Classes, tours, shopping -- plus programs for kids, too
Soil Born's farmstand is open for shopping each Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., but a variety of other activities are held at the farm, too. Learn about culinary and medicinal herbs during a class this Saturday, March 22. Kathy Morrison
Can a 55-acre organic farm and healthy-gardening site that thrives in the middle of a suburban city be considered "under the radar"?
Soil Born Farms' American River Ranch in Rancho Cordova has been one of the region's garden treasures for more than 20 years. It sells food and plants grown on site, as well as offering programs for all ages, plus nature walks and tours.
With spring beginning today -- hurray! -- it's a good time to highlight some of the offerings coming up at Soil Born, starting with this Saturday, March 22. Descriptions are from the Soil Born website:
-- Regenerative Agriculture Farm Tour, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., $13. Leader is Shawn Harrison, Soil Born Farms. "Take a tour of the farm while learning the principles of regenerative agriculture. See how our farmers implement regenerative practices that revitalize the land and restore the historic American River Ranch. Many of these principles can be applied to your home garden. Everyone can play a part in creating a climate-safe California."
-- Growing Medicinal and Culinary Herbs, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $30. Instructor is Daylin Wade of Taproot Botanicals. "Medicinal and culinary herbs in the home garden can add flavor to your meals, home remedies to your medicine cabinet, and beauty, diversity, and beneficial insect habitat to your landscape. This class offers classroom and hands-on instruction for growing an array of medicinal and culinary herbs, and an introduction to harvesting and using what you grow."
In the early evening on Wednesday, March 26, Soil Born offers:
-- What Should I Plant? Starting Your Summer Container Garden, 5:30 to 7 p.m. $15. Shannon Hardwicke is the instructor. "Are you looking for a hands-on learning opportunity? Join a work and learn session to gain valuable skills and knowledge while working with others on the farm. Classes are 90 minutes. Participants are encouraged to bring gloves and wear closed-toed shoes. Learn about the best plants for raised beds, containers and small spaces. Use trellises, companion planting and root vegetables to maximize your space. Walk away with a plan for your space."
Coming up in April:
-- Bird Walk, 8:30 to 10 a.m., Saturday, April 5, with naturalist Cliff Hawley. $15. "Ideal for beginner and intermediate bird watchers."
-- The Just for Kids program for ages 6 to 11 continues 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 5, with "Creek Critters and Creatures." $30.
-- An onoing series of garden activities for kids ages 3 to 5 with an adult chaperone, the Li'l Sprouts in the Garden program, continues Saturday, April 12, at 9 a.m. with a Planting Party. Offerings are twice a month through May. (The session scheduled March 22 is sold out.) Cost is $15 per session.
Finally, starting April 5, Yoga on the Farm is offered every Saturday from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. $15 per session.
Registration for all these events is available online at soilborn.org.
Meanwhile, no registration is needed for the weekly Saturday at the Farm shopping event, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Soil Born features an open-air organic produce farmstand, as well as Milly's Mercantile, Phoebe's Tea and Snack Bar, and the Greenhouse Garden Shop & Fruit Tree Nursery.
Online shopping for produce, prepared foods, baked goods, seedlings and fruit trees is available from 5 p.m. Tuesdays through 9 a.m. on Thursdays, with pickups scheduled on Saturdays between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Soil Born Farms' American River Ranch is at 2140 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova.
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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
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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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