Let nature give you a hand; recycle fallen leaves -- and dig bigger holes
Recipe: Grilled chicken breasts with watermelon salsa
Make the most of this cool end of summer; start your fall garden
They only look scary (and they eat lots of bugs)
It's a Sisyphean battle, but don't surrender
Red Flag Warning means be cautious; what Sacramento-area gardeners need to know
Community Garden hosts free composting workshop
Placer County master gardeners offer expertise at several locations during the month
Recipe: Roasting the tomatoes adds extra flavor
August ends on a warm note, but cooler days coming soon
Triple-digit temperatures can keep tomatoes from turning full red, says Farmer Fred
Native plants, Arboretum All-Stars and more will be offered
El Dorado County master gardeners offer free workshop
Exotic Plants offers carnivorous plant terrarium workshop
Heat spikes dried out flowers or caused plants to abort fruit
Recipe: Try this classic with cherries, peaches or other favorites
Some rain possible from unusual storm system, but not a deluge
How to renew vigor of bearded iris, a perfect perennial for Sacramento
Still plenty of time for nonprofits and schools to apply
Tri-County Home & Garden Show offers 15 seminars
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
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Dig In: Garden Checklist
For week of Sept. 24:
This week our weather will be just right for fall gardening. What are you waiting for?
* Now is the time to plant for fall. The warm soil will get these veggies off to a fast start.
* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant. Tomatoes may ripen faster off the vine and sitting on the kitchen counter.
* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.
* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.
* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.
* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.
* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.
* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.
* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.
* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials. That includes bearded iris; if they haven’t bloomed in three years, it’s time to dig them up and divide their rhizomes.
* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.
* Divide and transplant peonies that have become overcrowded. Replant with “eyes” about an inch below the soil surface.
* Late September is ideal for sowing a new lawn or re-seeding bare spots.