Advice for the vegetable garden, orchard, roses -- and late-summer produce
Washed, cored and sliced, these Rugby tomato halves at this point can be frozen or, with maybe a little salt or olive oil added, roasted. Check out the tomato-saving tips in the Garden Basics podcast. Kathy Morrison
If you were able to attend the most recent Open Garden Day, you witnessed the flurry of activity by the UCCE master gardeners staffing the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. It's nearly autumn, which is an important transition time for backyard gardening.
"Farmer Fred" Hoffman, himself a lifetime master gardener, was on site for his popular "Garden Basics" podcast. He talked with some of the FOHC experts about how they're preparing the gardens for the cooler days ahead. Oh, and he talked to me, too, about one of my favorite topics: tomatoes, and what to do with them as the season winds down.
If you want to skip ahead to the podcast, you can find it here: https://gardenbasics.net/
Otherwise here's a quick recap of the master gardeners and their topics:
-- Gail Pothour, in the Vegetable Garden, discusses changing over the vegetable beds, including restoring the soil in advance of planting cool weather vegetables. She notes that the melon vines were being trimmed back, to focus the plants' energy on ripening the last melons of the season. She also adds a tip on growing a quick cover crop: buckwheat.
-- Quentyn Young, a project leader in the Orchard, talks about finishing up the summer pruning, the trees' changing water needs, and the maintenance of the citrus trees. He notes that the Orchard Team is going to try something new next year: growing bananas!
-- Anita Clevenger, who is an old-rose expert and a project leader in the Water-Efficient Landscape, discusses rose care and maintenance for this time of year. She covers deadheading, rose hips, pruning schedules, and the use of alfalfa pellets, among other topics.
My segment primarily concerned ways to save what's left of the tomato harvest. Hint: It helps to have some room in your freezer.
Separately, Fred talks to retired horticulture professor Debbie Flower about "When do pesticides expire?" It includes particular discussion about the shelf life of Bt (bacillus thuringiensis), a bacterium used to kill caterpillars.
Fred Hoffman's garden advice also is found in "Beyond Basics: The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter." In another look at fall garden preparation, he posed this question to master gardener Susan Muckey: If the worms in your vermiculture system could talk, what would they tell you this time of year? Susan's a vermicomposting specialist and she has a binful of excellent advice.
Just a note: The next Open Garden Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is Wednesday, Oct. 11, from 9 a.m. to noon, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks. It's a great opportunity to talk to the master gardeners in person.
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Flowers in My Back Yard Series
May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs
May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power
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 24
Take advantage of this “normal” week and get stuff done. Your garden needs you.
* 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.
* Support with trellises, cages or stakes rapidly growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplants or other tall crops that may get knocked around in those gusty winds.
* 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.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* 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.
* 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.
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Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series
Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening
WINTER
Is edible gardening possible indoors?
Hints for choosing tomato seeds
Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees
When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
How to squeeze more food into less space
Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Win the weed war by tackling them in winter
Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables
Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
Ways to win the fight against weeds
FALL
Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden
Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it
Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come
Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying
Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?
Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden
Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden
Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers
Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air
Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets
Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty
Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?
Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest
SUMMER
Sept. 16: Time to shut it down?
Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch
Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning
Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?
Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you
Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water
Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers
July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?
July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty
July 15: Does this plant need water?
July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions
July 1: How to grow summer salad greens
June 24: Weird stuff that's perfectly normal
SPRING
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
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
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