May is upon us – the crowning of the May is actively happening in my garden. On Egreenway.com out of Red Bluff I ran across this timely quote by 20th century naturalist, writer, and photographer Edwin Way Teale: “The world’s favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May.”
So much activity happens in our gardens in May – much to be done and much to be enjoyed. (more…)
Wolfgang Rougle is a young woman with a sharp mind, an engaged spirit, a strong work ethic and a big vision. She is also the owner and market-farmer of 20 acres west of Cottonwood, named Twining Tree Farm, which she describes as: “a small farm located in the foothills of the Coast Range in the northern Sacramento Valley, at about 700 feet, in a sea of blue oak savannah.” Photo: A fleeting glimpse of Wolfgang Rougle, hard at work on her Twining Tree Farm west of Cottonwood.
A community activist for good locally grown food, and sustainable small farms, Wolfgang is also an eloquent writer and has authored a small book/manifesto entitled “Sacramento Valley Feast: How to find, harvest and cook local, wild food… All Year Long!” as well as being a regular contributor to edible Shasta Butte. (more…)
April is a busy, busy month in the garden. For most parts of the North State the alternating cool and warm, windy and still, damp and dry will keep us guessing. While there are really no hard and fast rules in gardening, the time for planting trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials is past – we are too close to hot, dry weather to make it easy or efficient. If you do choose to plant perennials now, pay close attention to their water and shade needs this summer. Photo: Pasque flowers (Pusatilla patens) in bloom very close to the “pascal,” meaning Passover or Easter, season. Right on time.
The very fact of spring, however, makes us gardeners want to plant and so keep your focus on your edible garden and getting ready to plant out your warm season crops like peppers, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. Average last frost in much of the Valley is about mid-April and so as you start taking tender starts out to the garden pay attention to the weather forecast and cover or bring these tender guys in.
Wolfgang Rougle of Twining Tree Farms outside of Red Bluff, sends this advice to edible gardeners and growers: Take the time now to kill all your weeds because most are about to flower and if you get to it now, you won’t have to do it twice. Chickweed in particular has already seeded; make a note of which beds had the most chickweed and consider not planting there next winter — just let it be chickweed for mineral-rich winter salads! Plant radishes for mid-April, turnips/beets for May, carrots for June. Plan to irrigate them. Your brassicas are probably all flowering; decide which you want to save seed from and destroy or faithfully pinch the blooms from the others, until they stop flowering. Cilantro is bolting but still delicious; break off the bolting shoots (you can eat them) to extend the greens harvest by a few weeks. It is too late to plant peas, sweet peas, and (yes) garlic!!! But a great time to set out transplants or sets of onions; leeks can still be seeded but transplants will do better and be more competitive with weeds. If sowing summer crops indoors, you should have started your okra. Tomatoes/eggplants/basil indoors should have first or second true leaves – a good selection of starts are available at area nurseries and farmer’s markets – and by the end of April to mid-May most of us will be ready to set them all out in the garden. You can start your cucurbits, but remember to sow them in individual cells or containers, not flats.” Photo: Brassicas in bloom at Twining Tree Farm. Pinch back and snack on the flowers or let go to seed and collect seed for next year’s crop.
With Spring come her mignons – weeds, aphids, wind and snakes included. Be patient – they will subside into a more relaxed balance soon enough.
While you’re trying to ignore weeds and aphids, April is a busy, busy month for gardening events around the region as well – let me tell you about a few highlights, but be sure to check the on-line calendar of events at jewellgarden.com – events are added close to everyday! I do my very best to keep the calendar up to date and accurate, please confirm all events with the event host’s contact information. If you are aware of a mistake on my calendar, please send me corrected info: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com! Thanks.
APRIL 2010
April 1 - Chico: Chico High School Greenhouses & Horticulture Plant Sale! 9am- 4pm, located at CHS Greenhouses off of West Sacramento Ave. We have pony packs of Early Girl and Beefsteak tomatoes ($2.00/pack), a lot of fern varieties in hanging baskets and in 4”- 8” pots. We also have a wide selection of foliage houseplants that would suit a houseplant lover. i.e. ornamental banana trees, umbrella plants, pothos, ficus trees. The prices range from $2.00-$9.00. PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE SCHOOL HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS. If you have any questions feel free to call: Quinn Mendez @ 891-3026 ext 381 or email: qmendez@chicousd.org
April 3 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Charlie Rabbit and Friends 9:30 AM. An interactive program in the Gardens (or Greenhouse in rain) for children, their siblings, parents and grandparents.Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery.
April 3 - Oroville: Annual Wildflower and Nature Festival 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at Riverbend Park. Event celebration of spring and wildlife in Butte county. Guided hikes, pony rides, face painting, educational booths, wildlife photogprahy, plant sales, art show and acrylic paintings. Deanna Simmons, 533-2011 or deanna@frrpd.com. Photo: Shooting star (Dodecatheon clevelandii) in bloom in March near Red Bluff.
April 3 – Redding: Wyntour Gardens KID’S EASTER BASKET PLANTING PARTY 10am to noon; kids get to plant an Easter Basket with colorful Pansies, FREE! Wyntour Gardens, 8026 Airport Road(1 mi. S. of the Redding Airport, next to Kents Mkt)Redding, CA Phone 365-2256 visit us on the web @ wyntourgardens.com or email inform@wyntourgardens.com.
