Soil Born Farms hosts special workshop Saturday focusing on preserving flavors of homegrown herbs
Lavender can be used to flavor a wide range of food and drink via infused syrup or honey. Debbie Arrington
Got herbs? Then, this class is for you.
On Saturday morning, May 6, Soil Born Farms will host a special workshop, “Making Herbal Simple Syrups and Infused Honeys from the Garden.”
Kellan MacKay, owner of Khela Herbs, will show how to use your homegrown herbs to flavor food and drink year round. The in-person workshop will be held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Soil Born’s American River Ranch in Rancho Cordova.
“If you have perennial herbs in your garden, chances are they are coming into their first bloom in May or June; thyme, oregano, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lavender, and rose geranium are just a few possibilities,” say the organizers. “But what do you do with it all when you cut it back?
“One option is to make a simple syrup flavored with them or to infuse honey and stockpile it for winter wellness and gift-giving. Understanding the basic techniques around making shelf-stable syrups and infused honey creates a myriad of possibilities for instant tea, kicked-up mocktails, and more.”
Spaces are still available for this workshop ($30). Advance registration is required: https://soilborn.org/events/herbal-syrups-honey-050623/.
Soil Born’s American River Ranch is located at 2140 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova. Before or after class, check out this working farm and its demonstration gardens.
More details and directions: https://soilborn.org/.
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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.
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