The Year-Round Garden

A Crop-by-Crop, Month-by-Month Guide to Mastering Southern California Growing Seasons.

Traditional gardening advice doesn’t always work in Southern California. While much of the country plants in spring and harvests in summer, gardeners in USDA Zones 9 and 10 can grow food year-round. The key is knowing what to plant and when.

In The Year-Round Garden, I share more than a decade of gardening experience. Over all these years, I have helped home gardeners, farmers, and market growers succeed in Southern California. Now, I can gift that knowledge to you in one practical, easy-to-use book. This beautiful hardback will become your favorite garden reference book that takes you from being a “sometimes lucky” gardener to a thriving grower who understands the uniqueness of our climate. This book includes everything I wish I had known when I started growing here more than a decade ago, and now I’ve put it all together to save you time, energy, and money.

Book Overview:

• In-depth climate-specific advice for thriving soil and gardens
• A-Z Crop Directory
• Month-by-month garden calendar

All in a fun and easy-to-read format with stunning photos of our farms, gardens, produce and flowers.

Pre-orders open 10/26/26, with expected delivery the first week in January 2027. This makes a great Christmas gift, and we will ship you an order confirmation, a book flyer, and a Year Round Garden bookmark that you can share with those who you intend to gift the book too. 

Take a look inside!

 

Learn to Garden in Every Season

This book takes the guesswork out of gardening. It features a crop-by-crop plant directory, a month-by-month growing calendar, and expert advice for Southern California’s unique climate.

Discover how to:

• Choose the right crops for each season.
• Build healthy soil and water wisely.
• Manage common garden pests.
• Save seeds from your favorite plants.
• Adapt to local weather and microclimates.

You’ll also learn why planting broccoli in late summer can lead to a Thanksgiving harvest. Plus, discover how coastal marine layers and Santa Ana winds affect your garden.

A Complete Guide to Southern California Gardening

Southern California has many microclimates. As a result, a zone map alone cannot tell you everything about your garden. This book helps you understand your local conditions and make better planting decisions.

Inside, you’ll find an A-to-Z plant directory, twelve months of seasonal gardening advice, and favorite open-pollinated varieties. Beautiful photography by Christine Benton brings the garden to life.

Whether you’re starting your first vegetable garden or building on years of experience, The Year-Round Garden will help you grow with confidence. Most importantly, you’ll learn to work with your climate and enjoy fresh, homegrown food throughout the year.

Authors and contributors:

Author: Brijette Peña

Brijette Peña is the founder and owner of San Diego Seed Company. Since 2010, the company has provided organic, regionally adapted heirloom seeds to Southern California gardeners, farmers, and market growers.

Brijette and her husband also established a certified organic farm. There, they focus on small-batch seed production and grower education. She has also completed the Seed Business certificate program at UC Davis.

Editor & Photographer: Christine Benton

Christine Benton is a writer, editor, and photographer. She created the photographs featured in this book.

She began her career as a journalist in Washington, D.C., and New York. Her gardening blog, chrissiesgarden.com, has won two San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism awards. Today, she tends a small farm in North County San Diego.

Tools and Merchandise Return Policy

We want you to be happy with your purchase. Please review our return policy before sending an item back.

• Return window: Tools and merchandise may be returned within 30 days of the original order date.
• Item condition: Items must be unused and in their original packaging.
• Return shipping: Customers are responsible for return shipping costs.
• Return information: Please include your order number and contact details with your return.

Exchanges

Customers are responsible for shipping the item back to us. However, we will ship the replacement item to you free of charge. If the requested item is out of stock, we will issue a refund instead.

Refunds

Once we receive and inspect your return, we will notify you of its status. Approved refunds will be credited to your original payment method within 14 calendar days.