Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Get ready to start your summer vegetable garden

Placer County master gardeners host Open Garden, veggie workshop at Loomis Library

Dream of growing your own bell peppers -- or other summer veggies? The Placer master gardeners have a free workshop for that, Saturday, March 8, at 10:30 a.m. in Loomis.

Dream of growing your own bell peppers -- or other summer veggies? The Placer master gardeners have a free workshop for that, Saturday, March 8, at 10:30 a.m. in Loomis. Kathy Morrison

Sacramento County master gardeners have their Open Garden days; Placer County master gardeners have theirs, too – thanks to their new demonstration garden at Loomis Library.

Saturday morning, March 8, the Placer County master gardeners will be out in force for their monthly Open Garden Day at the Loomis Demonstration Garden. From 10 a.m. to noon, these local experts will be outdoors tending the garden’s flowers, vegetables and native plants while answering questions from the public.

Got a pest or other issue? Bring photos or samples (in a zipped plastic bag). These folks have answers. Admission and parking are free; just drop on by.

Also on Saturday morning, the master gardeners will host a free one-hour workshop, “Starting Your Summer Vegetable Garden.” No registration is required.

Yes, it’s still winter but time to think about summer, says the master gardeners.

“Nothing says ‘Summer’ like growing a vegetable garden,” they note. “This workshop will cover the basics of getting your garden off to a good start. Some of the topics that will be included are planning and layout, soil, what to plant, tips for growing from seed and more. This is a great workshop for both beginning gardeners and those who are experienced.”

That workshop will be held inside the library, located at 6050 Library Drive, Loomis.

The demonstration garden -- which marks its first anniversary this month -- also is open for viewing during regular library hours: Tuesdays 1 to 5 p.m. and Wednesdays through Saturdays 10 a.m.  to 5 p.m.

Details and directions: https://pcmg.ucanr.edu/.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Local News

Ad for California Local

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Cleveland sage ad for Be Water Smart

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.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!