Three experts cover key gardening topics
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Fred Hoffman talks about year-round gardening in a new Harvest Day 2021 video. (Screenshots from YouTube) |
Harvest Day 2021 already is underway! The Sacramento County UCCE master gardeners' annual celebration is virtual again this year, on Aug. 7, but the three keynote speeches are already available for viewing on the master gardeners' YouTube channel .
-- "Farmer Fred" Hoffman, podcast host and lifetime master gardener, talks about "Gardening Year Round," focusing especially on growing cool-season vegetables that can be started from seed soon. Check out the nifty "damp chopstick" method of planting tiny carrot or radish seeds.
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Greg Gayton offers recommendations for building raised beds.
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-- Master gardener Bill Krycia is "Jazzed About Citrus" and wants everyone to be. He explains rootstock suckers, site selection and winterizing, among other citrus-specific issues.
If you watch these videos now, you'll be all prepared for the live Q&A sessions to be aired on Harvest Day itself, Aug. 7. Here's the schedule:
8:30 - 9 a.m. - Fred Hoffman
9:10 - 9:40 a.m. - Greg Gayton
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Bill Krycia explains some of the mysteries of citrus growing.
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Register for the live events and webinars at the Harvest Day page of the Sacramento County master gardeners' website. The page also has links to last year's videos.
The three webinars planned for this year are:
-- 10:30 - 11:10 a.m., "Unusual Edibles in the Central Valley," Quentyn Young, Master Gardener and Manager, Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery.
-- 11:20 a.m.- noon, "Tips for Houseplant Selection and Care," Lori Ann Asmus, Master Gardener and Owner, The Emerald City Interior Landscaping.
-- 12-10 - 12:50 p.m., "Growing Bearded Irises in the Home Garden," Ruth Ostroff, Master Gardener, Sacramento Iris Society.
-- Kathy Morrison
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Garden Checklist for week of July 21
Your garden needs you!
* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
* Feed vegetable plants bone meal, rock phosphate or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting. (But wait until daily high temperatures drop out of the 100s.)
* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.
* Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.
* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.
* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.
* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.
* It's not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.