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Keep your cool: Tips on avoiding heat-related illness


No doubt about it: Summer is here. Protect your health in the garden. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Gardeners are at risk during triple-digit days



Sacramento’s real summer has finally arrived. Triple-digit temperatures will be the norm this week – just in time for the wrap-up of the State Fair.

Expect to see more days in the 100s in August. It’s Sacramento; we should be used to such summer extremes.

But even longtime residents may ignore the dangers of heat exposure. Too much heat can make you sick; it can even kill you.

According to the National Weather Service, more than 200 Americans die each year from heat-related illnesses.

Gardeners are particularly vulnerable. We want to be outside. We have work to do!

Don’t be a heat victim. Follow these tips from the Sacramento County master gardeners:

1. Acclimate yourself. Gradually get into a summer rhythm; a little time in the sun or outdoors, then a break in the shade or inside. Over days or weeks, you can increase your sun and heat exposure (and sweat less).

2. Make use of cool time. Do your most strenuous tasks during the coolest parts of the day (or night). Get chores done in the early morning or evening. (That’s also the best time to water.)

3. Drink plenty of fluids. That means water or electrolyte-packed sports drinks, not coffee and sodas. Plan on at least one quart of water per hour of outdoor activity. Avoid caffeinated beverages; they make you thirstier.

4. Wear sun protection, such as a brimmed hat and light-colored, lightweight, loose-fitting clothing, preferably cotton. Sunscreen is a good idea, too.

5. Find some shade and use it. Frequent breaks out of the sun are important to regulate your body’s temperature. If no shade is readily available, make some with a portable umbrella or shade structure.

6. Know the symptoms of heat-related illness, such as light-headedness, fatigue, dizziness, fainting, cramping and nausea. If you’re feeling any of those symptoms, get out of the sun. Take a break in the shade.

7. If you suspect heat stroke, call 911. When suffering heat stroke, you stop sweating and your body can’t regulate its temperature. It’s serious and needs immediate medical attention.

8. Remember: Tomorrow is another day. It may be cooler. Do that chore in the morning.

Need help for heat-stressed plants? Check out tips for tomatoes
here or plants in general (especially container plants) here.

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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 9

Be careful walking or working in wet soil; it compacts easily.

* Keep the irrigation turned off; the ground is plenty wet with more rain on the way.

* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and cauliflower – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

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