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UC Master Gardeners of Monterey
and Santa Cruz Counties
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Dear Gardening Friends: 
We are aware our website has been sporadically unavailable over the past week. We apologize for any inconvenience. and extended the deadline to apply for the 2022 MG Training program to October 7, 2021. 

IN THE GARDEN
What to Do in the Garden
Application Deadline for 2022 Training Program Extended to 10/7
Water-wise Winter Food Gardening

CLASSES & EVENTS
Fall Plant Sale | October 11-24
California Native Plant Overview | October 12 (online)
Getting Started with Straw Bale Gardening | October 26 (online)

Thank you for being a part of our gardening community.

IN THE GARDEN

What to Do in the Garden


Many Central Coast Gardeners try to squeeze those last summer crops out of the garden with our unpredictable temperatures, but with the waning daylight hours, it's time to transition the garden, whether you choose to let your garden beds rest, get new beds ready for next spring, add California natives, or continue your food garden into winter.
 
  • September and October can be our warmest time of year, so it's wise to keep beds mulched to preserve moisture. Mulch is any material used to protect the soil. Keep mulch six inches away from the trunk or stem of the plant to minimize root or crown diseases. 
  • On one of our cooler fall days, plant perennials and California native plants. Fall is the best time to plant them, as the soil is still warm. Keep them watered until rain arrives and throughout the first year to establish the plant. Our California Native Plant Overview class can help you choose the right plant for the right place.
  • Plant cool season annuals, like pansies. One note: Plant sweet pea seeds now into December for a floriferous spring. You can plant them in late winter, but they won't be as robust.
  • Local planting schedules are listed in the Resources section. Plant cool season vegetables such as peas, greens, carrots, beets, radishes and Brassicas. Carrots grown in cooler weather tend to be sweeter. Other vegetables to plant include garlic, onions (bulbing) and artichokes. Note: Shorter days mean your crops will take longer to mature and have lower yield than they will in the spring. 
  • If you would like to prepare a new planting area for next year, our Getting Started with Straw Bale Gardening is a good primer for a low-cost, low-effort way to build the soil for spring.
  • Let your beds rest over the winter with cover crops to build healthy soil for next year. Cover crops help build moisture retention and get your soil ready for the next growing season with minimal effort.
  • Keep fruit trees clean by picking moldy or damaged fruit on and below the tree. Throw away diseased leaves to minimize the chance of pests and diseases overwintering in your garden. Check the fruit tree maintenance schedule listed in the Resources section.
  • Fertilize limes and lemons.
  • In our area, it's OK to leave dahlias in the ground after the first year. After the second year, dig them up. You may find you'll need to separate multiple tubers. You can store them over winter for planting next year. 
  • If you need help determining how to deal with pests or disease, please submit a help request with photos at our gardening advice line
  • Remove diseased leaves and stems and discard them in your green waste can. Do not add diseased plant material to your home compost or leave them in your garden beds. Some diseases can overwinter!

Applications for the 2022 UC Master Gardener Training Program has been extended to October 7.

We have extended the training program application deadline to October 7, 2021 due to website issues. If you are interested in joining the 2022 cohort, which begins in January 2022, the program application can be found here:
2022 UCMG Training Program Application

UC Master Gardeners of Monterey and Santa Cruz County are part of the statewide UC Master Gardener program. We offer training for a select group of trainees every other year. For additional information, read more here. 

If you have questions about the training program, please email classmanagement@ucmgmb.org.

Water-wise Food Gardening for Fall & Winter


Successful food growing can still happen during serious drought times, with intentional consideration of how to optimize water usage when planning the season’s garden.
 
Before you decide the what and where in your fall/winter garden, we recommend determining if there is extra water available beyond your basic household needs of cooking, bathing, etc. that is appropriate for use with edible crops. This would include rain collection systems, as well as captured tap water or well water (not to be confused with “gray water”). Captured water is uncontaminated water that does not enter the drain, such as a bowl of water used to rinse fruits and vegetables or buckets used to capture water while the shower warms up. Remember that collected roof water may have contaminants and should not be used for watering food crops where the stems and leaves are consumed. 

