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Jump into spring at this free event

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 6, 2020

Learn how to grow 'vibrant, tasty, and healthy plants' at Soil Born Farms on Saturday. The workshops are free. (Photos:

Kathy Morrison)

Soil Born hosts 'Spring Gardening Clinic'

We may have our first rain in weeks on Saturday, but that won’t dampen the enthusiasm at Soil Born Farm’s American River Ranch.

From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 7, Soil Born Farms hosts its free “Spring Gardening Clinic” with classes, walks, talks and tours.

“Learn how to grow vibrant, tasty, and healthy plants from Soil Born Farm’s knowledgeable staff and community educators,” say the organizers. “This is a rain-or-shine event. Registration will occur at the event ONLY and be on a first-come, first-served basis.”

The class schedule includes:

9:30 a.m.: “Spring Gardening for Beginners” with Shawn Harrison, Soil Born Farms

9:30 a.m.: “Building Soil Fertility” with Mark Van Horn, UC Davis Student Farm director emeritus

10:45 a.m.: “Managing Pests Naturally” with Mary Louise Flint, Ph.D.

11 a.m.: “Growing Succulents” with Pamela Marentis, The Succulent Marketplace

Noon: “Introduction to Urban Backyard Beekeeping” with Rachel Morrison, The Beecharmers

12:15 p.m.: “Gardening with Kids” with Lacey Carlson, Soil Born Farms

Soil Born will have plenty of experts on growing great food, including
preparing the soil and managing pests naturally.

The free tours include:

10:30 a.m.: Farm Tour with Tyler Stowers, Soil Born Farms

11:30 a.m.: Pollinators and Native Plants Walk and Talk with naturalist Cliff Hawley

12:15 p.m.: Explore Volunteer Opportunities Walk and Talk with Adriana Jones, Soil Born Farms

In addition, at Soil Born’s farmstand, fruit trees will be offered for sale including apple, apricot, peach, pluot, plum, nectarine, pear, fig, persimmon and pomegranate. Prices range from $20 to $45. Learn how to care for those trees with free demonstrations at 11:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.

Also on tap Saturday at Soil Born’s American River Ranch are two ticketed events: a family nature walk at 9 a.m. ($10) and a beekeeping class at 10:30 a.m. ($25). Register in advance at www.soilborn.org .

Soil Born’s American River Ranch is located at 2140 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova.

Details: www.soilborn.org .

Reminder: Also Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. is the 8th annual Green Acres' Dig Into Spring Ideas Fair, held only at the Folsom store. See our earlier post on that event here.

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Keywords:

Sacramento events pests farm tour fruit trees soil succulents gardening workshops family events bees Soil Born Farms pollinators

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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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