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'Farm to Fork' on wheels at Sacramento County Fair

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAY 22, 2019

The wheelbarrow gardens created by schools and other student groups will be on display during the Sacramento County Fair at Cal Expo. (Photo courtesy Sacramento County Fair)

Wheelbarrow gardens teach about food

You can haul a lot of learning in a wheelbarrow.

See plenty of examples during a memorable exhibit at the Sacramento County Fair, which opens Thursday for its annual five-day run at Cal Expo.

On display will be several wheelbarrows turned into mobile gardens and planted by local students. Called "Farm Garden in a Wheelbarrow," the program provides free wheelbarrows to public, private or charter schools, preschools, home school groups, after-school programs and 4-H clubs. Teachers also get free soil, seeds and teaching materials to create a portable salad garden.

Designed to help teach how food grows, the wheelbarrow gardens can be rolled in and out of classrooms, allowing planting and seed sprouting indoors before being transferred outside. Salad greens, radishes, onions and other spring veggies grow fast, keeping even young kids engaged. Most of the wheelbarrows on display were planted in February.

The fair will host free school tours Thursday and Friday until 2 p.m. each day. Registration is due Wednesday. To sign up: https://sacfair.com/freeschoolprograms.html

As for the fair itself, Sacramento celebrates Memorial Day weekend with a wide range of entertainment, from monster trucks to bull riding to live concerts. This year's theme: "Let's Eat, Have Fun and Celebrate the Red, White and Blue."

Admission is $8; children under 12 years admitted free. Parking is $10. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, May 23-26, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Memorial Day, Monday, May 27.
Cal Expo is located at 1600 Exposition Blvd., Sacramento. Details: www.sacfair.com .

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children's event spring vegetables gardening Sacramento county fair events Cal Expo farm to fork Sacramento County competition

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Garden Checklist for week of April 21

This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.

* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* 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, 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.

* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.

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