’s In Season?:

What produce you can expect to harvest from your garden or find at the local farmers markets this month. Seasonal eating means focusing on sourcing produce that’s being freshly harvested in your area, rather than imported from tropical areas overseas or that’s been sitting in cold storage for months on end. An easy way to get an understanding of these fresh items is to visit your local farmers market, even just 1-2 times a month and purchase your produce there rather than at the grocery store, this not only provides you and your family with greater nutritional benefit due to the freshness of the items but it also supports local agriculture and small businesses. Check out my Farm Map by Clicking Here!

In December, the starring fruit of the entire season really starts to shine; citrus! Also the fastest growing of the fall planted veggies will begin providing their first rounds of goodness.

• Citrus!! - Lemons, oranges, limes, grapefruits, blood oranges, tangelos, mandarins, kumquats and more!

• Sprouting broccoli

• Snap Peas & Snow Peas

• Leafy greens like spinach, lettuce, arugula, bok choy, kale,

• Edible Pansy & Viola Flowers

• Carrots & Parsnips

Tips for Incorporating Fresh Ingredients in your everyday meals

As gardeners its extra painful to watch food go to waste -Here are some ways we use up the excess and honor the flavors of the season!

• Between my orange tree and my moms lemon tree I feel like winter is a constant cycle of juicing, juicing, juicing!! Extra juice I freeze in 1cup cubes for later use.

  • Lemonade: 1 1/2 C Sugar, 3/4-1 C juice to 1/2 gallon water

  • I also use citrus juice in meat marinates, hot or cold teas or just squeezing a little lemon juice over a savory meal - yum!

  • Citrus possets are so so delicious, fun and easy to make! a simple cream curd with sugar and citrus juice. Fantastic for sharing!

• Snap peas are great for fresh salads or a quick pan-fry! Pair with a sweet/spicy vinaigrette.

• Winter Salads! Top fall salads with orange, mandarin or blood orange slices, fresh cheeses and honey drizzles!

• Use Edible flowers to garnish salads, drinks or freeze into ice cubes for creative hidden garnish!

  • Most pansy and viola are edible flowers! They make super cute drink toppers and add color to fall and winter salads!

  • You can even bake the petals onto holiday cookies!! They look so cute! Easy to find recipes on Pinterest and google.

• Lean in to seasonal soups and stews of all kinds.

• Every weekend now I take extra time cooking a slow meaty stew, a big pot will make lots of leftovers for work lunches.

• Bok Choy is fantastic for stir fry's

• Use Cilantro for chimichurri to serve over steaks or pan fried meatballs

• Use Kale in soups, salads and green smoothies.

• Use carrots in soups and fresh snacking

What are you working on or cooking up this month?! Comment below!