Test PB Collection: FTE

If you are committed to sharing and teaching information to others, the Master Gardeners of Sonoma County offer you the opportunity to learn and to use your knowledge of gardening to serve the community.

In years with ample rainfall, gardeners can choose from a broad palette of food crops for planting in late summer for fall and winter harvests. But with an especially hot and dry summer expected to last into early fall or longer, it makes sense to tailor late-season planting for drought conditions.

Prepared by Kathleen Fitzgerald-Orr, Certified Master Food Preserver, UC Master Food Preserver Program of Sonoma County.

Next to the main entrance to the Sonoma County Regional Library, the Petaluma Library Garden is habitat for birds, butterflies and other beneficial insects and critters.

Tips for growing root celeriac in the Sonoma County home garden; this odd-shaped root vegetable related to celery, carrots, parsley, and parsnips has starchy flesh similar to potatoes. Its subtle, celery-like flavor has nutty overtones, often described as a cross between celery leaves and parsley.

Until potatoes arrived from the New World, parsnips and their carrot relatives were the most important Old World root crops. Besides an important food source, they were also used as a sweetener.

Planted in late spring, grown in summer, harvested in fall, then stored during winter, winter squash occupies a unique niche in the home garden. This member of the Cucurbitaceae (cucumber or gourd) family includes many species and varieties, some familiar, many colorful with unusual shapes.

Identify and manage weeds when young and before they produce seeds, without the use of chemicals.

Fruit trees need water to set and nourish fruit. When water is at a premium, there are some actions that can be taken to help your trees survive drought. With reduced moisture, trees grow slower and fruit is smaller. Under the most severe conditions, leaves wilt, burn, and trees may die.

This tender perennial from southeast Asia is one of the most highly scented herbs. For best success with its longevity, grow clumps in pots that can be moved in the cool season to a protected location where it will not suffer from winters cold.