After heart surgery, popular garden expert changed his life with homegrown vegetables, fruit
"Farmer Fred" Hoffman will speak at the Feb. 8 meeting of the Sacramento Rose Society. Courtesy Fred Hoffman
Farmer Fred will present his personal story of heart-healthy gardening and discovery at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, at the club’s meeting at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center in McKinley Park. The public is welcome. Admission and parking are free.
Farmer Fred knows firsthand how his own heart-healthy garden changed his life. In March 2012, the award-winning radio host was diagnosed with FOUR cholesterol-blocked heart arteries. His doctor also told him he had full-blown Type 2 diabetes. (His A1C was 10.4.)
He underwent quadruple coronary artery bypass graft surgery, then embarked on the long road to healing. That included a makeover of his diet.
Farmer Fred lost more than 60 pounds – and kept the weight off. An avid cyclist, he rides his bike more than 100 miles a week. He no longer needs to take diabetes medication and is active as ever in his garden and the community.
His secret? Growing, and eating, heart-healthy fruits and vegetables, loaded with fiber. That includes artichokes, blueberries, apricots, shell beans and green peas.
Farmer Fred will share how anyone can help their own heart health via fiber-packed fruit and vegetables. Besides his personal health experience, he’s also one of the leading gardening experts in California. A lifetime master gardener, Fred has been certified by the UC Cooperative Extension program for more than 40 years and has logged well over 10,000 hours as a master gardener volunteer.
Most Sacramentans know Farmer Fred from his four decades as host of his award-winning radio shows, “Get Growing with Farmer Fred,” “The KFBK Garden Show” and “The KSTE Farm Hour.” Now he shares his talents with a national audience online via his podcast, “Garden Basics with Farmer Fred.”
His garden has evolved, too. He and his wife, Jeanne, traded their 10-acre ranchette in Herald for a suburban home and backyard in Folsom. Although his garden’s footprint is much smaller, it’s still packed with the heart-healthy foods that changed his life.
Come hear Farmer Fred and learn how you, too, can make a difference in your own heart health. Shepard Center is located at 3330 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento.
Details: https://sacramentorosesociety.org/ or www.farmerfred.com.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
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
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of April 27
Once the clouds clear, get to work. Spring growth is in high gear.
* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, 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. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants 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.
* 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.
* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.
* 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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