Surprises and delights at the Herb Garden during Harvest Day
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Clouds earlier in the week softened this view of the Herb Garden's south side. The round patio where mini talks will be held Saturday is in the background. The empty planter to the left will be the site of the new Scented Geranium area, which will debut on Harvest Day. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)
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Gardening engages all the senses, but certainly smell takes the lead when it comes to growing and enjoying herbs.
Rub an herb's leaf and then sniff: What does it entice you to do? Put it in stew, or make a tea with it, or maybe dry it and fill a sachet with it?
Since I joined the Herb Team at the Sacramento County master gardeners' Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, I've learned that herbs are much more subtle and varied than the Genovese basil I always grow to accompany my tomatoes. The basils alone are diverse: Thai basil for Asian dishes, African blue basil for the bees, and tulsi basil (also called holy basil) for calming teas.
One of our delights during Open Garden days is sending visitors to the small tree that's actually a well-trained lemon verbena. When they rub a leaf and take a lemon-scented whiff, a surprised expression comes over their faces. The scent is soothing and refreshing all at once. (I like to stop there at the end of a workday, too.) That's the power of a wonderful herb.
So during Harvest Day on Saturday be sure to visit the Herb Garden, which is just inside the Chuck Ingels Memorial Gate. The Herb Team will have great handouts, informational displays, and a whole array of plants to sniff. Early birds also will receive a lavender sachet filled with dried lavender from our plants.
Two of our experienced herb growers will present mini talks during the morning, at the round patio that's just above and south of the Herb Garden:
-- Ruth Ostroff, 9:30-9:45 a.m., "Amazing Herbs for Low Water Use Gardens." Mediterranean herbs are especially useful in a water-efficient garden; Ruth will have some ideas for gardeners.
-- Vivian Sellers, 10:45-11 a.m., "Pruning Herbs for Better Yields." Vivian is our herb guru, who guided the pruning of the amazing lemon verbena into the shape it is today.
Other mini talks by the Vegetable, Berry, Grape, Compost, Orchard and Water Efficient Landscape groups will be presented during the day in various locations; the three main Harvest Day speakers will present their longer talks under the large tent near the parking lot. The full schedule can be found here . A map of the site also is on that page.
Harvest Day is free and runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd.
And if you want to take home some herbs of your own, Morningsun Herb Farms of Vacaville will have a vendor booth open during the event. You might spy a few Herb Team members there, shopping for new delights.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
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
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of April 20
Before possible showers at the end of the week, take advantage of all this nice sunshine – and get to work!
* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, 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.
* Plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* 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.
* 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.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Give shrubs and trees a dose of a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.
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