Rio Americano High School Garden Tour

My son's high school is having a garden tour this Sunday! Come check out the gardens, art, chat with Master Gardeners, enjoy refreshments, and melodious live performances by the current crop of Rio's award-winning band members.

Outdoor Living Tour 2008

The annual Rio Americano Garden Tour will be held Sunday, September 28th from 11:00am to 4:00 pm. Unique gardens with exquisite design and imaginative detail in the neighborhoods surrounding the Rio Americano attendance area. Master Gardeners will be available at the gardens to answer questions and provide tips along with outdoor- related vendors. In addition, entertainment will be provided by Rio’s award winning bands. The proceeds will benefit the Rio Americano PTSA Landscape Projects and the General PTSA Fund.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.

For further info please contact Debbie Munter, dmunter@surewest.net or Dania Lukey dlukey@surewest.net

2009 Master Gardener Calendar

(Colorful cover art and interior black & white and semi-transparent illustrations by Susan Poirier)

I'm enjoying my advance copy of the 2009 Sacramento County UC Master Gardeners Gardening Guide and Calendar. This year's popular theme is "Savoring Home Grown". Printed on off-white recycled paper with embedded bits of color flecks, each month features harvest-ready vegetables.

For instance, September tells you it's time to harvest melons, how to determine ripeness and how to store your melons once picked. There's plenty of space to add your own notes on the calendar pages.



In addition to Harvest This Month, other categories include:

Garden Maintenance
Pest Notes
Be Water Wise
Try Something New

At the back of the calendar, you'll find two very handy charts-

Vegetables: A Guide for Cultivation in the Sacramento Area Sacramento Vegetable Planting Schedule (Yes!)

And finally...
How to Have a Happy Lawn

Calendars are available at the UC Cooperative Extension Office, 4145 Branch Center Road, Sacramento, 875-6913 and soon at most nursery locations in the Sacramento County area.

Here's to a delicious new year!

UC Davis Good Life Garden

Hey, fellow foodie gardeners... check this out!



Click on thumbnail for large version (PDF) or visit the website: http://goodlifegarden.ucdavis.edu/events/

When: Saturday, September 27, 2008
Where: Sciences Lecture Hall & Courtyard
Time: 4:30 pm
Includes: Three speakers and a "Taste of the Region"
Cost: $75 per Person

You can buy tickets online.

NatureSweet's Homegrown Tomato Challenge

Hey, a fellow Carmichaelian won the grand prize!

$6,000 IN PRIZES AWARDED TO BEST BACKYARD GARDENERS

NatureSweet Tomatoes congratulates Bob Peruch of Carmichael for winning the $2,500 grand prize in the small tomato category at the August 23 Homegrown Tomato Challenge. Peruch won the competition with his Gardeners Delight variety of tomatoes. NatureSweet Tomatoes also congratulates Lin Cole of Citrus Heights for winning the other $2,500 grand prize in the large tomato category. Cole won the competition with her unknown variety of tomatoes. This year’s competition was held at the Raley’s located at 25025 Blue Ravine Road in Folsom.

While Peruch and Cole can now claim to be two of America’s best tomato gardeners, they each faced stiff competition by the following runners-up, who all received a $250 store voucher for their premium tomato entries: August Spagnolo (Sweet 100), Kaitlyn Shupe (Small Cherry),Jan Decker (Bonnie Hubby),and Bryan Sattler (Black Krim).

Six finalists were chosen from 280 entries. NatureSweet’s distinguished judges included Pat Rubin, The Sacramento Bee; Robbie Guggenheim, Edible Sacramento; Michael Marks, Your Produce Man; Al Pierleoni, The Sacramento Bee; Judy McClure, Sacramento County Master Gardeners, Chuck Person, Sacramento Kings Assistant Coach; and Michael Schutt, Raley’s.

Finalists were chosen based on a Brix test which determines tomato sweetness -- the higher the Brix number, the better the taste. The finalists were then taste-tested by the judge’s panel. All tomato entries – approximately 600 pounds of tomatoes – were donated to the Twin Lakes Food Bank after the Challenge.

Now in its sixth year, the popular Homegrown Tomato Challenge continues to trek across the country as NatureSweet seeks out America’s best homegrown tomatoes.

What's my name?

I'm cute, about a foot tall, have slightly succulent-looking foliage, and am growing in full sun at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg, California. Sadly, I have no identification. Can anybody tell me my name, preferably in Latin?

North Star Nursery

Finally... both free time and motivation bumped into each other at the same and I'm blogging more of my Mendo trip. After my second visit to the nearby Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, I popped into North Star Nursery. I was looking for fairy wands (none in stock), but left with a few succulents and a fun new phormium. Love the peace sign... and how great are those pillow stepping stones... and no, they wouldn't be "so easy to make". You go right ahead.

Nouvelle Images Home Stickers

At super cool Racine's Office & Art Supplies in Fort Bragg, CA, I was wowed by their display of Nouvelle Images Home Stickers. These larger than life photo-realistic wall stickers are fabulous! I was torn between their selection of iceland poppies, saucer magnolias, stones and orchids, and Japanese anemones. In the end, the Japanese anemones lured me with their pink daintiness. When in doubt, pick pink I always say. Works especially well for flowers, lipstick and cute tops. May not work as well with cars, houses and financial portfolios.

Check these out. Seriously, you're gonna love 'em. If you can't find them locally, try amazon.com or allposters.com.

