Sacramento Speakers Series supports scholarships for future farmers and more
Matchbook Wine Co. uses sheep as natural weed-eaters between its vines. Hear Lane Giguiere, owner of the Yolo winery, and other woman in agriculture talk about their work. Courtesy Matchbook Wine Co.
What local gardener hasn’t daydreamed about farming? But what does it take to be a sustainable farmer in the Farm-to-Fork Capital?
How do you grow wine with less waste? What about raising happy cows in healthy pastures? Where can you study to be a sustainable farmer and get some hands-on practice?
Find out at this special event – “Women in Agriculture: Celebrating Sustainable Production.” Set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, this scholarship fundraiser will be held at the Event Center by Bella Bru at the Milagro Centre, 6241 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael.
Tickets are $50 in advance via Eventbrite, $60 at the door. Admission includes one drink coupon and appetizers.
Proceeds from the event will go toward scholarships and grants for women interested in careers in agriculture or the food and beverage industry. The evening is hosted by the Sacramento Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier.
As part of the Les Dames’ Sacramento Speakers Series, an expert panel will share “insights on the people, principles, programs and practices that contribute to a sustainable food system.”
The panel includes: Lane Giguiere, owner of Matchbook Wine Co. in Yolo County; Mary Kimball, CEO of Center for Land-Based Learning; and Karen Stone, manager of Yolo Land and Cattle Co. Food expert, author and nutritionist Amy Myrdal Miller will serve as moderator.
This panel also has lessons that can apply to backyard farmers. Sustainable agriculture protects the environment while working with the land. These methods promote natural resources and help wildlife, too.
It’s sure to be a thoughtful and interesting evening, dedicated to the future of local agriculture. Tickets are available at Eventbrite (https://bit.ly/3O5i9vh).
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.