San Carlos Community Garden

Did you know that San Diego’s Mediterranean climate of mild wet winters and warm dry summers is found in only five areas of the world? When deciding which plants to include in your landscape, you might want to think about which ones are native to this climate and drought-tolerant. Keep in mind that many plants have their own defenses for survival (such as poisonous parts, barbs, toxic sap, etc.), which may not be very good for humans. Recently UCANR (University of California... Agriculture and Natural Resources) published a new brochure called Plant Safely in Drought-Tolerant Landscapes to inform the public of potential problems with some drought-tolerant plants. In the brochure, the plants that should be handled with care are divided into three groups of potential problems: contain toxins do not eat contain toxic sap do not touch contain thorns or spines or skin irritants In future posts, I will highlight some of the specific plants in this brochure, but for now you can see it here as a downloadable pdf: https://ucanr.edu/sites/PlantSafely/files/328194.pdf I plan to highlight some other drought-tolerant natives that you might want to consider planting as well.

If you're interested in learning about planting native plants that can help you keep your garden bird-friendly, you might want to listen to this presentation tomorrow night at 7:30 on Zoom. Details are in this link: https://santabarbaraaudubon.org/program-plant-for-birds/

Join us for a magical evening in the beautiful San Carlos Community Garden. Nicole teaches a heart based restorative Hatha class that aligns beautifully with Liz's otherworldly voice and variety of instruments - singing bowls, native drum, chimes etc. Nicole has a deeply rooted practice and has embraced yoga for 26 years, teaching since 2009 and loving it! Liz discovered her gift of sound healing 8 years ago and she has been sharing it in yoga classes and sacred ceremonies ev...er since. They have been involved at San Carlos Community Garden since May of 2020 and enjoy growing food and flowers in their 2 plots. More info on its facilitators can be found at: http://www.nicolepisciotto.com/ https://rootedlivingwellness.com/

With all the heat we’ve been having, you might be wondering about when to plant cool-weather crops. We are finally cooling down a bit and now is the time. Before you plant, be sure to clean out your harvested summer plants and amend your soil. You can add some organic matter, such as compost and worm castings. Here’s a link to some tips about preparing a fall crop from This month in the garden on the SD Master Gardeners website. https://www.mastergardenerssandiego.org/res...o//item-wp.php What vegetables will thrive in the cooler weather? There are many to choose from: beets, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, garlic, kale, leeks, lettuce, onion, parsnip, peas, potato, radish, spinach, turnips. For more specific information on each of these, go to: https://www.mastergardenersd.org/vegetable-planting-guide/ If you have an interest in growing herbs, you might want to try some of these this season: parsley, thyme, rosemary, culinary sages, winter savory, dill, and fennel. Let us know how your cool-weather crops are doing!

Butterflies & Cosmos at the garden today!

The garden hosted a painting class this past Saturday! A big thank you to local artist and master gardener Coko Brown for leading the class. It was a great way to celebrate Fall and enjoy the garden!

Are you interested in learning about growing herbs? Master Gardeners of San Diego will be presenting a free online class "Growing Fresh Herbs for Cooking" on October 17th at 10:00am. Sign up for the class here: https://ucanr.edu//soca/Healthy_Garden-Healthy_Home/herbs/

Master Gardeners of California is presenting a mini conference starting today, Tuesday, September 29 and ending on Thursday, October 1. All sessions are free and open to the public. The sessions will be live on Facebook and YouTube as well as recorded to view at later times. No registration is required. Sessions include information about growing houseplants, composting, fire-safe landscaping, and preserving your harvest. There will also be presentations on the top three winn...ers of the "Search for Excellence" awards for programs around the state. The San Diego MG organization received the first place award for its new "Reminiscence Gardening," which brings gardening sessions to facilities working with seniors in memory care. The other two winners are about gardening with underserved communities and working with schools. Here is the link for the schedule and all the details: bit.ly/2020MiniMGConf See more

In the Garden with Deborah I’m so excited to share a must see movie called Kiss the Ground. It just came out on Netflix and it’s based on the book of the same name. It’s a hopeful and informative documentary about how we can make a positive impact to the health of our planet by nurturing our soil. There’s a mantra that I abide by in the community garden as well as with landscape clients; FEED THE SOIL not THE PLANT. That means we don’t fertilize our plants, rather, we enrich the soil. Healthy soil is the foundation of healthy productive plants. I hope you’ll watch the movie and feel free to share what you think. https://www.netflix.com/title/81321999

Legacy Tiles line the Amphitheatre with color and art abound! Did you paint one of these tiles?

What was your most successful harvest this year? I grew several types of squash, including zucchini, yellow, and red kuri, but I had one superstar zucchini plant. This plant had a rocky start with its leaves getting quite eaten up at first, but I nursed it back to health. Then the plant kept growing and growing, even vining into new sections every few weeks. That one plant started producing the first week of June and is still giving us zucchini today! I’ve included a pho...to of one of the last sections still producing as well as a couple of harvest photos. So what have I been cooking with all that squash? Here are a few of the things I’ve made with photos of some: zucchini stir fry squash blossom stir fry stuffed zucchini ricotta stuffed blossoms zucchini/potato/onion/tomato casserole and tian zucchini bread (some marbled with chocolate) zucchini cinnamon bundt cake chocolate/chocolate chip zucchini cookies baked kuri with maple ginger glaze What have you been cooking with your harvests? Please share!

Sam Sayegh installs new educational signs for native plants in the San Carlos Community Garden. A QR code enables extensive plant information to be gathered when a picture of it is taken.

Come on in and set a spell in the shade of the eucalyptus tree.

The red okra plants at the garden are beginning to bloom!

Are we ripe? Not yet but soon!

Come on in! The garden is open on Saturdays from 9:00 to 11:00, February thru November.

It’s September already! Summer is starting to fade away and you might be thinking about getting your garden ready for fall crops. Of course here in San Diego, September can be hot and dry (Santa Ana winds), so what should you know about working in the garden this month? Here’s a link to This Month in the Garden on the Master Gardener website. You’ll get some general information as well as a list of specific topics of what to do this time of year, ranging from taking care of your trees or roses to planting vegetables for the new season. https://www.mastergardenersd.org/september-in-the-garden/