Blog by Brenda Altman
What winter already? Don’t leave that garden empty. Plant winter crops now. Pick up USDA organic plants at the Solano Community College (SCC) plant sale, October 8 and 9, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Plants are hardened and ready to be planted directly into your garden. Pick out kale, spinach, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. All carefully nurtured and started from seed by students in the horticultural classes at SCC.
The plant sale helps fund all the extras at the Horticulture Department. The department works on a potato shoestring budget, so it’s a win-win when you buy your winter plants. So, as the saying goes, “money doesn’t grow on trees”, “it grows on plants”! Enjoy the hard work of the students.
The horticulture program covers a myriad of subjects. Some you just pick up to improve your gardening skills, while others can lead to a job or higher training at a four-year college. If you want to learn by doing, these classes are down and dirty. Check out the plants and check out the program!
Speaking of winter crops, don’t forget the garlic! Spring bulbs ready for planting are appearing at the local nursery stores. Don’t use store-bought garlic as the bulbs are treated with a growth inhibitor to keep them from sprouting. Check out the whole world of soft neck, hard neck, and elephant garlic. Start them now alongside your plants from the SCC horticultural plant sale.
Pick out the larger cloves from a bulb. Plant garlic about 4” deep, pointy side up (like little buried garden gnomes, in rows about 12” apart. You can experiment with the spacing, but you just don’t want them competing for nutrients. Keep them moist, but hey, it’s winter nature that supplies the rain. Harvest when the leaves turn brown and flop over in the spring.
Plant Sale: October 8 and 9 at Solano Community College, 4000 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield, Building 1000. It’s in the parking lot at the back of the school.