Share seeds with other gardeners and bring home some for your own garden, too
Coin envelopes are convenient storage for extra seeds to swap or save. Label with the year collected or purchased as well as the variety of seed. Kathy Morrison
Got more seeds than you know what to do with – and still need more?
Here’s an opportunity to share that wealth while also filling your own garden with varieties you haven’t yet grown.
On Saturday, Jan. 27, the Fair Oaks Branch Library will host “Sacramento Seed Swap and Share,” a local celebration of National Seed Swap Day.
From 1 to 3 p.m., the public is invited to bring vegetable, flower and herb seeds to this free event to swap with other gardeners – or just to share. The seed should come from non-hybrid varieties such as heirloom tomatoes, squash or beans. It can be seed saved from the grower’s own garden or commercially produced.
“Come trade and share seeds! Save money, reduce waste, and increase biodiversity!” say the organizers. “Bring open-pollinated and/or heirloom vegetable, flower, herb and native plant seeds to share. Leave with new varieties to try. Share knowledge and experience about seed saving and starting plants from seed.”
Held on the last Saturday in January, National Seed Swap Day serves as “a reminder that spring is on the way,” say its creators. For most gardeners, late January is a perfect time to take stock of their seed supply while considering what to grow this spring, summer and fall.
Swapping seeds is as old as farming; so is saving seeds to grow or swap with others. Think of it as green recycling. Not only does seed swapping and sharing increase the diversity of the plants you grow, it saves money, too.
Bring envelopes and a pencil or pen to label your seed acquisitions. Bring your own seeds to swap or share, too.
Fair Oaks Branch Library is located at 11601 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Fair Oaks.
For more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1789593944880108.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* 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.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* 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.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and 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.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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