Sacramento’s annual Harvest Day to be virtual for second year in a row due to COVID-19
The region’s largest educational gardening event will be virtual for the second year in a row due to COVID-19.
Harvest Day, set for Aug. 7, is sponsored by the UC Cooperative Extension and usually is held at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in Fair Oaks Park.
This year’s event offers a jam-packed schedule including a Q&A session and live webinar with this years’ keynote speakers. In addition, online tutorial presentations from the keynote speakers have been made available for viewing on the University of California Master Gardeners of Sacramento County YouTube channel since mid-July.
Judy McClure, Sacramento County’s master gardener program coordinator, said participants can expect to learn how to grow edible crops in small spaces and how to improve the atmosphere of healthy house plants.
“One of the purposes of the master garden program is to help gardeners grow healthy and productive gardens and landscapes, particularly edible crops and we’re teaching people to also be water-efficient,” McClure said. “So we’ve taken that virtually through online interaction with our master gardeners and also through videos that we’ve created over the past year.”
When held in person, Harvest Day usually attracts about 2,000 people. Since transitioning to a virtual platform, the event last year attracted about 1,000 people to its pre-recorded YouTube videos that ran in advance of the event and about 300 people, virtually, on the day of the event, according to McClure.
“The master gardener volunteers work very closely with the public and the university to provide information that we know people want and they need to grow healthy landscapes,” McClure said. “So we’re here to help the home gardeners including community gardens ... and we hope to see everybody in person next year for Harvest Day.”
Harvest Day is free to all participants and will take place online on Saturday, August 7, 2021, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register before the event to receive the link to participate.
“Our goal is to provide usable UC research information, including a lot of pest management, that home gardeners can actually use and be successful with,” McClure said.
Harvest Day live virtual event schedule
Live Q&A with keynote speakers
Speaker: Master gardener Fred Hoffman
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Speaker: Greg Gayton, California certified nursery professional
Time: 9:10 a.m. to 9:40 a.m.
Speaker: Master gardener Bill Krycia
Time : 9:50 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.
Live webinars
Speaker: Master gardener Quentyn Young, Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery manager
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 11:10 a.m.
About: Unusual edibles in the Central Valley
Speaker: Master gardener Lori Ann Asmus, owner of Emerald City Interior Landscaping
Time: 11:20 a.m. to noon
About: Tips for houseplant selection and care
Speaker: Master Gardener Ruth Ostroff, Sacramento Iris Society
Time: 12:10 p.m. to 12:50 p.m.
About: Growing bearded irises in the home garden
Mid-July pre-recorded events
Speaker: Master gardener Fred Hoffman
Topic: Growing food year-round: cool-season vegetables
Speaker: Greg Gayton, California certified nursery professional
Topic: Why choose raised beds?
Speaker: Master gardener Bill Krycia
Topic: Jazzed about citrus