Gray water is untreated wastewater that has not been contaminated by toilet discharge. This can include waste water from your washing machine. Gray water is an option for irrigating your ornamentals but it should absolutely not be used to water root vegetables or any vegetables whose plant parts come into contact with the soil. This is due to the potential that human pathogens might be present. In addition, gray water is only suitable for ornamentals if the household products being used do not add salt, boron or chlorine bleach to the soil. County water agencies do indicate that gray water is safe to be used for fruit tree irrigation.

It’s planting time! We recommend the following key takeaways for successful fall/winter crops that use less water:

1. Compost, compost, compost! Add organic matter to the soil. If soil is sandy, it will allow the soil to hold more water. Organic matter will also help open up soil, allowing roots to go deeper and find more water at lower depths if there is any. Higher soil nutrition helps plants produce better yields with the same amount of water. Avoid adding excessive amounts of nitrogen, as this encourages lush leafy growth that requires more water to sustain.

2. Mulch, mulch, mulch! Three inches of mulch on top of the soil keeps soil cool, conserves moisture, and reduces weeds. You can choose from straw, fallen leaves, hulls, shredded bark, grass clippings, and newspaper. Be aware that the larger the material size, the deeper the layer that you need to provide. (Avoid plastic sheeting: it deprives the soil of  much-needed oxygen.) Keep the mulch two inches away from the base of the plant in order to avoid rot. When hand-watering, pull back mulch so that the water goes directly into the soil.

3. Use a drip system. Learn about individual plant moisture needs and plant/ group like-needs together on the same valve. Base this largely on the root systems of the plants. Monitor obsessively from the start so that any adjustments needed for specific plants can be made right away (including moving plants around at an early stage). If using in-line emitters in one-fourth inch tubing that use one-half gallon per hour per emitter and there is a length of ten feet with emitters spaced every foot, five gallons of water an hour is used on that section of tubing. Add up all the drip lines to determine total water used. Install a timer. Install shut-off valves at the beginning of drip lines in order to turn them off when an area is fallow or when blessed rain occurs. Irrigate only as long as it takes to moisten the active root zone. It is best to water in the early morning so that the soil stays evenly moist. Don’t forget the drip system once it’s set up, even if it’s working perfectly. They do require some light maintenance regularly. Another important benefit to drip irrigation is it largely avoids the fungus problems brought on by damp leaves from overhead watering.

4. Be selective. While prudent crop selection matters more during the summer season for drought years, the same practices of selection are wise for winter crops. Grow only the amount and types of vegetables that the household will consume. This is not the time to experiment with cool new products that won’t be tried and true for your household’s consumption. In other words, don’t grow vegetables you know your household won’t eat! This may seem obvious but space and resources are precious. To get the most out of the water you apply, grow high-yielding vegetables that do not need consistent moisture if there are unexpected hot spells during the season. Perennial herbs generally thrive in our winter climate (i.e. sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram and mint are true ‘workhorses’). And consider the water needs according to plant growth timing. For example, peas need water most during pod filling. And if possible, select varieties that are described as “widely-adapted” or drought-tolerant, as well as those varieties that have a shorter maturity time.

5. Increase plant spacing. If you have room, increase the plant spacing in your garden. Spaced plants are not competing as much for water in the soil, especially in containers and above-ground beds. (Very deep, open soil planting allows vegetables to be closer together because the roots have more room to grow deeper and find water if present.) 

6. Eliminate weeds. Weeds compete for water. Be aggressive in removing them from planted areas. If the garden is mulched well (see #2), weeds should pull out quite easily.

7. Use shade and windbreaks. Heat-sensitive vegetables (most winter crops) can benefit from being planted where they receive some afternoon shade. You can plant them (i.e. lettuces, with very shallow roots that would not compete with deeper roots for water) underneath or behind taller plants. In addition, windbreaks will keep your garden’s plants from drying out too much in areas with a lot of wind (often our coastal areas). 

