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Sacramento community gardens still open

Gardens see continued demand for space, but COVID restrictions, too

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED DEC 9, 2020

This artichoke plant is a star at the Fremont Community Garden on Q Street in midtown. It is one of 17 community gardens operated by the City of Sacramento. (Photo by Debbie Arrington)

With renewed interest in food gardening, plots in Sacramento-area community gardens continue to be in high demand.

But if you’re looking for a plot, you’ll need to wait until next year.

Due to pandemic-related restrictions in Sacramento County, the City of Sacramento put a hold on assigning new plots to gardeners until “stay-at-home” orders are lifted. The greater Sacramento region will be under new shelter-in-place rules, effective at 11:59 p.m. Thursday night.

Fortunately, Sacramento’s 17 city-run community gardens will still be open to member gardeners. They must wear masks while tending their plots and should bring disinfectant wipes to clean any shared tools.

“We’re seeing continued demand (for plots),” said Bill Maynard, Sacramento’s community garden coordinator. “Lots of retired folks in particular want plots.”

Sacramento continues to expand its community garden network. “We just opened one in Northwest Natomas at Blackbird Park,” Maynard said. “We sold out of all 54 plots in two weeks. We have 36 people on the waiting list.

“Another garden is coming near the (Interstate) 5 and (Highway) 99 split,” Maynard added. “We’re shooting for 24 (gardens) by 2024.”

With such high demand, Sacramento has gotten creative with garden placement. For example, the Sojourner Truth Garden – located adjacent to the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library and Sacramento’s School of Engineering and Sciences – was planted entirely on top of the parking lot.

“We built the garden beds on asphalt,” Maynard explained. “The beds have two feet of soil. We have room for 36 gardeners.”

Due to its location, the Sojourner Truth garden is also popular with the high school’s teachers. Four plots are dedicated to school and class use.

For a full list of Sacramento’s city-run community gardens: https://bit.ly/3gHKDtf

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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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