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Golden Empire Council
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Master gardeners' virtual celebration of gardening information
Happy July! It's fully summer now, which means soon it'll be time for the UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County annual Harvest Day celebration. It's scheduled for Aug. 7 (but psst! many of the offerings will be available ahead of time).
In pre-pandemic years, this event was an all-day celebration of gardening information, held at the master gardeners' Fair Oaks Horticulture Center.
Last year with everyone in lockdown, the celebration switched to a virtual event, with many short videos on gardening topics. There were keynote speakers, too, but their presentations were filmed and available ahead of time. All those videos are still on YouTube here, for anyone who missed them or wants to re-watch.
That brings us to 2021. Because Harvest Day requires so much planning, so far in advance -- beginning in winter, before vaccinations were common -- the master gardeners' Harvest Day committee voted then to have it again be a virtual event. So the walks and talks and tastings in the lovely FOHC will have to wait another year, but the new videos in the works will about double the MGs' YouTube library.
There will be a lot more coming out on Harvest Day in the weeks ahead, but here's a general look:
The keynote speakers are (drum roll, please):
* Fred Hoffman on “Growing Food Year-Round: Cool Season Vegetables.” Hoffman of course is the host of the podcast “Garden Basics with Farmer Fred” and the "Green Acres Garden Podcast." He's also a lifetime master gardener. If you've missed his radio gardening shows, I hope you know to tune into his podcasts here and here .
* Greg Gayton from Green Acres Nursery on “Successful Gardening in Raised Beds.” Gayton is a longtime supporter of Harvest Day with a wealth of gardening knowledge.
* UCCE Master Gardener Bill Krycia on “Jazzed about Citrus.” If anyone can explain the mystery that is citrus growing, it's Krycia, who is highly entertaining.
The keynote speakers' recorded talks will be available for viewing beginning mid-July on theYouTube channel at sacmg.ucanr.edu .
Then on Harvest Day, they each will be available for a live-online Q&A session: Fred Hoffman at 8:30 a.m., Greg Gayton at 9:10 a.m. and Bill Krycia at 9:50 a.m. Participants must register for this part of the event. Register at sacmg.ucanr.edu to get the participation link.
Also planned on Aug. 7 are three 40-minute webinars presented by the Sacramento County master gardeners:
* “Unusual Edibles in the Central Valley” with Quentyn Young (of Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery) at 10:30 a.m. Young, who is part of the FOHC orchard team, has enthusiasm and expertise to spare on exotic fruits and veggies.
* “Tips for Houseplant Selection and Care” with Lori Ann Asmus at 11:20 a.m. Houseplants are a big deal, still, but can be confusing. Asmus will shed light on their particular care.
* “Growing Bearded Irises in the Home Garden” with Ruth Ostroff at 12:10 p.m. Ostroff is the iris expert among the master gardeners, with hundreds of varieties at her own garden.
These webinars also will require registration at sacmg.ucanr.edu to get the participation link.
This will be a full day of gardening fun, even if it is online. And next year, back to the FOHC -- we hope!
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Garden Checklist for week of May 19
Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s 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.
* 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.
* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy 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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