The gardening year gets off to a fast start
The first Open Garden of 2024 at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center will be Jan. 20. Visitors in January 2022, above, check out the vegetable garden. Kathy Morrison
Welcome to winter, officially! Today, Dec. 21, is the winter solstice, the day with the least amount of daylight. Which means -- hurray! -- that we'll have gradually longer days from here until June 21.
And that, my friends, is prime gardening time.
So get out your 2024 Gardening Guide & Calendar -- Sacramento or Placer editions, still available if you need one -- and start marking down these key dates. The Sacramento Digs Gardening Calendar, visible on our home page and in our newsletter, will try to keep up with additional event dates as we learn them, plus times and other pertinent details. Follow the links below for more details.
Sacrameto County master gardeners:
-- Open Garden Days, Fair Oaks Horticulture Center: Jan. 20, Feb. 10, March 16, April 17, May 11, June 6, June 15, Sept. 14, Oct. 16.
-- Harvest Day at FOHC, Aug. 3.
-- Worm Composting class, March 23
Placer County master gardeners:
-- A full slate of free classes and workshops, starting with "Seed Saving Flowers and Vegetables," Jan. 13, and "Designing Water-wise Gardens" on Jan. 20. Blueberries (Feb. 10), compost and mulch (Feb. 17), straw bale gardening (March 9) and "Tomato Mastery" (March 16) will be the remaining winter topics. The spring presentations will start with "Planning Your Summer Vegetable Garden" on April 13.
El Dorado County master gardeners:
-- First Saturday Garden Tours, Sherwood Demonstration Garden, Placerville. Jan. 6, Feb. 3, March 2, April 6, May 4, June 1, July 6, Aug. 3, Sept. 7, Oct. 5, Nov. 2, Dec. 7
-- Presentations and classes (all free) begin with "Gardening for the Future" on Jan. 10, followed by "Vegetable Gardening" on Jan. 13. "Grow Your Own Flower Cutting Garden" is scheduled Feb. 10, as is "Rose Pruning and Care" (different locations). Celebrate Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, by learning about "Gardening in Small Spaces." "Starting Plants from Seed" is set March 2, along with "Kids! Grow and Show Your Plant at the Fair." Several presentations also are set for the remainder of March and through June.
Other events (with more due to be scheduled soon):
-- McKinley Park Rose Garden pruning days: Jan. 6, 13, 17, 20 and 27 plus Feb. 10 and 17. See Debbie's post on that here.
-- Sacramento Seed Swap and Share, afternoon of Jan. 27 at the Fair Oaks Library.
-- City of Roseville workshops (which are free but often fill up) include "Pruning With Purpose" on Jan. 13, Feb. 7 and March 9 (three separate sessions), "Growing Fruit Trees" on Jan. 27 and "Compost and Mulch" Feb. 17. "Pruning Fruit Trees" will be held Feb. 22.
-- Northern California Home & Landscape Expo runs Feb. 2-4 at Cal Expo. This event is primarily aimed at home improvement and outdoor landscaping, but the Sacramento County master gardeners will staff a booth at the event all three days. That makes it a great opportunity to get gardening advice early in the year or ask questions about ongoing garden issues or problems.
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Garden Checklist for week of Sept. 15
Make the most of the cool break this week – and get things done. Your garden needs you!
* Now is the time to plant for fall. The warm soil will get cool-season veggies off to a fast start.
* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant.
* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.
* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.
* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.
* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.
* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.
* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.
* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.
* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials.
* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.
* Divide and transplant peonies that have become overcrowded. Replant with "eyes" about an inch below the soil surface.
* Late September is ideal for sowing a new lawn or re-seeding bare spots.
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