April 3 - Chico: CSU, Chico Associated Students: COMPOST WORKSHOP 11am - 12 noon, Free Workshop on Composting at the Compost Display Area on the CSU Campus. Located behind Yolo Hall past the tennis courts along the railroad tracks. Please park in the Nettleton Stadium Parking lot (permit required) and walk to the compost display area. More info, cotnact As Recycling: 530-898-5033, or: asrecycle@csuchico.edu.
April 3 - Weaverville: Trinity Nursery Art Cruise - Art in the Nursery 4 - 7 pm. We will be kicking off the season on Saturday, April 3rd. View lovely art and visit with talented artists in the relaxed outdoor setting of the nursery (weather permitting, of course). Refreshments will be served.We are expecting the following artists in April: Debee Olson, Marge Heilman, Peggy Carr, John Heilman and Betty Pestoni. Please note our Art Cruise hours start and end earlier than those in the Historic District. More info: www.trinitynursery.com
April 6 - Chico: Chico Permaculture Guild presents suburban permaculture expert Jan Spencer 6:30 pm Quaker Meeting House in Chico. Jan is presenting as part of a speaking tour called “Global Trends-Local Choices: Creating a Safer, More Secure, and Greener Community.” Free and open to the public. If you are practicing permaculture, curious to learn more about permaculture, or would like to help your neighborhood and community come together to live in a more sustainable way, you can’t miss this opportunity to see Jan present! Jan’s presentation will touch on a wide variety of topics and issues including economics, “power shift”, social permaculture, changes in urban land use, neighborhood approaches, communities of faith, social cohesion and much more. Jan is making this tour to broaden the civic discussion about choices available given the deepening global trends. The tour’s goal is to motivate action and describe practical tools for helping to bring about a more peaceful and healthy world. For more info about the tour, property conversion, and to see Jan’s web site go to www.suburbanpermaculture.org. Quaker Meeting House is located at the corner of E. 16th Street and Hemlock in Chico, CA. Presented by Chico Permaculture Guild http://chicopermacultureguild.ning.com. Outreach for Chico Permaculture Guild - Kelly Baker –kellybiney@gmail.com
April 7 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society: Regular Member Mtg 7:30 pm Butte County Library, Chico. Regular Member Meeting and Program featuring George W. Hartwell speaking on Islands in the Lifestream: Uncommon Species in Unlikely Places. More info: Jim and Catie Bishop: cjbishop1991@sbcglobal.net
April 7 - 8 - Redding: Shasta College Reading Series with David Mas Masumoto, well known author of “Epitaph For a Peach” EVENT POSTPONED DUE TO FAMILY MEDICAL EMERGENCY - we will list new date when it is scheduled. More info: Author’s website: http://www.masumoto.com/who/index.htm
April 8 - Chico: Chico High School Greenhouses & Horticulture Plant Sale! 9am- 4pm, located at CHS Greenhouses off of West Sacramento Ave. We have pony packs of Early Girl and Beefsteak tomatoes ($2.00/pack), a lot of fern varieties in hanging baskets and in 4”- 8” pots. We also have a wide selection of foliage houseplants that would suit a houseplant lover. i.e. ornamental banana trees, umbrella plants, pothos, ficus trees. The prices range from $2.00-$9.00. PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE SCHOOL HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS. If you have any questions feel free to call: Quinn Mendez @ 891-3026 ext 381 or email: qmendez@chicousd.org
April 8 - 11 - Sacramento: California State Flower and Garden Show, California Exposition. This show is driven by the passion and enthusiasm of gardeners from all over the State. Highlighting the diversity, scope and interest of the California gardening community, this will be a true Flower & Garden Show with something for everyone. On April 9th and 10th Pacific Horticulture hosts a panel of garden speakers, including Jennifer Jewell of In a North State Garden at 3 pm on April 10th, with a talk entitled: Preaching the Gospel of the Garden. More info: 1-877-696-6668, Ext 4.; http://www.calstategardenshow.com/ Photo: Korean lilac in bloom in Hamilton City in late March at the home garden of Pam Geisel, Statewide Coordinator of the Master Gardener Program.
April 9 - Chico: Tree tour of the CSU, Chico Arboretum and Bidwell Mansion. 10 am at the Bidwell Mansion Gazebo. One and a half hour easy stroll discussing HORTICULTURAL, BOTANICAL, AND HISTORICAL info about the woody plants and trees in the CSUC-Mansion Arboretum. More info: Wes Dempsey 530-342-2293 or Gerry Ingco 530-893-5213.
