At a festival or in a backyard, citrus is a great crop
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| Satsuma mandarins herald the local citrus harvest. Learn about growing citrus from the El Dorado County master gardeners on Nov. 20. (Photo: Kathy Morrison) |
The Mountain Mandarin Festival is coming, Nov. 19-21, which means the orange fruit of the moment is no longer pumpkins.
The Satsuma mandarins ripening now will be followed shortly by clementines, navel oranges, blood oranges, Cara Cara oranges, tangelos, and all the many other citrus fruits that will brighten the days until spring.
If you've ever wanted to grow your own citrus -- or already do but are perplexed by your plant's habits -- the El Dorado County master gardeners are here to help. They will offer a free online class, "Growing Citrus," 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday Nov. 20.
The class is appropriate for novice and experienced citrus gardeners. Master gardener Phyllis Lee will address citrus pests, handling cold weather, harvesting and other tips for success, applicable to other areas as well as El Dorado County.
Reserve a spot by signing up here .
The Mountain Mandarin Festival, which celebrates the crop and the growers of Placer County, will return to much of its usual level of activity this year, after dialing down last year in the face of coronavirus concerns. Hours are this year 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday Nov. 20, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21.
Mandarin-based food of all kinds will be sold, in addition to bags and bags of fresh mandarins. (Some growers do sell online, by the way, if you are reluctant to buy in person.)
The festival also includes live music all three days, a Miss Mandarin pageant and, on Sunday, a Run for the Mandarins. Contests will not include cooking, but will include mandarin packing (Friday), mandarin juicing (Saturday) and mandarin peel-and-eat (Sunday).
The festival will be at the Gold Country Fairgrounds, 209 Fairgate Road in Auburn. Tickets are $10 general admission, $6 for seniors, and free for children under 12. Friday's admission is a special price of $5. A limited number of all-weekend passes are available for $19. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time online here ; an online fee is additional.
To keep everyone safe healthy, Placer County recommends that all festival attendees wear a mask.
The festival website, with many more details, is mandarinfestival.com .
-- Kathy Morrison
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Garden Checklist for week of May 5
Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:
* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.
* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.
* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
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