Alchemist CDC offers two free workshops in Sacramento
The skills and tools of fruit tree pruning are just part of two workshops offered this month by Alchemist Community Development Corporation. Photo courtesy Alchemist CDC
Learn a gardening skill – pruning fruit trees – while helping your community.
The Alchemist CDC is offering two free workshops, focusing on winter care for deciduous fruit trees. Participation is free for these hands-on events, but advance registration is necessary.
On Feb. 12, the workshop will be held at Oak Park Art Garden, 3834 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Sacramento. (Register here: https://bit.ly/3K6WKjU.) On Feb. 19, the pruners in training will tackle Mirasol Village Community Garden, 701 Pipevine St., Sacramento (just south of Richards Boulevard). (Sign up here: https://bit.ly/3YYYwIr.)
Both pruning workshops will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. More details are available (search for "fruit tree pruning") via eventbrite.com.
“Learn the essential skills of winter fruit tree pruning at one of Sacramento’s community orchards,” say the organizers. “We’ll explore the craft of pruning, the tools that make it possible, and demonstrate the practice on fruit trees in the community orchard. We’ll also explore how urban agroforestry can play a significant role in enhancing the resilience of our urban ecosystems and communities to a changing climate.”
What is urban agroforestry? Growing (and managing) fruit trees in the city for residents to enjoy.
Dominic Allamano, an urban agroforester and experiential educator, will be the instructor for both workshops. According to his website bio, Allamano is working “at the intersection of urban food system repair, climate change adaptation and the long term re-connection of communities and the land they inhabit together.”
He worked for five years as the Edible City Coordinator at Soil Born Farms, developing an urban food forestry initiative that included the regional Harvest Sacramento fruit gleaning program, as well as garden building and fruit tree planting programs serving residents of South Sacramento, says his bio.
Focusing on food and nature, Alchemist Community Development Corporation is a fast-rising force for good in Sacramento-area neighborhoods – “connecting communities with land, food and opportunity.”
"Alchemist CDC is a mission-driven organization that connects Sacramento area communities to land, food, and opportunity toward a vision in which all neighborhoods are vibrant, equitable, healthy, and diverse,” according to the organization. “We are best known for enhancing the quality of life in under-resourced communities by improving access to nutritious foods, implementing community-supported public green spaces, and fostering economic self-sufficiency through business entrepreneurship.”
Details: https://alchemistcdc.org/.
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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 27
Once the clouds clear, get to work. Spring growth is in high gear.
* 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. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
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