Unique Sacramento opportunity to discover healing power of certain plants
A harvest of roselle calyces at Confluence Gardens is a colorful sight. Roselle, also called hibiscus, is used in teas and other recipes. It is a specific edible species related to ornamental hibiscus. Kathy Morrison
This Sacramento pick-your-own farm has a big difference (and incredible scents): Its specialty is medicinal herbs.
During these last weeks of summer, Confluence Gardens invites visitors to come see and learn about medicinal herbs – and take some home.
“Eager to experiment with making your own Tulsi teas, elderberry syrup, Flor de Jamaica tea?” says Judy Tretheway of Confluence Gardens. “The herbs, berries and flowers you need are right here ready to pick in our South Natomas (Sacramento) garden near the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers. We are eager to share our bounty with you for your personal (not commercial) use.”
Close to Discovery Park, Confluence Gardens is a one-acre private medicinal herb and food garden, growing more than 100 different herbs.
“We open our doors to gardeners, visitors, and herbalists in the Sacramento area and beyond, with the intention of cultivating and growing community around herbalism, plant medicines, and organic gardening,” its website states.
“There is no direct cost,” adds Tretheway. “We operate on a gift economy. You choose how to pay it forward. Sing to the plants, do some love watering, make a donation to Herbalists without Borders, pick a bucket of bindweed, help us with garden projects.”
Volunteer weeding (or weeding volunteers) is welcome. Get your hands dirty, then take home some basil (and a lot more).
Confluence Gardens is located at 1108 Azusa St., Sacramento. For newcomers as well as experienced herb gardeners, it hosts Volunteer Nights from 5 to 8 p.m. each Tuesday. “Once you are here, feel free to ask about other herbs we may have available, buy our tea blends or investigate our community apothecary,” Tretheway says.
Can’t make Tuesday evenings? Text to schedule a visit: 916-600-8241.
“In late September, we will let the plants finish their life cycle and go to seed or to the bees,” Tretheway says. “Until then, we welcome you to visit and harvest, and take home for your own use.”
The farm currently has a lot of basil including Tulsi (or holy basil), lemon, Vana, Krishna and Rama Tulsi varieties. Lemon verbena is plentiful now, too.
Roselle – the hibiscus used in tea, drinks and much more – is coming into season. Confluence Gardens offers this deal to pick-your-own visitors: Take home half your harvest and leave the rest for the gardens’ community apothecary.
“Our elderberry bushes are not as prolific this year as last, but we usually have enough available for you to take home a quart or two to make a great immune-boosting syrup,” Tretheway notes.
In the winter, Confluence Gardens will offer root crops for harvest, she adds. “We have an abundance of marshmallow and ashwagandha, and smaller amounts of echinacea, valerian, elecampane and licorice.”
Besides an opportunity to harvest fresh herbs, a visit to this unique farm also offers a chance to connect with other herbalists and learn about medicinal herbs.
Says Tretheway, “Confluence Garden’s vision is to be a herbal hub for the Sacramento area, providing herbs and workshops, teas, tinctures and flower essences through a collaborative community project sharing the healing experience of deep connection with the plants and the healing they share with us so generously.”
Learn more here: https://www.confluencegardens.earth/
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Flowers in My Back Yard Series
Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer
Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower
Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact
Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower
July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show
July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)
July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy
July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies
June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden
June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners
June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)
June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself
June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude
May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?
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 Aug. 16
During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.
* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.
* Plant potatoes.
* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.
* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.
* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.
* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.
* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.
* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.
* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.
* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.
* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.
* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.
* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.
Contact Us
Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com
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
Add asparagus to your edible garden
Soggy soil and what to do about it
Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come
It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying
What to do with all those fallen leaves?
Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden
Plant a pea patch for you and your garden
As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers
We don't talk (enough) about beets
Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?
How to prolong the fall tomato harvest
SUMMER
How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch
Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning
To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?
Enhance your food with edible flowers
Why won't my tomatoes turn red?
A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty
Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions
How to grow summer salad greens
Weird stuff that's perfectly normal
SPRING
Help pollinators help your garden
Battling early-season tomato pests
Where are the bees when you need them?
How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
Grow culinary herbs in containers
When to plant summer vegetables
Don't be fooled by these garden myths
Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
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