Sacramento, California

Learn to grow in the ground you already have.

Good Dirt Gardening School teaches hands-on courses in raised beds, soil health, fruit trees, drip irrigation and compost — read against the Sacramento growing season rather than the calendar year.

See the courses Reserve a place

A gardener kneeling at a raised bed of leafy greens, hands in the soil — Hands-on courses, taught in working garden beds Sacramento, California

Courses

Six courses, packed by season.

Every course is a packet: what it covers, and the window in the Sacramento year when that work actually gets done. Pick one and we will email you the next dates.

VegetablesNo. 01 Raised-Bed Vegetables Build the frame, mix the soil, and keep a bed producing from first sowing to last harvest. Sow byEarly spring SoilNo. 02 Soil Health Workshop Learn to read your soil and build it up with compost and mulch, so everything above it grows better. Sow byLate winter TreesNo. 03 Fruit Tree Pruning Where to cut, where to leave well alone, and how to shape a tree that carries fruit you can reach. Sow byDormant season WaterNo. 04 Drip Irrigation Fundamentals Plan the lines, place the emitters, and water at the root instead of on the leaf. Sow byLate spring CompostNo. 05 Backyard Composting Browns, greens, air and time — a working pile in your own yard, without the smell. Sow byAny month PlanningNo. 06 Seasonal Planting Plans Map a full year of sowing and harvest onto the beds you actually have. Sow byLate summer

Six packets · one season at a time Ask us which packet is yours

Sowing notes

How we teach.

Three habits run through every course, whether you are filling your first raised bed or pruning a tree you have had for years.

01Start below the surface

Soil first. Each course begins with what is already in your ground — texture, drainage, organic matter — because that is what decides how everything above it grows.