Three experts cover key gardening topics
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| Fred Hoffman talks about year-round gardening in a new Harvest Day 2021 video. (Screenshots from YouTube) |
Harvest Day 2021 already is underway! The Sacramento County UCCE master gardeners' annual celebration is virtual again this year, on Aug. 7, but the three keynote speeches are already available for viewing on the master gardeners' YouTube channel .
-- "Farmer Fred" Hoffman, podcast host and lifetime master gardener, talks about "Gardening Year Round," focusing especially on growing cool-season vegetables that can be started from seed soon. Check out the nifty "damp chopstick" method of planting tiny carrot or radish seeds.
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Greg Gayton offers recommendations for building raised beds.
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-- Master gardener Bill Krycia is "Jazzed About Citrus" and wants everyone to be. He explains rootstock suckers, site selection and winterizing, among other citrus-specific issues.
If you watch these videos now, you'll be all prepared for the live Q&A sessions to be aired on Harvest Day itself, Aug. 7. Here's the schedule:
8:30 - 9 a.m. - Fred Hoffman
9:10 - 9:40 a.m. - Greg Gayton
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Bill Krycia explains some of the mysteries of citrus growing.
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Register for the live events and webinars at the Harvest Day page of the Sacramento County master gardeners' website. The page also has links to last year's videos.
The three webinars planned for this year are:
-- 10:30 - 11:10 a.m., "Unusual Edibles in the Central Valley," Quentyn Young, Master Gardener and Manager, Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery.
-- 11:20 a.m.- noon, "Tips for Houseplant Selection and Care," Lori Ann Asmus, Master Gardener and Owner, The Emerald City Interior Landscaping.
-- 12-10 - 12:50 p.m., "Growing Bearded Irises in the Home Garden," Ruth Ostroff, Master Gardener, Sacramento Iris Society.
-- Kathy Morrison
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Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
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