April 10 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Essentials of Micro-Irrigation 9 a.m. - noon. Core Gardening Series. Back by popular demand! Learn all you need to know about easy-to-install, low-water usage, micro (drip) irrigation systems. Turtle Bay Horticulturist/Irrigation Specialist Jim Bailey demonstrates the basic construction of manual and automatic systems with emitters, micro-sprays, and all the necessary components. This is a hands-on workshop with an extended time period to allow us to actually put together a sample system. Turtle Bay members and volunteers FREE, nonmembers $3. Meet at Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Office - 1135 Arboretum Drive (Next to Greenhouse in Nursery) More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery
April 10 - Davis: UC Davis Arboretum, Spring Plant Sale 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., Arboretum Teaching Nursery, Garrod Drive, UC Davis Spotlight on outstanding water-conserving plants that require less frequent watering but still look terrific in our Mediterranean climate and make great additions to any Valley-Wise garden. What a great way to make your garden more “green” by saving water. Arboretum Teaching Nursery, on Garrod Drive across from the School of Veterinary Medicine on the UC Davis campus. Free parking is available in Visitor Lot 55. More info: (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
April 10 - Chico: CSU, Chico Associated Students: COMPOST WORKSHOP 11am - 12 noon, Free Workshop on Composting at the Compost Display Area on the CSU Campus. Located behind Yolo Hall past the tennis courts along the railroad tracks. Please park in the Nettleton Stadium Parking lot (permit required) and walk to the compost display area. More info, cotnact As Recycling: 530-898-5033, or: asrecycle@csuchico.edu.
April 10 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society FIELD TRIP Chaffin Family Farms and Table Mountain 12:45 pm meet at Chico Park & Ride for this trip to tour this diversified family farm at the base of and on Table Mountain, where we should see a great display of wildflowers as well! Wear sturdy shows and bring lunch and water. More info: Gerry Ingco 530-893-5213.
April 11 - 12 - Yankee Hill: Spring Fever Nursery & Gardens Open Days 9 am - 4 pm Rain or Shine - Come visit our beautiful gardens!!! See where we grow & propagate our perennials. Some hard to find, some heirloom, & some you’ve never seen before. Directions from Hwy 99: Take Butte College exit, east on Durham- Pentz, past Butte College, past Clark Road (blinking red light), right on Pentz (a stop sign), left on Hwy 70 (another stop sign), right on Lunt (no stop sign), hard left onto Yankee Hill Rd., right on Pinebrae, left on Wendy Way. 3rd gate on left. Park on the right. Parking is somewhat limited; carpool if you can. Overflow parking on roadside. Because there are pokey plants in the garden (and others that are easily injured), we would ask that you call to schedule a separate visit with your small children. Please, no dogs. Thanks!; nursery accepts cash or check. 5683 Wendy Way Yankee Hill. F More information: 530-990-1556.
April 12 - Paradise: Paradise Garden Club 1:00 pm Regular Member Meeting and Pot Luck. Terry Ashe Recreation Center 6626 Skyway Paradise, Ca. Program: Nancy McLain of McLain’s Bonsai Nursery. Nancy will be demonstrating how to bonsai and create a miniature nature garden. Possible sign-ups for a Bonsai workshop (small fee) at her home nursery will be discussed. More Info Call: 530-876-1926.
April 14 - Sacramento: Fair Oaks Horticulture Center/Sacramento County Master Gardeners OPEN GARDEN DAY 9 am - noon. Drop by to see our gardens on your own. Talk to Master Gardeners as they work. Ask questions, because every drop counts, we offer advice to grow by! Fair Oaks Park, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd. Fair Oaks, CA 95628. More info call: 916-875-6913.
April 14 – Magalia: Magalia Beautification Association 12:30 Regular Member Light Lunch and Program followed by Regular Meeting. Racine Center, 14109 Racine Circle (on the corner of Racine Circle and Wycliff Way, Magalia. More info: www.magaliagardeners.webs.com/ or Call 530-873-3273.
April 14 - Chico: Gateway Science Museum MWOW Lecture Series: Bugs in the System 7:30 PM at the Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) Center, 545 Vallombrosa Ave, Chico. Tonight’s Program: Bees through the seasons by Laurel Hill-Ward, California State University, Chico. A donation of $3 per adult is requested. Students with ID are free. More info: www.gatewayscience.org. Photo: Bug in the system, a leaf borer in the tip of a young peach tree branch.
April 15 - Chico: Chico High School Greenhouses & Horticulture Plant Sale! 9am-4pm-located at CHS Greenhouses off of West Sacramento Ave. We have pony packs of Early Girl and Beefsteak tomatoes ($2.00/pack), a lot of fern varieties in hanging baskets and in 4”- 8” pots. We also have a wide selection of foliage houseplants that would suit a houseplant lover. i.e. ornamental banana trees, umbrella plants, pothos, ficus trees. The prices range from $2.00-$9.00. PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE SCHOOL HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS. If you have any questions feel free to call: Quinn Mendez @ 891-3026 ext 381 or email: qmendez@chicousd.org
April 15 – Redding: Shasta Chapter Cal Native Plant Society Regular Member Mtg PLS NOTE NEW TIME AND LOCATION 7pm, Shasta College Health Science & University Programs building in downtown Redding, 1400 Market Street, Community Room 8220 (Southwest corner of Market & Tehama Streets). PROGRAM: Join us for a raincheck program by Michael Kauffmann, a science teacher, author of the hiking guidebook Conifer Country, and plant enthusiast from Eureka, about the Conifers of Northwest California. Michael will talk about the stunning conifer diversity fostered in our region, including the Shasta-Trinity Forest, the Klamath Mountains and the North Coast. Michael’s photographs, maps, and poster will offer us a peek at the wilderness that our Chapter enjoys. Michael’s website is www.conifercountry.com. A Board meeting will be held before the regular meeting, at 5:30 PM at Angelo’s Pizza Parlour in the Foundry Square, 1774 California Street, Redding. More Info: www.shastacnps.org.
