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Watch master gardeners transform a landscape


YouTube channel page for master gardeners

This is an iPad screenshot of the Sacramento County master gardeners YouTube channel. A new video on landscape redesign debuts Friday.


New YouTube video available for viewing Friday; check out others, too

Nothing beats watching a live demonstration of gardening techniques, but until we can all do that safely, there is YouTube.

The UCCE Sacramento County master gardeners are building a very helpful library of YouTube videos on local gardening tips and techniques. And I stress local, because we're not gardening in Michigan or the UK, are we?

The newest video debuts Friday, March 19, just in time for spring to arrive and gardening time to ramp up.

"Landscape Redesign: An Environmentally Friendly Approach" shows a real-life yard redesign, replacing a lawn with an interesting diversity of plants. The video shows to how conserve irrigation water as well as capture rainwater to recharge groundwater and minimize storm runoff.

As the master gardeners note, "Creating a garden with benefits now and for years to come is well worth the investment."

While you're waiting for this video to drop, check out the other videos on the Sacramento master gardeners' YouTube channel . If you subscribe to the channel, you'll get notifications of any new ones.

Many of the videos already there were filmed for last summer's virtual Harvest Day. Some that are relevant for early spring gardening include:

Make Your Garden Wildlife Friendly

Composting: Getting Started

Composting: ABCs of Building a Successful Compost Pile

Composting: Hot vs. Cold

Growing Herbs in Containers

On the Sacramento County YouTube home page is also a link to the statewide UCCE master gardener YouTube channel. The latest video there is How to Design a Home Vegetable Garden.

Of course the advantage to videos is viewing them at any hour, and as many times as desired. I really need to watch that Sharpening Hand Pruners video again!

To see what else the Sacramento County master gardeners have to offer, including many planting and growing guides, visit their website, http://sacmg.ucanr.edu/ .

-- Kathy Morrison



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Find our summer recipes here!

Garden checklist for week of July 12

Get out early in the morning to take care of garden chores. Temperatures are expected to stay below 80 degrees before 10 a.m.

* Remember to water early and deep; your garden depends on you.

* 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.

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* Water before fertilizing vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.

* Feed vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.

* 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.

* If your melons and squash aren’t setting fruit, give the bees a hand. With a small, soft paintbrush, gather some pollen from male flowers, then brush it inside the female flowers, which have a tiny swelling at the base of their petals. (That's the embryo melon or squash.) Within days, that little swelling should start growing.

* 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.

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Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event.  sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

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Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

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Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series

Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening

WINTER

Is edible gardening possible indoors?

Hints for choosing tomato seeds

Starting in seed starting

Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

How to squeeze more food into less space

Potatoes from the garden

Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Win the weed war by tackling them in winter

Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables

Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

Ways to win the fight against weeds

FALL

Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden

Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it

Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come

Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying

Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?

Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden

Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden

Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers

Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air 

Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets

Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty

Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?

Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest 

SUMMER

Sept. 16: Time to shut it down? 

Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning

Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?

Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you

Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water

Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers

July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?

July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty

July 15: Does this plant need water?

July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions

July 1: How to grow summer salad greens

June 24:  Weird stuff that's perfectly normal

SPRING

June 17: Help pollinators help your garden

June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests

June 3: Make your own compost

May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?

May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days

May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

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