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Green Acres hosts free seed-starting workshops

Learn how to grow more -- and save more, too

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED FEB 3, 2025

How to get seeds to this point -- and then keep them growing -- is the focus of free workshops at four of the Green Acres nurseries this Saturday. Kathy Morrison

Spring (and summer) may be months away, but it’s time to start planning – and planting.

Growing food and flowers from seed can make gardening (and eating) much more budget-friendly. Get tips galore this Saturday, Feb. 8, at free “Garden Talks,” hosted by Green Acres Nursery & Supply.

Set for 10 a.m. Saturday at four Green Acres locations, “Garden Talk: Seed Starting” will cover the basics of growing plants from seed.

Which plants are easiest to start from seed? When should they be planted? Indoors or outdoors? What kind of growing medium works best? How do you help those first sprouts thrive? Those are just a few of the questions Green Acres’ Garden Gurus will address.

No advance registration is necessary; just show up and prepare to take notes.

This Garden Talk will be presented at Green Acres in Elk Grove (9220 E. Stockton Blvd.), Folsom (205 Serpa Way ), Rocklin (5436 Crossings Drive) and Roseville (7300 Galilee Road).

Details and directions: https://idiggreenacres.com/

‘FIMBY’ debuts Tuesday

Growing food and other budget-conscious gardening are expected to be major trends in 2025. To help feed that growing interest, Sacramento Digs Gardening will launch a new weekly series, “Food in My Back Yard.”

FIMBY will appear on Tuesdays both online and in our e-newsletter. It will focus on tips for success, pests, common issues and much more. Got a question or suggested topic? Email us at sacdigsgardening@gmail.com.

FIMBY starts Tuesday, Feb. 4, and we’re kicking off with the same logical beginning: Seed starting! (Great gardeners do think alike!)

Kathy Morrison, our SDG co-creator and Sacramento County master gardener, over the years has started hundreds of tomato and pepper plants, plus herbs and other vegetables, each year from seed. Find out her advice on how to get seeds off to a healthy start.

Follow FIMBY every Tuesday at https://sacdigsgardening.californialocal.com/

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Keywords:

seeds seed-starting Green Acres Nursery & Supply free workshops weekend event vegetables herbs winter February Sacramento gardening Rocklin Elk Grove Roseville Folsom

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Garden checklist for week of May 10

Take it easy during that high heat – then get to work! Your garden is calling.

* Remember to irrigate your tender transplants. Seedlings need consistent moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants. Water early in the morning for best results.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Put your veggie garden on a regular diet. Set up a monthly feeding program, and keep track on your calendar. Make sure to water your garden before applying any fertilizer to prevent “burning” your plants.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

* Don’t forget to weed! Those invaders are growing fast.

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

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