Workshop held during Placer open garden; El Dorado and Yolo master gardeners also offer classes
Bell beans are one type of legume that can be used as a cover crop, planted in fall. Kathy Morrison
Free garden education opportunities are all around, especially those offered by the region's UC master gardener groups.
This Saturday, Oct. 12, at the height of fall planting and planning, four free workshops offer information for gardeners of all levels.
"Cover Crops" is a one-hour workshop presented by the Placer County master gardeners, coinciding with their monthly Open Garden at the Loomis Demonstration Garden, on the grounds of the Loomis Library and Learning Center, 6050 Library Drive.
The workshop will introduce gardeners to the world of cover cropping – what a cover crop is and how to use it in the garden. "Learn the general concepts behind cover crops but also specific types to use to nurture our area soils," they say. The workshop begins at 10:30 a.m.
The Open Garden event, meanwhile, runs from 10 a.m. to noon; the Placer master gardeners will be working in their garden and available to answer visitors' questions.
Details on all the Placer County master gardener events can be found here.
The Yolo County master gardeners on Saturday present "Gardening for Year-Round Meals," from 11 a.m. to noon at Grace Garden. It is located behind the United Methodist Church, 1620 Anderson Road, Davis, near the back of the parking lot. The topic for this month's workshop is pest management in the garden. Master gardener Janey Santos will discuss how to use integrated pest management techniques to handle pest pressure before it actually becomes a problem.
Yolo County master gardener activities can be found at https://yolomg.ucanr.edu/
In Placerville, the El Dorado County master gardeners also will have their Sherwood Demonstration Garden open to visitors Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Visitors are free to wander through the 16 planting areas and ask questions of the master gardeners. (The garden also is open Friday, Oct. 11, at the same times.)
During their Saturday Open Garden, a free workshop on "Living Among the Oaks" will be presented, from 9 a.m. to noon. Native oaks are "vital to our nature environment," but can be felled by construction, irrigated lawns and cultivation, the El Dorado master gardeners note.
The workshop will look at "various methods to maintain and protect these wonderful trees and learn how to identify the various species," they say. "After the presentation we will take a brief walk around the campus to check out the various oak species."
Registration for the oaks workshop is requested but not required. Register here.
Finally, a workshop on "Compost and Vermiculture" will be presented in Cool, at the Pilot Hill Grange, 1701 State Highway 193. Running from 9 a.m. to noon, it will be taught by El Dorado County master gardener Patrick Daubert.
Attendees can learn how compost provides valuable nutrients for soil, as well as retains moisture, suppresses weeds, prevents soil erosion, and loosens compacted soils for better drainage and water retention. Daubert also will explain how worms can rapidly break down kitchen waste to make worm compost, one of the best organic fertilizers possible. Also covered will be the types of worms needed, how to harvest the compost and how to set up a worm bin.
Registration for the compost and vermiculture workshop is here. Again, it is requested but not required.
For more information on El Dorado County master gardener events, go to https://mgeldorado.ucanr.edu/
-----------------
A quick note to Sacramento County residents: Today at 5 p.m. is the application deadline for the 2025 Sacramento County master gardener class. Information and the application form can be found here. My earlier post on the application process is here.
Comments
0 comments have been posted.Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Food in My Back Yard Series
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
Local News
Thanks to Our Sponsor!
Sites We Like
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.
Powered by California Local