April 15 - 17 – Redding: Shasta Chapter Cal Native Plant Society Shasta College Spring Plant Sale This 3-day spring extravaganza will be at the greenhouse/horticulture area of Shasta College. We will be selling our spring-blooming native plants, so call Susan Libonati at 530/347-4654 to volunteer for a few hours to help out. Sale: 8:00-5:00 Thursday and Friday; 9:00-3:00 Saturday.
April 17 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society FIELD TRIP to Propylite Hills in the Sutter Buttes 7:30 am RESERVATIONS REQUIRED $15 per person. Meet at Chico Park & Ride for this 5-mile hike lead by Daniel Barth over decomposed volcanic rock called ‘Propylite’ that forms rounded hills that boast great views and the possibility of a wonderful wildflower display. Wear sturdy shows, weather appropriate clothing, bring lunch, water and money for ride sharing. More info: Gerry Ingco 530-893-5213.
April 17 – Grass Valley: Redbud Chapter of the California Native Plant Society GENERAL INTEREST Name that Wildflower! workshop 8:30 am – 4:30 pm. Twin Cities Church, community classroom. Address: 11726 Rough & Ready Highway, Grass Valley. Workshop Fee: $25 for members of California Native Plant Society and $35 for nonmembers. Fee includes beverages, snacks and lunch. Pre-registration is required. Class limited to 25 people. Contact: Karen Callahan, penstemon@nccn.net or 530-272-5532. Immerse yourself in wildflowers for the day. Learn how to identify major plant families in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Spend the morning with plant specimens observing special features–hairy nectar runs, freckles, colored anthers, banner petals or seed pods. Become acquainted with various flower shapes: funnels, tubes, bells, bowls, stars, saucers and disks. In the afternoon, we’ll use our newfound knowledge out in the field to identify wildflowers. We’ll explore the unusual wildflower area next to the Church facility known as Kenny Ranch or “Hells Half Acre”. We’ll identify multiple wildflowers in bloom. Back by popular demand, professional botanists Linnea Hanson and Jenny Marr are teaching this workshop. Linnea works for Plumas National Forest, and Jenny works for the California Department of Fish and Game. The main reference guide for the workshop will be our Redbud Chapter’s beautiful new book: Wildflowers of Nevada and Placer Counties, California. The book is organized by plant families and will fit right into the workshop plan. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during the workshop in case you don’t already have one of your own. We’ll also use the Peterson Guide to Pacific States Wildflowers by T. Niehaus and C. Ripper. Bring your hand lens, too. We’ll have microscopes set up to give us a unique view of the plant world! Photo: California native flannel bush in bloom in Chico in late March.
April 17 - Chico: Eco-Fest 2010 CSU, Chico All Day. Kendall Lawn, West of Laxon Auditorium on the CSU, Chico Campus. The Environmental Action and Resource Center (E-ARC) will be hosting its 13th annual Ecofest on April 17 on the Kendall Lawn. We are all very excited to have another great event this year, with plenty of music, dancing, food, speakers, and enough diverse booths including GRUB and the Chico Permaculture Guild, for everyone. If you would like to sell something, prepare food, share information, create a fun and interactive booth, or simply represent your organization, you can do it all on this fun-filled day. Take this opportunity to celebrate Earth Month with great music and a ton of great people. If you are interested in participating, please contact:Brooke Langer, Environmental Action and Resource Center, BMU 301(530) 898-5676 earc@csuchico.edu
April 17 – McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Vegetable Gardening 10 a.m. - noon. Core Gardening Series. Join local organic gardener Cleo Lane for a lively discussion of vegetable gardening in our rigorous climate. Topics will include seasonal planting, growing more tomatoes, gardening with children, pollinators, pests and diseases, and organic methods. Turtle Bay members and volunteers FREE, nonmembers $3 Meet at Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Office - 1135 Arboretum Drive (Next to Greenhouse in Nursery) More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery
April 17 – Chico: Chico Horticulture Society: Great Nutrition and Fresh Food Choices Workshop for Families and Kids! 10:30 – 12:30. Where: 555 Rio Lindo, Chico (The Bloodsource Building); presented by Jona Pressman, Nutrition Program Manager for Butte County Food and Nutrition Program. The focus of the workshop is how to help families make food choices which can improve the nutritional quality of their meals. The workshop is designed to be interactive with children with hands on activities. They will also prepare and eat food as part of the learning process. The Chico Horticultural Club will talk about how home gardening can be a great family activity and can help families improve the quality of their food. We will provide a tomato plant to take home, along with instructions on planting and caring for the plant. Event is free, but Pre-registration is required for this workshop and minimum age is 6 years old. When you register we ask you to provide the children’s names and ages that will be attending. The registration deadline is Tuesday, April 13. To register please call Ana LaRossa at 892-1545.
April 17 – Sacramento: Old City Cemetery Historic Rose Garden Open Garden and Rose Sale 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Garden Tours, Rose Sales, Sale of Rose-related items, Silent Auction of special items and Door Prizes.The Rose Garden should be at peak bloom at this time, so come join in the fun, tour the garden and visit with your rosy friends. Sacramento Historic City Cemetery is located on Broadway at 10th Street, between Muir Way and Riverside Boulevard in Sacramento, California. Park across the street and enter at the main gate on 10th Street and Broadway. Photo: So-called “Riverside” landscape rose - tough as nails, blooms most of the summer with no supplemental irrigation - light fragrance. Shown here in bloom in Hamilton City in late March.
