Soil Born offers hands-on workshop in its American River Ranch orchard
For successful orchard crops, fruit trees must be selectively thinned and carefully pruned. Kathy Morrison
Summer is a crucial time for fruit farmers – and it’s not just remembering to irrigate. Fruit trees need to be “managed.” That includes selective thinning and careful pruning.
Learn how during a hands-on workshop at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 10, at Soil Born Farms.
Led by Soil Born founder and co-director Shawn Harrison, “Summer Fruit Tree Care” will introduce gardeners of all experience levels to how they can get more harvest from their own backyard orchards – or a single tree.
“Proper care of fruit trees can boost their health and maximize their production,” say the organizers. “This is a hands-on class focused on learning how to summer prune and provide other necessary care for your fruit trees. We will be learning by doing, so please bring a hat, boots and gloves!”
At its American River Ranch, Soil Born grows a wide assortment of fruit including multiple varieties of apples, apricots, cherries, figs, mulberries, nectarines, olives, peaches, pears, persimmons, pluots and pomegranates. Here’s an opportunity to ask questions and get expert advice.
Fee for this 2-1/2-hour workshop is $30 and advance registration is required.
Soil Born’s American River Ranch is located at 2140 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova. After class, take advantage of Soil Born’s Saturday farmstand and other activities.
To register and more details: https://soilborn.org/.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
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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Enjoy this spring weather – and get to work! Your garden needs you!
* Start setting out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes, and winter and summer 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.
* 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.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.