Naked Ladies

My Naked Ladies (Amaryllis belladonna) are blooming right now in my Carmichael yard, and they were also blooming (some just spiking) in Mendocino during my trip a couple weeks ago. I wanted to point out this website showing pics of a wide variety of Naked Lady hybrids. The link appeared at the end of a recent S.F. Chronicle article. My friend, Weeder, has some and I wonder if they're as tough as A. belladonna. They're pretty... and tempting to someone who doesn't just garden, but also collects. Pictured above is a variety growing in Weeder's garden. x Amarcrinum?

A mere morsel...

of Mendocino. Here I am (behind my sexy camera), shopping at the nursery... at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Have I died and gone to Heaven? Yes! Wait... there's more... they happen to serve the best handmade ice cream on the planet... in the most beautiful place (I've seen so far) on the planet. I highly recommend the coffee ice cream. Extensively researched. The grilled cheese panini sandwich was no slouch, either. Hey, and you know what? The man next in line was from Sacramento. Small world... town... whatever. Stay tuned for more pics.

Gone Mendocinoing...

Leaving tomorrow... for a whole week! See past adventures here.

Smith & Hawken, Roseville, CA

(Photo from City of Roseville website)

Smith & Hawken is opening a store in our area. I would have applied for a position in a heartbeat if they weren't putting the store in Roseville... at The Galleria. Ugh. We're never going to revitalize downtown and cut down on driving if all the stores people will drive out of their way for (Sur La Table, Bare Escentuals, Nugget Market, etc.) head for the burbs. Thank goodness the Apple Store is at Arden Fair. That's at least somewhat centrally located.

Anyway, if any horticulturally inclined people in the Roseville area are looking for work and can stand the soul-crushing Galleria Mall five days a week, check out the job ads on Craigslist. Several positions open.

Are you serious?

You haven't planted any lilies in your garden? Tsk tsk.

Backyard Pano

Just went out into my backyard, turned in a complete circle while taking shots and popped those shots into Photoshop's photo stitching thingy. The results are crude, but fun.

I love that Annie (my little b&w dog) was walking across the lawn with a rawhide shoe in her mouth at the time. I didn't even see her when I was taking the pictures.



What I should have been doing during the cool morning hours... instead of taking pictures... is deadheading and weeding. Just felt like taking it all in instead.

Angela's Outdoor Kitchen

Someday, I'm gonna git me one of them gas grills...

Foodie Gardeners

Have you seen the King Arthur Flour blog? I just subscribed. OMG... so much deliciousness. Their Sir Lancelot flour makes great pizza dough and there's a recent blog entry on grilling pizza outdoors. Yum! http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/

California Heartland is back

Hey, I was just listening to Farmer Fred on the radio and he mentioned that KVIE's California Heartland show is back! The KVIE intro video mentions new faces and the inclusion of backyard gardening. Looks like Farmer Fred is the new gardening host. He keeps warning everyone that he has a face for radio, but I think he looks great.

The cooking segments look like they're being hosted by the woman who does cooking spots for Raley's and whose name escapes me. Anyway, check it out! I'll be adding California Heartland to my DVR lineup.

Starts tomorrow.

Black Widows Killed

Photo is from UC IPM website (see link below)

2 today, 1 the other day. They're everywhere right now. When I see them, I screech, do a little dance and run for the can of Spider Killer. Wonder if anybody makes an organic Black Widow spray. I let nearly everything live in my garden. Except Black Widows.

Venom from its bite can cause reactions ranging from mild to painful and serious, but death is very unlikely and many symptoms can be alleviated if medical treatment is obtained. Anyone bitten by this spider should remain calm and promptly seek medical advice; it is helpful if the offending spider can be caught and saved for identification.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7442.html

I don't know... I think they're dancing around the whole death issue...

Fireworks in the Garden...

...courtesy of nature, well, and our friendly neighborhood plant hybridizers. When my daylilies, agapanthus and lilies bloom, I know summer's here for real. The lilies have come back on their own for a few years and the agapanthus are fairly new additions. I absolutely love agapanthus and don't care one whit that it's common. My orange Lion's Tail (Leonotis) is pretty fun too. You can just tell it doesn't take itself too seriously.

More front yard ridiculousness

Reason... OK, more likely public pressure... prevails:

Sacramento won't fine couple who let lawn die
By Matt Weiser - mweiser@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, July 3, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1

Sacramento couple who let lawn die to save water face $746 fine
By Matt Weiser - mweiser@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1

Their small brick home was declared a "public nuisance" in violation of city code section 17.68.010, which states that front yards "shall be irrigated, landscaped and maintained."

Irrigated? Check; she waters her ferns and hydrangeas.
Landscaped? Check; plants, trees and mulch.
Maintained? Check; plants alive... mulch behaving in an appropriately mulch-like manner. I see no violation here. Move along.

Love the hand-watered lawn next door. Kudos to the photographer.

I think she should install a chocolate garden... nothing but brown-colored flowers and foliage. No law against that. Or is there?

If it's watered and maintained and irrigated, then it's legal, correct? Seems to me the perceived offense is the lack of green. If so, then her neighbors with bermudagrass-infused lawns (a common sight in East Sacramento) are breaking the Green Law every winter unless they reseed with annual ryegrass in time to cover up... the brown. Ooh, maybe she should plant a combination of bermudagrass, oxalis and nutsedge. What a green lawn that would be. Ridiculousness.

Hey, Sacramento Veggie Gardeners

To those of you who were missing my SacramentoGardening.com veggie page while I was switching to the new design, I just got it back up. I renamed the page Edible Gardening, so note the new link.

http://sacramentogardening.com/edible_gardening.html