Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Find growing advice at Sacramento's Farm-to-Fork Festival




Getting up close and personal with local food, literally or fancifully,  is the whole idea of the Farm to Fork Festival,  which began in 2013. It's now a two-day event. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)



Master gardeners will be part of huge community event devoted to locally grown food

Growing food -- as well as eating it -- is a big part of the sixth annual Farm-to-Fork Festival, Sacramento's second largest public event behind only the State Fair.

Now in a two-day format, the festival opens from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, on Capitol Mall between Third and Fifth streets in downtown Sacramento. On Saturday, the free event expands to Eighth Street and will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Capitol Mall will be filled with demonstrations, booths and activities.
Sacramento County master gardeners will staff an information booth to answer questions about edible gardening as well as other topics. The master gardeners will also offer for sale their 2019 calendar and gardening guide dedicated to food gardening, "Saving the Harvest."

Besides lots of information on how to grow food including in containers and small spaces, the new calendar and guide ($10) includes detailed instructions and tips from the Sacramento County master food preservers on home canning, freezing and other ways to make the most out of a backyard harvest -- or farmers market finds, too.

Expect to see plenty of vendors at the festival.
Speaking of which, several vendors will offer produce and other Central Valley products for sale at the Farm-to-Fork Festival as well as always-popular free samples.

Food, beer, wine and cider will be sold, too; about 100 regional wines will be served. Four stages will be devoted to cooking demonstrations.

About 145 vendors will be on hand Saturday; 75 are scheduled for Friday's opening. Last year's festival attracted about 60,000 patrons, according to Visit Sacramento, its organizer.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Local News

Ad for California Local

Thanks to our sponsor!

Summer Strong ad for BeWaterSmart.info

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.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!