California Rare Fruit Growers host popular event Feb. 4
This was the Scion Exchange in 2018. The "swap meet" of fruiting wood this year will be held Feb. 4. Courtesy Sacramento chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers
Learn how to expand your backyard orchard without planting more trees. And this fun and fascinating event has everything you need to add new varieties to your existing fruit trees via grafting.
It’s the annual Scion Exchange, one of Sacramento’s most popular winter gardening events. Hosted by the Sacramento Chapter of California Rare Fruit Growers, the exchange is like a big community swap meet of fruiting wood. Scions are young shoots that can be grafted onto other trees or root stock.
Set for Sunday, Feb. 4, the exchange will be held at La Sierra Community Center, 5325 Engle Road, Carmichael. CRFG members get the first crack at selecting scions from 10 to 11 a.m. (and also sharing their own). Then, the exchange is open to the general public from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Want to be an early bird? Anyone interested in joining the CRFG chapter can do so in advance of the event. Membership is $29. Sign up here: https://crfg.org/home/join/.
For $5 admission, participants can select from dozens of varieties of deciduous fruit and nut trees from apples to walnuts. The assortment usually includes many heirloom varieties that are hard to find elsewhere.
Learn the basics of grafting, too, and how to add variety to your existing trees. Create a “fruit basket” tree with an assortment of plums, pluots and peaches on one trunk, or a “rainbow apple” tree that bears green, red and yellow fruit that ripens throughout the season instead of all at once. (Sorry, no citrus; just deciduous fruit and nuts are allowed at this exchange.)
What to bring? The organizers ask participants to bring exact change – $5 cash – and some supplies: Zippered plastic baggies (preferably 1 gallon size), masking or painter’s tape, a heavy marking pen (that way participants can label scions as they pick them up) plus a larger bag or backpack to put everything in.
Also, bring your wish list of varieties; you may be able to find them.
“Come join us to learn more about grafting! We encourage people to bring scions in labeled baggies from their own trees,” say the organizers. “Please insure they are not under patent and NO citrus. There will be tables of bags so please join us whether you can bring scions or not. We ask that you only take one or two scions from the varieties you want. Be sure to wrap tape around those scions and label them!
“There will be a few vendors selling items and also tables with items that you can root: figs, berries, etc. There will be chairs available to sit but wear comfortable shoes to wander around the tables.”
Details: https://sacramentocrfg.org or email sacramento@crfg.org.
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Flowers in My Back Yard Series
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 April 19
After this midweek storm, start getting serious about spring gardening. Flowers are blooming about three weeks ahead of schedule. That includes weeds!
* Get ready to swing into action in the vegetable garden – if you haven’t already. As nights warm up over 50 degrees, set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash; wait on pumpkins until May. 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. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* 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? Give citrus trees a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants. If leaves look yellow, your tree may need an iron boost -- apply some chelated iron fertilizer.
* 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 needs nutrition. Give shrubs and trees a slow-release fertilizer. Mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost, which helps the soil, but keep it a few inches away from trunks and stems.
* 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.
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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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