with Jonathan Draper, Alameda County Master Gardener
While some insects attack our vegetables, others are a great help in the garden. Come find out how to get and keep the insects you want. Alameda County Master Gardener Jonathan Draper will introduce us to beneficial insects and their use in organic gardening. He will cover a variety of his favorite “good-guy” insects and some of the “bad guys” that they eat or attack. Learn what plants you can integrate into your garden to bring in the good guys and what you can do to keep them around.
Soil, with Dolores Morrison, Alameda County Master Gardener
Alameda Backyard Growers will have a booth at this event, and volunteers who can help answer questions about growing your own food!
Weeds! With our wet winter and spring, many of us have a bumper crop despite our best efforts. This presentation will address why weeds are invading our landscape, tips on identifying your weeds, ways to manage weeds, and how to prevent them with mulches that don’t harm your health or the environment. You’ll also learn how using weeds as indicators of soil conditions can be helpful when fixing problem areas in your landscape.
About our speaker: Sherry Dunn is an Alameda County Master Gardener from the class of 2016. She is currently a backyard gardener with fruit trees and vegetables both in the ground and in containers. She loves sharing what she’s learned about weeds and how to manage them.