UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

University of California

UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

May in Sonoma County

Spring into Summer Food Gardening!

veggie harvest - summer - creative commons

With the air and soil temperatures rising, it is time to start planning and planting our warm weather vegetable garden. Nothing beats the taste of home-grown tomatoes--unless it’s home-grown eggplant, cucumbers, tomatillos, squash and peppers. Read more.

Food Gardening

Parsley

Q: Who is the king of herbs?
A: Elvis Parsley.

Not quite, but parsley is found in almost every herb and vegetable garden because of its many seasoning uses as well as its ease to grow. Master Gardener Food Gardening Specialist Jennifer Dornbush shares how to successfully propagate this essential herb. Learn 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
Native Trees of the North Bay - RP/Cotati	5/25/2019
Fake News in the Garden - Central Santa Rosa	6/1/2019
Firewise Landscape-What Can You Do Now? - Harvest for the Hungry- Santa Rosa	6/8/2019
Planting for the Fall and Winter Begins in August - HFH Santa Rosa	8/3/2019
Fall/Winter Food Gardening - Windsor Town Green	8/10/2019

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

Sundays with Sue

By SCMG Sue Lovelace
Updated: May 17, 2019

Happy Soggy Sunday! This weather system was certainly unexpected for the middle of May, but a good wetting of the ground and plants is not so bad. I’m not entirely sure how my row covered tomatoes will react to all the rain and cold weather; however, I am glad I had not mulched around the tomatoes yet. (If you have added mulch, make sure to clear mulch away from the base of the plants to prevent excessive moisture from rotting the crowns, a good practice with or without rain.)

I’ll keep row covers on the tomatoes and peppers until this system passes and temps warm up. The wind protection (the winds have been heavy!) they offer might be helpful. When I look at my favorite Agastache (‘Rosy Giant’) in the front yard, leaning way over from the wind, I wish I had given it support, too.

There are so many positives to gain from the rain; I am not complaining. The soil will be just perfect for planting pole beans and corn. The multitude of self seeded poppies are so happy. Speaking of such, in the fall I had scattered poppy seeds given to me by Linda Simmons, a Dear Master Gardener who had passed away. They are coming up all over, some planting themselves in between native poppies and the European poppies. I am hoping to have photos to show next week.

With the respite from the rain on Friday, I removed the flowering ‘Giant Red’ mustards by cutting them off at ground level, leaving the root and its colony of microorganisms in the soil. The rest of the plant went into the compost. They certainly have been the plants that keep on giving! I sifted (grrrrr!) and put compost in its place to plant the bean seeds into next week.

Through the youth gardening project with our own local master gardener organization (we offer consulting and resource info to school and other youth organizations), I’ve been fortunate to witness some amazing learning about sustainable food growing opportunities for children. The experience of seeding, growing, harvesting, food preparation, as well as soil ecology and composting has elevated the knowledge level for children to new heights. My latest adventure involved my granddaughter’s class field trip to the HEAL Project on a farm near Half Moon Bay.

Many classrooms of children are taken to the HEAL Project every day where they learn about healthy eating “from the ground up.” They are introduced to different plant parts (seeds, flowers, roots, stems, leaves, and fruit), then walk to the field to harvest some examples of each which are brought back to the large outdoor kitchen to prepare a meal. They were taught to use a cutting board and small knife with which they cut up red and white cabbage, carrots, onion leaves, edible flowers, with additional squash and pumpkin seeds. Heated tortillas and beans became a bed for the veggies, fruits and flowers. For dessert, the children were invited to a large strawberry patch where they could pick two large, luscious strawberries, each. An additional activity was to search through wheelbarrows full of compost to see what critters they could find. An educational experience for everyone!

We’ve had a problem with rats in and around the chicken coop and have tried, to no avail, to locate entry points. Therefore, I acted on information from granddaughter, Lola, that rats do not like Rosemary (another field trip to Elkus Ranch) and placed cut rosemary all over inside and outside the coop. Another tip from fellow master gardener, Cheri Olhiser, was to place perforated containers of pine scented cleaner in and around, careful to have a secure vessel that the chickens cannot get into or tip over. I tried that, too. Keep in mind that neither of these tips are scientifically proven to be effective, thus as a master gardener, I can not recommend them. Personally, any other tips will be gladly accepted! (Via Facebook.)

“A rainy day is a perfect time for a walk in the woods.” Rachel Carson

Master Gardeners in Print

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

How to make a beautiful hanging basket 5/3/2019

What is the best season to prune fruit trees? 4/19/2019

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