Workshop focuses on basics of harvesting seeds
HOLTVILLE – As the weather warms with the approach of summer, plants in your garden may be going to seed. Before pulling up or tilling under those plants, their seeds can be easily harvested and saved for next winter’s crops.
Plants in your garden that are most likely bolting (entering seed production mode) due to the warmer temperatures are lettuce and cilantro. Before removing these plants to make way for your spring or summer crops, it’s worth taking the time to harvest the seeds.
A workshop offering an introduction to seed saving will be held at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Desert Research Extension Center at 1004 Holton Road in Holtville. The event is hosted by the University of California Cooperative Extension Imperial Cal Fresh Program. All new and experienced gardeners are invited to attend. Register at https://ucanr. edu/Seeds.
Kristian Salgado, the new UC Master Gardener coordinator for Imperial County, said some of the benefits of saving seeds for future crops include having varieties that have adapted to local growing conditions, saving money otherwise spent on starter plants, reducing the risk of introducing disease to a home garden, sharing plants with other gardeners and perhaps having access to varieties that aren’t available in stores.
At the workshop, we will talk about how to select seeds to save, identifying them, how to clean and care for the seed and how to plant it the next season for successful germination, she said. She added that people will be able go into fields at the Desert Research Extension Center that have been allowed to go to seed specifically for the workshop for some hands-on experience.
During the workshop, Salgado will also be providing information about the new UC Master
Gardener program and how to participate.
She has been working for the past three years for the University of California Cooperative Extension-Imperial County, Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) program, as a Community Education Specialist II. In this position, she has worked with ranchers and farmers in the low- desert region brainstorming, applying for and successfully being awarded state funds that support the adoption of CSA practices to help sustain their operation in the face of climate change.
On April 1, Salgado, a Calexico native, took on the position of the UC Master Gardener Coordinator for the Imperial County, the 53rd county in California to start such a program. Since then, she has been busy setting up the program, visiting established gardens and networking with gardeners in the area. She hopes to launch a 15-week training program in January for the first group of people who want to become volunteer Master Gardeners.
“People are so excited to have the program started,” she said, explaining that her role is to provide the resources and support for the volunteers. “A lot of great people in Imperial
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Valley are eager for the Master Dec. 29, 1928 Gardener – Apr. 22, 2022 program. We want to make the program what the volunteers want it to be. Every county is different.”
The public’s interest in home gardening has been evident, and likely increased during the pandemic, she said. In October, UCCE hosted a weeklong gardening workshop that attracted considerable interest from local
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Founded in 1980, the UC Master Gardener Program is a public service and outreach program under the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, administered locally by Cooperative Extension county offices.
In exchange for training from the university, UC Master Gardener volunteers agree to donate 50 hours the first year and 25 hours in subsequent years taking on projects, teaching classes, perhaps helping with a school garden and in other ways sharing information and providing support to gardeners.
Master Gardener volunteers in California have donated more than 6.8 million hours since the program’s inception in 1980, encouraging healthier and more productive community and home
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gardens. They promote sustainable Aug. 4, 1931 – landscaping Apr. 24, 2022
practices, water conservation, water quality, green waste reduction, wildlife enhancement and energy conservation. They also promote a healthier ecosystem, helping manage invasive and endemic species by educating communities about invasive species and safe alternatives. As an undergraduate at San Diego State University, Salgado double
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