April 17-18 – Sacramento: Sacramento Orchid Society Show for more info: www.sacramentoorchids.org
April 18-19 - Yankee Hill: Spring Fever Nursery & Gardens Open Days 9 am - 4 pm Rain or Shine - Come visit our beautiful gardens!!! See where we grow & propagate our perennials. Some hard to find, some heirloom, & some you’ve never seen before. Directions from Hwy 99: Take Butte College exit, east on Durham- Pentz, past Butte College, past Clark Road (blinking red light), right on Pentz (a stop sign), left on Hwy 70 (another stop sign), right on Lunt (no stop sign), hard left onto Yankee Hill Rd., right on Pinebrae, left on Wendy Way. 3rd gate on left. Park on the right. Parking is somewhat limited; carpool if you can. Overflow parking on roadside. Because there are pokey plants in the garden (and others that are easily injured), we would ask that you call to schedule a separate visit with your small children. Please, no dogs. Thanks!; nursery accepts cash or check. 5683 Wendy Way Yankee Hill. More information: 530-990-1556.
April 18 - Redding: Shasta Chapter Cal Native Plant Society Plant Propagation/Clean Up Session 10 AM - 12 PM at the Shasta College greenhouses. The greenhouses are located at the back of Shasta College, near the livestock barns. We will be sprucing up from the previous days’ Spring Plant Sale, weeding, and potting up nursery starts and rooted cuttings. Bring rooted plants, clippers and any other tools you might need.Please call Susan Libonati at 530/347-4654 for further information.
April 18 - Chico: Chico Organic Gardening: Heirloom Tomatoes and More with Brian Marshall and Nancy Heinzel 1:30 - 3:30 at the Chico Grange; $15 fee per person payable at the door. Growing heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables With Nancy Heinzel and Brian Marshall of Sawmill Creek Farms - they will have plants for sale. Hosted by Chico Organic Gardening and Valley Oak Tool. To register follow links at: www.valleyoaktool.com; More info: hazel@valleyoaktool.com 530 342-6188. Photo: Garden tomatoes.
April 21 - Chico: Gateway Science Museum MWOW Lecture Series: Bugs in the System 7:30 PM at the Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) Center, 545 Vallombrosa Ave, Chico. Tonight’s Program: Top 20 questions I get at the Insect Zoo by Patrick Schlemmer, San Francisco Zoo. A donation of $3 per adult is requested. Students with ID are free. More info: www.gatewayscience.org
April 22 - 40th Anniversary of EARTH DAY!
April 23 - 25 - Loomis: Loomis Basin Iris Tour and Festival Leave winter behind and embrace the spring with free tours of three iris venues in the Loomis area; High Hand Nursery, Horton’s Iris Farm and Yarda’s Ditch Water Iris Farm. Start at High Hand Nursery to pick up your map and grab a gourmet picnic lunch prepared by the High Hand Café. Stroll through High Hand Nursery and purchase irises in bloom, or order specialty irises from Horton’s or Yarda’s. Check out the iris judging at High Hand Nursery, where growers enter their pride and joy and hope to be picked the best of the best. Each of the venues will be at their most beautiful and the weather should be warm and mild. For further information call High Hand Nursery at (916) 652-2065. Photo: Lovin’ the time of irises.
April 24 - Chico: 4th Annual Growing Healthy Children Walk & Run Celebration 8 am - Bidwell Park 1 Mile Recreation Area - 1 mile/5 k and Kid Sprint Events Race Starts Promptly at 9:00. First 300 kids registers get a free t-shirt! The whole Family is welcome at this FREE event! Preregister by April 21st and pick up your race day packets and T-Shirts on April 22nd and 23rd at Fleet Feet in Downtown Chico between 10 am and 6 pm. For more information or To get a registration form please email: Mnaiman28@yahoo.com.
April 24 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society FIELD TRIP to Dye Creek Preserve The Nature Conservancy 8:30 am Meet at Chico Park & Ride’s West Parking Lot. This 4 to 5-mile hike follows the course of Dye Creek where it passes through a pristine setting of volcanic buttes, hills, and blue oak woodlands before flowing into the Sacramento River. A good level of fitness is required. Wear sturdy shows, weather appropriate clothing, bring lunch, water and money for ride sharing. More info: Woody Elliott 530-342-6053.
April 24 - Davis: UC Davis Arboretum, Spring Plant Sale 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., Arboretum Teaching Nursery, Garrod Drive, UC Davis Spotlight on plant combos for terrific container gardening—inspiring ideas with combinations of All-Stars and others high-impact plants. Many of our suggested combos will highlight groupings you might see in the Arboretum’s popular Terrace Garden. Arboretum Teaching Nursery, on Garrod Drive across from the School of Veterinary Medicine on the UC Davis campus. Free parking is available in Visitor Lot 55. More info: (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
April 24 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay 9:30 am. A Walk with the Horticulture Manager, Lisa Endicott. Bring your notebooks and cameras for this participant-driven program. We’ll make our way through the Gardens with frequent stops for discussions about (what else?) plants! There’s something new to see every month! Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery.
