Learn how to make your own 'garden gold'
Compost makes great mulch for plants already growing, and will improve the soil over time, too. Kathy Morrison
One of the best ways to help your garden get through the heat of summer: Mulch.
This blanket of organic matter not only keeps roots cooler, but maintains moisture and feeds soil microbes.
Some of the best mulch? Well-aged compost – especially if made with your own kitchen scraps and garden waste.
Find out more, including how to make your own “garden gold,” during two free workshops offered by the Roseville Utility Exploration Center.
“Compost and Mulch” will be held on two Saturdays: Aug. 19 at the RUEC Tech Lab, 1501 Pleasant Grove Blvd., and repeated on Sept. 23 at the Maidu Community Center, 1550 Maidu Drive, Roseville. Each 90-minute class starts at 10 a.m.
Registration is required. Roseville’s workshops fill up quickly and seating is limited, so sign up now.
Here’s the class description: “Did you know yard debris and kitchen scraps can improve your soil? It’s true! Composting reduces waste sent to the landfill, helps you create your own free fertilizer, and saves water. Learn about bins, equipment, and materials used in a variety of composting styles.”
To sign up for “Compost and Mulch” or other free Roseville workshops: https://www.roseville.ca.us/residents/utility_exploration_center.
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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 9
Be careful walking or working in wet soil; it compacts easily.
* Keep the irrigation turned off; the ground is plenty wet with more rain on the way.
* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.
* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.
* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and cauliflower – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).
* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.
* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.
* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.
* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.
* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.
* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.