Tomatoes and pepper and herbs, oh my! Markets and tours will soon be popping up all around the Bay Area
The 25th annual Spring Garden Market brought to you by the Santa Clara Master Gardeners, will take place on April 13th, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Martial Cottle Park, 5283 Snell Ave, San Jose. This year's event is being held in conjunction with the Park's Spring Celebration, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The market is a fabulous, fun-filled, family event featuring tasty food, music, plant sales, gardening talks and tours throughout the day.
If you enjoy edible gardening or would like to learn, this truly is the event for you. Among the plants for sale will be 77 varieties of tomatoes from cherry and plum to classic and beefsteak, and 72 choices of peppers, from super sweet to fire-engine hot varieties.
If you haven't grown your own herb garden, we will have everything you need to get you growing. Growing herbs is a great project to start with your kids. Choose from 10 varieties of basil, and add in some chives, dill, oregano, fennel, lemongrass, even some chocolate mint.
This year our flower team has outdone themselves by seeding up more than 50 varieties of amaranth, celosia, cosmos, rudbeckia, salvia, sunflower, zinnia, and many other blooming beauties.
And, of course, we will have an amazing array of succulents. You can purchase individual plants to make your own creations or buy one of the gorgeous, pre-planted “works-of-art” that our succulent team has put together.
There will also be a number of educational talks on many topics such as container gardening, tomatoes, chiles and peppers, and how to grow succulents and native plants. Workshops will include how to care for and clean your garden tools, composting, controlling gophers and moles, and much, much more.
For more information visit the Master Gardener's website.
The Going Native Garden Tour 2019, now in its 17th year, will feature tours of more than 100 gardens from Morgan Hill to San Mateo showcasing California native plants. The North Bay tour is on May 4 and the South Bay tour is on May 5. Both run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit the website for more information.
The Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour will feature more than 30 native/Mediterranean gardens throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The15th annual tour takes place May 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Some gardens will feature live music, artwork, native plants for sale and plenty of activities for the kids. Visit the website for more information.
The 10th annual Spring Garden Market of San Mateo and San Francisco counties, a plant sale and educational fair brought by the UCCE Master Gardeners of San Mateo and San Francisco Counties, is April 13, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., San Mateo Events Center, 2495 South Delaware St., San Mateo. Visit the website for more information.
The 8th Annual Great Tomato Plant Sale will take place in three East Bay locations. Note that only cash or checks are accepted. Visit the website for more information.
- Central County Sale: Our Garden 2405 Shadelands Dr., Walnut Creek, March 30, 10: a.m. to 3 p.m.
- West County Sale: Richmond Public Library, 325 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond, April 6, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- East County Sale: Mangini Garden in the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds, 1201 W 10th St, Antioch.
by UC Master Gardener Rebecca Jepsen
This article first appeared in the March 14, 2019 issue of the San Jose Mercury News.