April 24 - Redding: Whole Earth and Watershed Festival 10 am - 3 pm, Redding City Hall and Sculpture Park FREE ADMISSION. www.wholeearthandwatershedfestival.org
April 24 - Chico: CSU, Chico Associated Students: COMPOST WORKSHOP 11am - 12 noon, Free Workshop on Composting at the Compost Display Area on the CSU Campus. Located behind Yolo Hall past the tennis courts along the railroad tracks. Please park in the Nettleton Stadium Parking lot (permit required) and walk to the compost display area. More info, cotnact As Recycling: 530-898-5033, or: asrecycle@csuchico.edu.
April 24-25 - Redding: Home & Garden Show 10 am - 6 pm Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm Sunday, Redding Convention Center. $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, children 12 and under free. For more info: www.homeshowredding.com/Spring_Home_Show.htm
April 24-25 - Chico: Chico Bonsai Society’s Annual Spring Show 11 am - 5 pm on the 24th, 10 am - 5 pm on the 25th, Admission is Free. CARD Community Center 545 Vallambrosa Avenue in Chico. Show will feature Bonsai Display, Suiseki (Viewing Stones), Continuous Bonsai Demonstrations, Saikei (miniature landscapes, plant clinic, plant sales, Raffle, Door Prize. More Info: Pat Gilmore: 530-343-3447.
April 25 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society - Native Plant GARDEN TOUR Tickets are $8 and available at: Mendon’s Nursery, Floral Native Nursery, Little Red Hen Nursery, Lyon Books, and The Plant Barn. Featured gardens will include Jennifer Jewell’s home garden. Join the fun and help out this major fundraiser for the CNPS Mt. Lassen Chapter. More info: Jim and Catie Bishop: cjbishop1991@sbcglobal.net or Suellen Rowlinson suellen@garlic.com. Photo: View up a walkway in Jennifer Jewell’s home garden, featured on this year’s Mt. Lassen Native Plant Garden Tour.
April 25 - Redding: Shasta Chapter Cal Native Plant Society FIELD TRIP 8 am Redding City Hall Parking lot. Join Jay & Terri Thesken for a long, all-day, 8.5-mile wildflower hike on the Yana Trail in the Sacramento River Bend BLM area north of Red Bluff. River terraces topped with wildflowers, oak woodland, and the meandering Sacramento River characterize this beautiful area. Meet at 8 AM at the Redding City Hall parking lot, on the back (south) side of the building, next to Parkview Avenue. City Hall address is 777 Cypress Avenue. Bring good hiking boots (be prepared to hike!), water and lunch. Call Jay or Terri Thesken at 530/221-0906 for more information.
April 25 - 26 - Yankee Hill: Spring Fever Nursery & Gardens Open Days 9 am - 4 pm Rain or Shine - Come visit our beautiful gardens!!! See where we grow & propagate our perennials. Some hard to find, some heirloom, & some you’ve never seen before. Directions from Hwy 99: Take Butte College exit, east on Durham- Pentz, past Butte College, past Clark Road (blinking red light), right on Pentz (a stop sign), left on Hwy 70 (another stop sign), right on Lunt (no stop sign), hard left onto Yankee Hill Rd., right on Pinebrae, left on Wendy Way. 3rd gate on left. Park on the right. Parking is somewhat limited; carpool if you can. Overflow parking on roadside. Because there are pokey plants in the garden (and others that are easily injured), we would ask that you call to schedule a separate visit with your small children. Please, no dogs. Thanks!; nursery accepts cash or check. 5683 Wendy Way Yankee Hill. F More information: 530-990-1556.
April 27 – Red Bluff: Red Bluff Garden Club Regular Member Meeting 1:00 pm at 12889 Baker Road in Red Bluff. Program is Garden Photography, Speaker Lee Hebner, Crown Camera. For more info: www.redbluffgardenclub.com.
April 27– Chico: Butte Rose Society Regular Member Meeting 7:00 - 9:00 pm Meeting and Program. Chico Veterans’ Memorial Hall on Rio Lindo Avenue. More info: Call Neva Youngs 345-8005.
April 28 - Chico: Gateway Science Museum MWOW Lecture Series: Bugs in the System 7:30 PM at the Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) Center, 545 Vallombrosa Ave, Chico. Tonight’s Program:Biological diversity - What’s extinction got to do with it? By Jenny Marr, California Department of Fish and Game. A donation of $3 per adult is requested. Students with ID are free. More info: www.gatewayscience.org
April 29 - Chico: Chico High School Greenhouses & Horticulture Plant Sale! 9am- 4pm, located at CHS Greenhouses off of West Sacramento Ave. We have pony packs of Early Girl and Beefsteak tomatoes ($2.00/pack), a lot of fern varieties in hanging baskets and in 4”- 8” pots. We also have a wide selection of foliage houseplants that would suit a houseplant lover. i.e. ornamental banana trees, umbrella plants, pothos, ficus trees. The prices range from $2.00-$9.00. PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE SCHOOL HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS. If you have any questions feel free to call: Quinn Mendez @ 891-3026 ext 381 or email: qmendez@chicousd.org
April 30 – Davis: Center for Urban Horticulture, Sustainable Backyard Series: Roses. Topics covered will include budding & grafting, pest ID and management, beginner’s pruning, advanced pruning, new variety introductions, and landscape design with roses. To register or for more info: http://ccuh.ucdavis.edu/public or call Missy Borel: mjborel@ucdavis.edu.
