UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

University of California

UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

August in Sonoma County

Come see the UC Master Gardeners of Sonoma County Demonstration Garden at the Sonoma County Fair from August 3-13, 2017!

In this year’s Master Gardener demonstration garden at the Sonoma County Fair, we are demonstrating the principles of sustainable gardening. Rain water from the roof runs down from the gutters into a dry creek bed that takes water away from the foundation and directs it to a rain garden that allows the water to percolate into the soil and recharge the aquifer. All the colorful ornamental plants in the garden are no- or low-water use plants. To increase the soil’s ability to retain moisture, we’ve covered the soil with a 3” – 4” layer of mulch.

Keep your garden “green” by using materials in your garden that are permeable (like our decomposed granite patio), recyclable, and natural (like our mulch). Composting kitchen & garden waste reduces the amount of landfill and feeds microbes in the soil. It’s easy to build a compost bin similar to the one in the demonstration garden.

Growing your own food is fun, and it tastes so much better than store-bought produce. Our food demonstration garden at the County Fair shows how to grow great herbs & vegetables in our climate. Check out the drip irrigation in the raised beds, maximizing watering efficiency. And lastly, to create a habitat inviting to birds and bees, we just need to add plants to attract pollinators and provide cover as well as a source of water and good nesting sites. Visit our Sustainable Home Gardening web page for more information on the 7 key principles of sustainable gardening.

First Winner of County Fair UC Master Gardener of Sonoma County Sustainability Award for 2017

#26 Cinco de Mayo Junior Garden, winner of a Master Gardener award plaque and $50. This garden demonstrated a nice overall installation and design with bright colors for the Cinco de Mayo theme. The meadow like arrangement included some low water use plants including Carex testacea, Lantana, Salvia, Gaillardia. The layout included an excellent demonstration of permeable surface with a mulched pathway leading to a wood bench. Nice job!

The runner-up junior garden featured Earth Day. This garden feature some sustainable practices with information signs on composting, growing food, use of mulch, and recycling materials for garden art. The garden included a good use of pollinator plants such as Yarrow, Verbena and Alyssum. Well done!

Master Gardeners at the Santa Rosa Vets Farmers' Market

Farmers' Markets in Sonoma County
Sonoma County farmers' markets are in full swing. You'll find a Master Gardener information table at most of them. Do you have gardening questions? We have gardening answers! Stop by--we'd love to meet you. Click here to find out the markets where you'll find us!

Food Gardening

Maximizing Harvest

veggie harvest - summer - creative commons

Once crops are harvested, many food gardeners find that consumption cannot keep up with high summer production. Wasting food is undesirable. Proper storage is key to extended enjoyment of our garden harvest. Read more.

GardenSense - On-site WaterWise Garden Consultations

Sonoma County residents wishing to schedule a garden consultation can click here.

Sonoma County Master Gardeners are partnered with the Sonoma County Water Agency on a project called GardenSense. The project is intended to help local gardeners further improve their water conservation practices. A free on-site consultation by a pair of GardenSense Consultants will demonstrate to residents how to easily conserve water (and save money) by creating a climate-appropriate garden that is healthy, environmentally sound, and most of all – beautiful!

Master Gardeners participating have received special training enabling them to become specialist Consultants to advise Sonoma County gardeners how to improve the water efficiency of their gardens.

Topics covered in consultations include advice on lawn removal, low water use plants appropriate to your site, conversion of sprinklers to drip irrigation, an irrigation assessment including overall suggestions for improving water efficiency, and sustainable garden practices.

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

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: Paul Vossen

SCMG Coordinator: Mimi Enright

Interested in becoming a master gardener? Click here for information and the application for the 2018 training program.

Workshop Calendar

Event Name	Date
The Transitional Food Garden- Harvest for the Hungry- Santa Rosa	8/26/2017
Plant 4 Pollinators-Rincon	8/26/2017
Health Care for Succulents- Harvest for the Hungry- Santa Rosa	9/9/2017
The Transitional Fall/Winter Food Garden	9/9/2017

View More Events

Find links to workshop handouts under Resources/Workshop Handouts.

Sundays with Sue

By SCMG Sue Lovelace
SUNDAYS WITH SUE - Updated: August 13, 2017

Don’t you just love it when you can walk out to your garden and come back with dinner?! As I’ve mentioned before, I like to harvest tomatoes, squash, eggplant and peppers, then throw them in a cast iron pan with onions and garlic and roast slowly for an hour or two. I then add fresh basil for a few minutes and voila!, a sauce for pasta, polenta or whatever! Sometimes I run a Immersion blending wand through it for a smoother sauce. Can’t get any yummier than that, right?! Sautéd pole beans and sliced cucumbers round off the meal. Dessert? Oh yes. fresh fruit either eaten fresh or in a pie or cobbler is great if you aren’t already too stuffed!

Speaking of fresh fruit, we picked our first ‘Indian’ Peach. The tree is so full this year with good size, somewhat unattractive, fruit (kind of a brown/gray skin). However, cut the fruit open and “wow”! Greeting you is a bright red streaked flesh that tastes wonderfully sweet. Another bonus to this peach is the fact it is late season, meaning you can look forward to another peach once the early and mid season ones are off the trees. Huge, for us peach lovers!

Veggies and fruit are not the only bounties in the garden right now. Flowers are begging to be picked, as well. Zinnias like to stay in the the garden until their necks develop strength, then make an amazing addition to bouquets of sunflowers, amaranth, cosmos, alliums, and incredible foliage like cotinus and physocarpus.

Harvest time can be overwhelming as well as a blessing. Hang in there; try to pace yourself (Hardy Har Har!). If you get a chance, on Facebook let me know about your harvest and what you are doing with it. Hard to believe fall planting is just around the corner!

“You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces—just good food from fresh ingredients.” Julia Child

Master Gardeners in Print

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

If your garden is tired, it might be time to test its soil

Why do my tomato plants look unhappy?

Over the Garden Fence
Steve Albert, Kenwood Press

Vegetable watering tips

Made Local Magazine
featuring Spring Gardening Tips by Sue Lovelace
(Pollinator Friendly Garden &
Grow Your Own Food)
and Susan Foley (Low-Water Gardening)

Form and Foliage
Delight your senses: visit Sonoma County Master Gardener Sara Malone's Form and Foliage blog. Janice LeCocq, photographer of Sara's Petaluma garden, gives us her unique perspective.

https://formandfoliage.wordpress.com/

Webmasters: Kim Roche, Stan Pawlak

Food Gardening Editor: Stephanie Wrightson

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

Information Desks:
Santa Rosa: (707) 565-2608
M-F 9-12, 1-4
email: mgsonoma@ucdavis.edu
(If clicking this link doesn't work, type the email address in your email program)
or bring plant problems in for analysis
Locations/REQUIREMENTS

Click Here to request a Garden Sense consultation

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