8. Determine wisely when it is time to water again. Use a soil moisture meter. Or squeeze the soil in your hand: if it sticks together, it is still moist; if it is crumbly and falls apart, it’s time to water. Adjust any drip irrigation to fit the timely needs as the season progresses.

-- UC Master Gardeners Charlene McKowen and Barbara Davidge, adapted from “Food Gardening with Less Water”/ February 2014, SCMG (dePeyster, Wrightson, Cary).

CLASSES & EVENTS

Our fall plant collection features drought-tolerant, fire-resistant, and native and/or pollinator perennials with a robust selection of winter vegetables. The collection also includes succulents, grasses, groundcovers, houseplants, planted bulbs, and herbs with over 20 varieties of salvias and sages, various buckwheats, ribes (currants), echinacea - and many other flowering shrubs and plants. 

Seasonal/specialty items include 8 new varieties of bulbs sold in gift bags (several native, several critter-resistant), hand-painted clay pots with gorgeous mature coleus plants, skulls decorated with succulents, giant (Crackerjack) Mexican Marigolds for seasonal arrangements, 7 varieties of California native seeds in handcrafted origami envelopes--harvested and cleaned by UC Master Gardeners from native plants from our Watsonville Demo Garden, and the opportunity to purchase sturdy 5-gallon grow bags, complete with our proprietary Premium Blend potting soil.

Our online nursery will be open October 11-24, with order pickup available at our Salinas greenhouse.

California Native Plant Overview

When: Tuesday, October 12, 5-6:30 pm (online)

Gardening with Native Plants Native plants provide the beauty and foundation for healthy ecosystems. Did you know that Santa Cruz & Monterey Counties are home to 1,000+ native plant species? This diversity creates options in landscape designs and offers ways to work in harmony with nature. Native plants local to your site are uniquely adapted to thrive in your soils and once established, on natural rainfall.

A panel of expert UC Master Gardeners will give you the tools for selecting and locating the right plants for your location. Whether you are gardening in containers, have a small yard or a larger plot, native plants can add resiliency to your landscape, help you protect natural resources, and preserve our states biodiversity.

Participants will receive practical handouts, plant lists, tips, and strategies to maximize results.

Register for California Native Plant Overview

Getting Started with Straw bale Gardening

When: Tuesday, October 26, 5-6:30 pm (online)
There are so many reasons it makes sense to start a straw bale garden in the fall.  Master Gardeners, Anastatia and Delise will provide guidance on how to procure, place and season one or more straw bales which will soften to become garden beds that provide spring and summer vegetables for up to 2 years, then decompose into the ground leaving behind beautiful, rich composted soil.

Straw bale gardens are a low-cost, low-effort way to grow fresh food, flowers and herbs and are ideal for both renters and homeowners.

Register for Strawbale Gardening

GARDENING RESOURCES

Do you have specific gardening questions? Ask a Master Gardener!
Visit our website to use online form to get Advice to Grow By!

Planting Schedules: Santa Cruz County (PDF) | Monterey County (PDF)

Soil HealthIntroduction to Healthy Soil

Growing BerriesGrowing Berries in Your Backyard

Growing Fruit Trees: California Backyard Orchard | Fruit Tree Maintenance Calendar for Home Orchards

Growing Vegetables: California Garden Web Guide to Growing Vegetables | Plant Diseases for Vegetables and Melons

Class Resources
Our collection of class resources features links to our online classes, presentations and handouts, including Irrigation Basics, Backyard Composting, California Native Plant Seed Collecting, Container Gardening with Veggies and more.

Copyright 2021 UC Master Gardeners of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties

Our all-volunteer organization offers no-cost & low-cost research-based gardening and landscaping advice to the home gardeners in our beautiful Central Coast region. For more information on classes, resources, and advice, please visit our website.
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