Placer master gardeners present Fall Open House in sync with community event
Loomis, long known as a fruit-packing center, celebrates that tradition this Saturday with the Fruit Shed Fest. This mural in town depicts one of the many fruit crate labels used back in the day. Kathy Morrison
Loomis, a town with a rich agriculture tradition, will pull out all the stops Saturday, Oct. 5, to celebrate the harvest and the history in Placer County.
The Fruit Shed Fest takes over from the former Eggplant Festival as Loomis' big community event. Music, contests, food, vendors and more will be part of the fest.
Here's how the Loomis Chamber of Commerce explains the change:
"Formally known as the Loomis Eggplant festival, this event has always been about celebrating our community’s agricultural roots and promote a community focused on health and wellness, and the Fruit Shed Fest allows us to broaden that celebration.
"This rebranding not only honors our Town’s history but also embraces the future, welcoming a more inclusive and diverse representation of our local produce, our beloved fruit sheds, and downtown district. It will allow for a unique opportunity to revitalize interest and attract a larger, regional audience."
Built in 1926, the Historic High-Hand Fruit Shed is at the center of town, now the site of shops selling jewelry, olive oil, flowers and garden decor, artwork and the like. In the High-Hand complex there also are a brewery, a cafe and a nursery.
The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., centered at Loomis' historic Train Depot, 5775 Horseshoe Bar Road. In between those hours, the festival will include a chalk art contest, an apple pie baking contest, music by bands including the Sierra College Jazz Band, a kids activity zone and plenty of food trucks and vendors. Admission and parking are free.
Just up the street, on the Loomis Library grounds, the Placer County master gardeners will hold their Fall Open House in their Demonstration Garden from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free.
The Fall Open House will feature two live presentations by master gardeners: at 10:30 a.m., a look at container gardening with California native plants; and at 11:30 a.m., a discussion of California native seed saving and sowing.
There will be activities for children, plus the Miridae Mobile Nursery will be on site for sales of California native plants. The California Native Plant Society's local chapter will have a booth, as will Delta Blue Grass, with information on no-mow native grasses. (The master gardeners have a planting of no-mow grasses in their garden.)
The Loomis Library is at 6050 Library Drive, just off Horseshoe Bar Road in Loomis. For information on the Fall Open House or other Placer master gardener events, go to https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmgplacer/?calitem=597883&g=131834
The Fruit Shed Fest Facebook page is here.
And by the way, eggplant fans, eggplant IS a fruit, so it will still be in evidence, just sharing the spotlight now.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.