Harvest Day is Saturday: Tips for reaping the benefits

"Farmer Fred" Hoffman will be the first speaker at Harvest Day 2018.
(Photo courtesy Fred Hoffman)

Sacramento area's biggest free gardening event offers priceless inspiration
By Kathy Morrison Harvest Day is about the most fun gardeners can have outdoors and still keep their fingernails clean. The UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County present the free annual celebration of gardening 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks. The event is so packed with demonstrations, tastings and talks that it’s almost overwhelming. But we can help. Here are the Sacramento Digs Gardening bloggers' tips for making the most of Harvest Day. Get there early: Harvest Day annually attracts about 2,000 visitors to Fair Oaks Park. The best (and shadiest) parking spots fill up quickly. That’ll give you time to check out the schedule and grab a good seat for the first speaker: radio celeb “Farmer Fred” Hoffman at 8:30 a.m. Fred’s going to talk about garden time savers: “Automate, Elevate, Eliminate and Delegate.” And you can bet he’ll have some fun with that topic. Walk the whole garden:

Plants are well-labeled in the Water-Efficient Landscape.

You can’t do it all at once -- you’ll miss the other speakers -- but make sure you visit all corners of the Horticulture Center, from the compost area to the orchard, the water-efficient landscape (WEL) to the vegetable garden. You’ll be amazed at the information you soak up. Find out about good bugs: Karey Windbiel-Rojas, a UCCE expert in integrated pest management (IPM), is certain to have great tips for attracting beneficials to your garden. (Her talk starts at 9:45 a.m.) We all need to help the insects help our plants. Bring your gardening questions: You can ask them of any Master Gardener (they’ll be wearing badges), and if they don’t know the exact answer, they know three or a dozen MGs who specialize in exactly that topic. Plus, there will be about 30 educational tables staffed by organizations ranging from the Audubon Society to the Regional Water Authority. Pick a topic, any topic: Chickens! Roses! Bees! Trees! You get the idea.
Start planning for 2019: Write down names of cool veggies you see growing. Make notes on which of the grapes taste best. Look at how plants are grouped together in the water-efficient landscape. Learn how to set up a compost bin. At 11 a.m., go hear Quentyn Young, a UCCE Master Gardener and manager of Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery. He’ll tell you about “Unusual Edibles for the Central Valley” that you might plant this fall or next spring.
Bring cash or checks: You’ll want to buy the 2019 Master Gardeners calendar ($10), for sure, and the MG sales don’t take credit cards. And you might want to buy a grapevine ($9), or a worm composting bin ($25), register for the fall bulb workshop ($35) or, a highlight this year, make your own solar-dyed botanical scarf ($12). Visit the vendors: Buying a plant at Harvest Day seems like the best kind of affirmation, so some new little perennial always comes home with me. (Note: Plant sellers will let you stash your purchases, so you don’t have to walk around all day with your salvia waving.) But there also will be folks offering garden art and garden tools, among others. And food trucks will have items for coffee breaks, lunch and dessert. Finally: Wear a hat and sunscreen.

It's August: Be prepared!

Take a break occasionally, and drink plenty of water. You wouldn’t let a plant wilt in this heat, so don’t treat yourself any worse.