UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

University of California

UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

September in Sonoma County

Succulents Plant Sale

Thursday, September 27, 2018, 9:30 - 12:30 and
Friday, September 28, 2018, 9:30 – 12:30
Jail Industries - 2254 Ordinance Road @ Airport Boulevard, Santa Rosa, CA

Come to the 2^nd Annual Succulent Sale with Demonstrations and Information tables hosted by the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County in Partnership with Sonoma County Jail Industries. Choose from a selection of 2000+ Succulents, propagated by the Master Gardeners and over two acres of perennials, shrubs, California Natives and trees propagated by Jail Industries.

Come early for the best selection and to get tips on Container Care, Soil Mixes, and Fertilizers. Parking Available, Cash or check only, ATM at Santa Rosa Airport. View poster.

Kendall-Jackson Harvest Celebration

The Second Annual Kendall-Jackson Harvest Celebration takes place at the beautiful Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate & Gardens on Sunday, September 30th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County is Kendall-Jackson’s beneficiary and highlighted non-profit! Our mission to provide environmentally sustainable, science-based horticultural information to residents of Sonoma County and that of Kendall-Jackson align beautifully! The gorgeous venue will inspire your gardening ventures!

Enjoy farm fresh produce straight from the garden, live cooking demonstrations from renowned chefs, unique plates from select local purveyors, dynamic educational seminars and demonstrations, and exceptional Kendall-Jackson wines. Participate in demonstrations and discussions led by the Master Gardeners: Home Beekeeping & Honey Tasting, Small Scale Food Gardening, Beneficial Insects & Insect Hotels, Crafting with Succulents, Fire Wise Landscaping, and much more! Admission is $150 general, $120 for wine club members.

Invite family and friends to learn more about sustainable gardening while having a delightful afternoon!

For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

New Firewise Article

Firewise Home Garden Design, Limbed up trees. Photo by Mary Lou Milkoff

A new article, Firewise Home Garden Design, has been added to our Firewise series. This article provides very straightforward and valuable advice on making the property surrounding your house as firesafe as possible. It's short and to the point, well laid out, and will provide a good basis for your planning and efforts to make your property less vulnerable to fires. Read it! Then get out those shears and start pruning and removing deadwood and debris!

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.

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

Transitioning to the Fall and Winter Food Garden

Many cool weather veggies are the most nutritionally dense crops that we can grow. Plus, a fall garden is less work: when cooler weather and rain arrive, there are less pests and we have to irrigate less (pray for rain!). But, many gardeners are frustrated with their attempts to have a thriving fall and winter food garden. That's because they are missing some very important information used in planning the garden transition from summer to fall. Find out what that information is.

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
Succulents Plant Sale - Santa Rosa at Jail Industries	9/27/2018
Kendall-Jackson Harvest Celebration - Fulton	9/30/2018
Firewise Practices for Home Landscape - Sonoma	10/6/2018
Supermarket Orchids Survival Class - Healdsburg	10/6/2018

View More Events

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

Sundays with Sue

By SCMG Sue Lovelace
Updated: September 23, 2018

Hi All. We are back from a lengthy trip to the East Coast. We had a great trip, but it is good to be home! The little welcoming committee of Poppy, our black lab, and 5 chickens, made it clear we were missed. Long time (getting longer all the time!) high school friend, Cheri, lovingly watched over our home and pets while cooking up a storm (Caponata, salsa, pickles, relish, apple bread pudding, etc.) with fresh produce from the garden. I was glad I took the time to remove a spent squash and replant with cool weather lettuce, Bok Choi, kale, cabbage, cilantro and chard before we left the end of August. Coming home to salad material to eat with the still-on-the-vine tomatoes and cukes was as good as you can get (next to lobster, of course!)

As a tourist in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, I marveled at the beauty and uniqueness of each place we went. Traveling home from the airport, I appreciated the beauty and splendid versatility of the Bay Area! Can you imagine what tourists from other areas must feel when driving along the California Coast, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time, or viewing miles and miles of golden hills lined with vineyards and their floral-tressed wineries?!!

A couple days after getting home, I visited the gardens at Kendall Jackson Winery with other Master Gardeners who will be participating in the Harvest Festival there on September 30th. The primary purpose of this festival and the garden is to “educate people on the importance of fresh food,” according to garden manager, curator, and organic/sustainable garden visionary, Tucker Taylor. I have written about this garden before but I never fail to be impressed, sometimes overwhelmed, and incredibly inspired by it, and Tucker, who has had a rich history designing and growing organic food gardens including the French Laundry in Yountville. At KJ, there are rows and rows, plus several hoop houses, full of unusual produce like spigarello, celtuce, salsify, Malabar spinach, and yard long beans, which are all surrounded by thick hedgerows of beneficial attracting plants and flowers. It’s not surprising to hear that the produce grown here caters to Michelin-rated chefs and restaurants. Endearing to all of us, is a chicken coop housing chickens he brought with him and has raised from “chicklinghood.” A visit to this garden is what I call, “a good day”!

Have a great week!

“The hum of bees is the voice of the garden.” Elizabeth Lawrence

Master Gardeners in Print

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

Divide up bearded iris, plant bigger bulbs for bigger blooms, 8/17/2018

Harvest time is here. Now what?, 8/3/2018

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