April 30 - Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Festa Botanica! 4-8 pm, Member Party and Presale - Come on out to enjoy the McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay for their annual Festa Botanica! A Garden Celebration and Marketplace! with plant sales, garden tours, vendors, crafts, music and plant experts. Karen McGrath Garden Design and Jewellgarden.com host a wine bar and silent auction. The garden/plant oriented marketplace of close to 2 dozen booths will be IN the Nursery. 1100 Arboretum Drive, Redding. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery.
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In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California and made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In A North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is simultaneously universal and positively North State.
How’s the pruning going for you?
I’ve just finished pruning my ‘Pink Lady’ apple and ‘Santa Rosa’ plum trees. I am still working on the roses and grapes, but the fruit trees are done. It went pretty well this year – but then, I was really inspired this year. Photo above: The historic Camden House at Whiskeytown Recreation area seen through a shroud of 100 - 150 year old ‘Lady’ apple tree branches.
I don’t know about you, but pruning can be a tricky task for me. As an enthusiastic and long-time gardener, I know that I should prune my fruit trees and vines every year – for form, for production and in many cases for the long-term health and life of my plants. But some years, the task seems more troubling than others: I diligently study the sketches and graphs in the books and articles, I even take the diagrams out to my trees. I look at the book, I look at the tree. I look back at the book. Hmm. Sometimes the tree looks so differently than the book’s sketch that I am just not sure. Other times the tree looks great – so why prune? I have been known in gardens and seasons past to look one final time at the book, shake my head and take my book, my clippers and my intimidation back into the house for another time/season/year. Photo: Rico Montenegro discussing the growth of one of the old apple trees at the Camden House site. (more…)
Lynette Gooch loves lavender. All kinds of lavender for all kinds of reasons. In the United Kingdom the gardening world has things known as National Collections, wherein when a specific garden has more species or varieties of any one kind of plant than any other garden, they can become designated a National Collection. Private gardens and gardeners are as likely to hold National Collections as larger public botanic gardens. In the United States, we do not have such a scheme, but if we did, Lynette Gooch and her husband Richard might well hold the National Collection of lavender with their 207 different named varieties of lavender at the display gardens in Whitmore: Tuscan Heights Lavender Gardens.
Grown as a culinary and medicinal herb throughout the world, throughout time, lavender (Lavandula) is a genus comprising multiple species and hybrids. Species of the genus originate from the Mediterranean, Africa and Asia, and the genus thrives in the Mediterranean climate of the North State.
The Tuscan Heights’ story started in 1999 when Lynette and Richard, farmer/gardeners at heart, were looking around the North State with possible re-location in mind. Living in Roseville at the time, Lynette is from Calaveras County originally and of strong Italian descent, with fond memories of the large family production garden she grew up helping to tend with her father. “Of five kids, I seem to have been the most gardening inclined, which I think has helped me out here!” she tells me the warm summer day I toured around the gardens. “We were about to leave and head home when Richard by chance picked a local discount classified paper and happened to read about land in Whitmore. ‘Where’s Whitmore?’, he asked me. So we drove up, I got out of the car, looked around, breathed deeply, kicked at the dirt with my foot and said - This is it. Let’s write the check.” Although the sloping land was covered in poison oak, manzanita and blackberry, Lynette knew she was home. The Fern Fire had devastated the area 12 years earlier, and Lynette could see that the soil had begun to recover and was ready for any garden she might want to grow. Neither she, the land nor Richard knew just what that garden would become.
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“Food, food, food - it all comes back to food. Being able to grow your own food, understanding where your food comes from and having access to good, healthy food.” Max Kee tells me this as we walk around a two acre plot of land on which he and his fellow workers are cultivating vegetable and herb crops for a second year. Max, and fellow-CSU Chico classmates and friends Dresden Holden, Francine Stuelpnagel and Lee Callendar founded the Chico-based group known as GRUB in 2007. GRUB stands for Growing Resourcefully Uniting Bellies.
“It started with a bike ride…Well, it started with three of us wanting to attend a sustainability conference in Santa Barbara in the spring of 2007 and realizing that it would be counter-productive to drive a car to a sustainability conference. So we decided to ride - and on the way we talked a lot about what it meant to be sustainable and how best to be engaged in solution-oriented sustainability. And as we talked we kept coming back to food.” Max is walking me through fields where irrigation lines are being set up by two people, while others are seeding llong straight furrows and still another comes along behind the seeders and top-dresses with a layer of rich, dark fine compost. The sun is already warm early on this May morning and the next field over is already producing strawberries, while another field has asparagus plants now gone to fern. “When we got to the conference, Francine and Dresden attended a workshop led by a woman from San Jose, who had started a cooperative vegtable and fruit sharing program by cooperatively gardening in people’s unused back-yard space. Francine and Dresden were so fired-up, that our bike ride home from the conference was all about how to start such a cooperative of our own.” I should note that while Francine and Lee, a married couple, had always intended to start their own vegetable garden, none of GRUB’s founding four had any gardening or agricultural background or education to speak of. I should also note the importance of the bike ride in the inception and evolution of GRUB: it all started with a bike ride and all aspects of GRUB continue through bike rides as the primary sources of transportation, beasts of burden and, of course, fun.
