West Valley Branch San Jose Library

This talk by Master Gardener Jim Maley will cover the wonderful marriage of tomatoes, chile peppers and herbs to create delicious salsa.  Information will be provided on the historical introduction of tomatoes and chiles from the indigenous peoples of the new world to the gardens and kitchens of Europe and Asia.  Proven garden methods for growing your own salsa ingredients will be discussed as well as recipes and special techniques such as drying and smoking chiles and tomatoes.

Learn from Santa Clara County Master Gardeners how you can grow orchids successfully.  If you already grow orchids, bring your own orchid to the talk and find out what you can do to make it grow better.  Growing orchids is easier than you think and very rewarding.  Come to this talk to be inspired!

Learn from Santa Clara County Master Gardeners how to select, plant and maintain healthy, ornamental citrus.  With a little planning, you can harvest citrus year-round from your own yard.  Many citrus grow well in containers as well as in the ground.  These plants are among the most rewarding to grow in California.

Learn how to have a beautiful garden with less work and less water.  Climate-adapted plants make gardening easy in our year-round dry climate.

Wed, Sept 17

Gardening in containers lets us garden anywhere - balconies, patios, driveways and more. With containers we can bring great tastes, textures and smells closer to us, and keep gardening manageable by choosing plants and containe sizes that meet our needs. In this class you'll learn the basics of container gardening: soil, water, fertilizer, container materials (clay, plastic, etc.), container sizes and common pests. Then you'll learn about a wide variety of plants that do particularly well in containers, with special emphasis on fragrant plants, plants that are fun to touch, and edible plants - herbs, fruits and vegetables, including ones that you can plant right now in September.

Join volunteers from the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County for a presentation on growing cool season vegetables.  The talk will cover the types of vegetables that grow during the cool season as well as tips on growing them, including those that grow well in containers.  This is the first of a series of four free events for 2008 by West Valley Library and the UCCE Master Gardeners.