Placer master gardeners present Fall Open House in sync with community event
Loomis, long known as a fruit-packing center, celebrates that tradition this Saturday with the Fruit Shed Fest. This mural in town depicts one of the many fruit crate labels used back in the day. Kathy Morrison
Loomis, a town with a rich agriculture tradition, will pull out all the stops Saturday, Oct. 5, to celebrate the harvest and the history in Placer County.
The Fruit Shed Fest takes over from the former Eggplant Festival as Loomis' big community event. Music, contests, food, vendors and more will be part of the fest.
Here's how the Loomis Chamber of Commerce explains the change:
"Formally known as the Loomis Eggplant festival, this event has always been about celebrating our community’s agricultural roots and promote a community focused on health and wellness, and the Fruit Shed Fest allows us to broaden that celebration.
"This rebranding not only honors our Town’s history but also embraces the future, welcoming a more inclusive and diverse representation of our local produce, our beloved fruit sheds, and downtown district. It will allow for a unique opportunity to revitalize interest and attract a larger, regional audience."
Built in 1926, the Historic High-Hand Fruit Shed is at the center of town, now the site of shops selling jewelry, olive oil, flowers and garden decor, artwork and the like. In the High-Hand complex there also are a brewery, a cafe and a nursery.
The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., centered at Loomis' historic Train Depot, 5775 Horseshoe Bar Road. In between those hours, the festival will include a chalk art contest, an apple pie baking contest, music by bands including the Sierra College Jazz Band, a kids activity zone and plenty of food trucks and vendors. Admission and parking are free.
Just up the street, on the Loomis Library grounds, the Placer County master gardeners will hold their Fall Open House in their Demonstration Garden from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free.
The Fall Open House will feature two live presentations by master gardeners: at 10:30 a.m., a look at container gardening with California native plants; and at 11:30 a.m., a discussion of California native seed saving and sowing.
There will be activities for children, plus the Miridae Mobile Nursery will be on site for sales of California native plants. The California Native Plant Society's local chapter will have a booth, as will Delta Blue Grass, with information on no-mow native grasses. (The master gardeners have a planting of no-mow grasses in their garden.)
The Loomis Library is at 6050 Library Drive, just off Horseshoe Bar Road in Loomis. For information on the Fall Open House or other Placer master gardener events, go to https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmgplacer/?calitem=597883&g=131834
The Fruit Shed Fest Facebook page is here.
And by the way, eggplant fans, eggplant IS a fruit, so it will still be in evidence, just sharing the spotlight now.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 11
Make the most of the lower temperatures early in the week. We’ll be back in the 80s by Thursday.
* 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.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)
* Plant dahlia tubers.
* 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.
* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. 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.
* Remember to weed! Pull those nasties before they set seed.
* Water early in the day and keep seedlings evenly moist.
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