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Even though many of us in the North State can and do work in our vegetable gardens year-round, March, April and May are such traditional vegetable seed and seedling start times that I have been focusing a lot of my energy on my raised vegetable beds these past few weeks. Finishing up the winter-grown veggies like bok choy, winter lettuce and the last of the bulbing fennel (which was delicious braised in a light chicken stock), gave me room for carrot, beets, spring lettuce, snap pea seeds as well as potatoes. I have just enough room left to put out my tomato plants and basil seeds when the night temperatures stay reliably above 50 degrees. Photo: Bulbing fennel.
Vegetable gardening, growing fruit and nut trees, berry vines, etc. - any gardening you do that results in an edible item, is often termed Edible Landscaping. I think the use of this “fancy” term was introduced in order to 1. Make it clear that you’re talking about gardening for food production, and 2. Suggest that vegetable and fruit gardening is every bit as attractive in the landscape as “ornamental” flower and tree-type gardening.
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Warm, smoky, mouth-watering and full-bodied. That was the dominant sensory experience on a walk around Nancy Heinzel and Brian Marshall’s market garden, Sawmill Creek Farm, in late summer. The entire garden was scented with the heady aroma of Hungarian peppers smoking over hickory chips at one end of the garden.
Nancy Heinzel and Brian Marshall are truly avid gardeners. That love and passion became much of their livelihood, “like all good things, by accident!” says Brian, “about 10 years ago,” when they decided to allow their 1-acre garden to continue on its ever-expanding way and become not just their garden but an outstanding market garden. Today, Nancy tends to the farm as her full-time job and Brian pitches in half time, his other half-time is spent as landscape designer and installer. Much of the goods from the farm are grown to sell at various markets around the area – including the Chico Thursday night Market and the Saturday Market in Oroville, April to November.
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Life is good. Really. November in the Northstate Garden sums up everything I love about living and gardening here – rich colors, abundant flowers and edibles, perfect weather – yes, even the rain - and nice people. After this past season of fire, economic chaos and seemingly endless politics – November in the Northstate is nothing short of a miracle.
On a crisp November morning, stand with a warming sun shining down upon you –in the middle of the Sundial Bridge in Redding watch the anglers and school children indulging in the beauty of one of our mighty rivers. Walk through the dappled sunlight beneath the sheltering trees of Chico’s Bidwell Park bikers and morning parents with children going this way and that. Walk the Feather River Fish Ladder in Oroville to see the salmon and steelhead struggling to make their way home. Hike Mount Lassen or the Trinity Alps. Take the drive to Lake Almanor. The greater Northstate Garden is one of the best inspirations by far for our own Northstate Garden.
In my garden – the leaves are beginning to change, some further gone than others. Persimmons hang fat and iridescent on the branches – sweetening up with the cool nights. I am cutting back the dead and the spent, top-dressing my beds with compost mulch. Some of the compost is from my own compost bin and spreading that always feels satisfyingly self-sufficient. Some people are sad at this particular cutting back of the year, but for me it feels freeing, things have gotten a bit overgrown and it’s time. And while we Northstate gardeners get to enjoy all four seasons we also get to enjoy the fact that while some things are now entering winter dormancy, others are just breaking their summer dormancy. Don’t be too quick to cut back plants that are still actively flowering – on these cold-morning/warm afternoons days the pollinating bees, butterflies moths and hummingbirds are still very active and they will reward your patience.
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Take “real food, community and sustainability,” season it with almost pornographically voluptuous photography of local foods, pair it with refreshingly well-crafted and interesting stories about the people who grow, raise, make or sell local food and you will have something close to an issue of edible Shasta-Butte. (http://www.edibleshastabutte.com) “A local business celebrating the abundance of local foods, season by season,” founded by husband and wife team Earl Bloor and Candace Byrne.
If you are familiar with what are known as the edible Communities Publications (www.ediblecommunities.com), you will know that edible Shasta-Butte is not alone in the world. At most recent count 44 edible (not literally, but the photos do make you hungry) magazines, which are all published quarterly, are being produced across North America - from edible Manhattan to edible South Florida to edible Vancouver and many more in between, rural and urban.
Candace and Earl are editor and publisher respectively of edible Shasta-Butte. They are both academics by profession, she an instructor of English at Shasta College Tehama Campus, and he the Dean of Mathematics, Engineering, Science and Health Occupations at Yuba College. While I am sure they are fabulous at their day jobs, I can’t help but feel they have hit on some sort of perfect confluence of academics, food, social-activism and community connection in their creating of edible Shasta-Butte. As academics, Earl and Candace have lived and worked in multiple places. He is Canadian by birth and she is native to New York. While living on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, they became interested in edible Cape Cod, and eventually Candace began to write articles for the publication. When the couple both settled in the Northstate in 2002, Candace began writing for edible Sacramento, “which was great!” she says. “But one day I said to Earl, ‘our region is so different from Sacramento and so rich in resources – we should just start our own publication!’” And they did.
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