UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

University of California

UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

August in Sonoma County

Upcoming Workshops on Fire-Related Issues

The following series of workshops is presented by UCCE and features topics of interest to owners of both smaller and larger properties.

Aug 24	Before Fire Strikes: How to Prepare Your Home & Create a Resilient Rural Landscape
Sep 22	Master Gardener Workshop: Firewise Practices for Home Landscape - Santa Rosa
Sep 29	Farming 101 Workshop: Maintaining Healthy Livestock in the new Era of Antibiotic Restrictions
Oct 6	Master Gardeners Workshop: Firewise Practices for Home Landscape - Sonoma

For full details on time, location, topic summary, and registration, see Workshops for homeowners, rural landowners and small-scale livestock operations

Also, we have added four important new publications under our "Firewise Landscaping" index in the left navigation bar - just click on the button to see the index. All our previous articles fire-awareness articles are also available in this index.

Planning for a More Resilient Future in Our Gardens

A group of Sonoma organizations have collaborated to develop a series of front yard landscape templates that demonstrate Firewise and sustainable landscape practices. These design templates will be made available for use by the community in rebuilding new landscapes. The team plans to replace existing high-water-use landscapes in front and backyards of some of the homes on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus with these low-water-use demonstration gardens, so you can actually see how beautiful they are. Read more about this exciting project here.

Food Gardening

Minding the Food Garden in the Dog Days of Summer

August and September are months of abundant harvest in Sonoma County. Be sure to pick your warm weather crops at their peak. Keep your eye out for pests and take precautions to combat abiotic crop symptoms caused by extremely hot weather. And plan for the fall garden--it's right around the corner. Read more.

Watch the new Sudden Oak Death Video

The Sudden Oak Death team at the University of California Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources has just released a new video that is well worth watching. There's a lot to learn here, all presented with great visuals to aid our understanding of Sudden Oak Death. Makes learning about SOD easy!

Growing a Thriving Vegetable Garden with Less Water

The Food Gardening Specialists (FGS) of the UCCE Sonoma Master Gardeners are excited to present water-wise food gardening strategies. Given our hot, dry summers along with the prediction of extended drought, we can’t afford to waste a drop. This video demonstrates how home and community gardeners can grow a thriving vegetable garden with less water. In addition, this video is complemented by a planting scheme and a drip system instruction and shopping list that reflect the 4x8-foot demonstration vegetable bed in the video. Click here for these documents along with additional helpful documents for food gardening with less water.

Ask a Master Gardener
Questions and Answers from the Helpline

Watch to Learn What Master Gardeners Do

Fight Invasives!

Master Gardener-staffed Help Desks are located
at Sonoma County Farmers' Markets and Fairs

Master Gardeners are volunteers trained by the UC Davis Cooperative Extension.

Sonoma County Master Gardeners will provide environmentally sustainable, science-based horticultural information to all of Sonoma County’s population. We strive for diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our organization.

UCCE Farm Advisor: Stephanie Larson, County Director

SCMG Coordinator: Mimi Enright

Workshop Calendar

Event Name	Date
Fall Food Gardening - HFH Santa Rosa	8/25/2018
Healthy Gardens Weed Management - Sebastopol	9/1/2018
Honey Bees: Pollinators and Honey Makers - Healdsburg	9/1/2018
Growing Perennial Vegetables and Small Fruits - Sonoma	9/8/2018

View More Events

Find links to past workshop handouts under Resources/Workshop Handouts.

Sundays with Sue

By SCMG Sue Lovelace
Updated: August 19, 2018

Hi Everyone. I can not write about my week in the garden without mentioning Rosie, our cat, who was a constant companion. Whether on morning strolls, heavy duty weed pulling, or planting for the current season, she was there to lounge, chase bugs, explore or contemplate (at least it looked like she was contemplating) the world around her. About 8 years ago, I was so impressed with her love and exploration of the out of doors, that I created “Rosie’s Tea Garden”, an area along the side of the house where Rosie frequently went to lay in the sun or frolic amongst the plants. There was an arch, a fountain, an antique table and chairs, and numerous cat statues and plaques that were fun to pick up, here and there, and place in view and sometimes out of view for others to try and find. In recent years, the area has been a roaming ground for the chickens, but Rosie didn’t seem to mind as the chickens dug in planters and scratched dirt and dust on her little kitty relics. In fact, once after worrying about her disappearance all night, we found that she had been mistakenly locked in the chicken coup where she had gone to enjoy a warm nap during the day! She loved the companionship of the chickens as well as our black lab, Poppy.

A daily harvest, shown here in the pictures, were picked as Rosie, her body old and tired and her eyes barely able to see, laid on the patio knowing I would enjoy her company as she enjoyed mine. We said goodbye to Rosie yesterday and buried her in the garden, created for her where all of us humans and creatures will know how much she enjoyed her life in the garden.

Have a good week and enjoy the Harvests!

“Time spent with cats is never wasted.” Sigmoid Freud

Master Gardeners in Print

The Garden Doctors
Dana Lozano & Gwen Kilchherr, The Press Democrat

How to use homegrown rosemary, 7/27/2018

Which is more flammable? Rubber or wood mulch?, 7/13/2018

Garden Wisdom
Sonoma Magazine 7/2018

"The article Garden Wisdom in the July 2018 Sonoma County Magazine highlights Sonoma Master Gardeners' focus on fire-safe landscaping, features a photo of Master Gardener Ann Lowings in her garden, and includes quotes from Master Gardener Mimi Enright."

Red Flag Warnings

SoCo Correspondent Emagazine, 7/2018

"The July issue of the emagazine, SoCo Correspondent, reprinted an article on Red Flag Warnings from the FireSAFE series on our website, written by Master Gardener Phil McRae... read it from the FireSAFE series, or, read it as published by SoCo, here."

Webmasters: Kim Roche, Stan Pawlak

Website Editor: Penny Fink

Food Gardening Editor: Stephanie Wrightson

Staff Photographers and Videographers:
Cie Cary, Electra de Peyster,
Coby Lafayette-Kelleher, Laura Salo Long