|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Whether you’re looking to hone your gardening skills, explore local farms and orchards or learn about architecture, you’ll find plenty of opportunities on the Peninsula. Check out our June home & garden events calendar.
Learn about perennial edibles
6:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 5 | virtual. Hosted by Menlo Park Library | Free | Registration required
From artichokes to rhubarb, collards, blackberries and more, you can grow great food in your garden.
Master Composter Lori Caldwell will talk about the many benefits of growing your own food and the healthy soil building techniques to increase yields, keep down pests and diseases, and use less water during this 1-hour zoom presentation. Participants also will learn about the best crops for our area and the easiest to grow.
The Menlo Park Library holds Garden Talk events on the first Wednesday of each month. More information.
Farm volunteer days
9 a.m. – noon, Wednesday, June 5,8,12,15,19 | Hidden Villa, 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills | Registration required.
Help Hidden Villa’s farm team care for food grown in the fields for the local community. Volunteers are needed to help remove weeds from the farm fields as well as assistance with other tasks. Participants should come ready to get dirty. The farm recommends wearing clothes that you’re okay with getting dirty, sturdy boots and a sun hat. Bring a water bottle and snacks, if you like.
Volunteers meet at the front of the property at 9 a.m. and then head out to the fields from there.
Hidden Villa grows on about 7 acres of land, producing food for the community and donating 25% of the harvest to the food bank at the Community Services Agency of Mountain View. Anyone under the age of 18 will need to be accompanied by a guardian.
Hiking among the redwoods, flowers
5-8 p.m.., Monday, June 10 | Thornewood Preserve, 707 La Honda Road, Woodside | Free | More information
Explore a variety of wildflowers, redwood trees and ferns with docent naturalists Liz F. and Mike Lohr during this 4-mile moderately paced hike along the Bridle and Schilling trails at Thornewood Preserve. This route encompasses one steep hill and some uneven terrain. You’ll descend from chaparral into a redwood forest. No dogs please. Meet at the Thornewood Parking Area on La Honda Road.
How to establish healthy soil in your garden
6:30-7:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 11 | Virtual event | Free | Registration required
UC Master Gardener Mint Pasakdee will share various tips on how to improve garden-soil fertility from adding compost and growing cover crops to the proper application of bio-fertilizers during this 1-hour presentation on Zoom.
‘Gardening in Summer’ 6-week course
10 a.m.-noon, Wednesdays, June 12 – July 17 | Palo Alto Adult School, live online via Zoom| $75 enrollment fee | Registration required
In this six-week course, participants will learn the latest in proper techniques and organic treatment for insects and plant disease and water-wise problems. Instructor Sherri Bohan will show participants how to have a wonderful vibrant garden this summer and how to start a vegetable garden for fall in summer. Flowers, kitchen gardens, herbs, lawns, natives and much more will be covered. Bohan has been teaching organic (sustainable) gardening classes for 25 years and has over 40 years of professional experience in local residential garden maintenance, construction, irrigation, soil, consultation and design.
All levels of gardening experience welcome.
Summer nights at Filoli
9 a.m.-noon., Wednesdays & Thursdays, June 12-Sept. 19 | Filoli, 86 Cañada Road, Woodside | Cost is $38 (general admission), $36 (seniors), $28 (children) | Tickets and information.
Wander FIloli’s gardens after-hours during the historic property’s Summer Nights program. Guests can relax on the lawn and watch the sunset, listen to acoustic music and see what’s in bloom on the property during the summer months. In June, the gardens are popping with color from camellias, peonies, roses and lavender. To find out more about what’s blooming in the gardens, see Filoli’s Bloom Calendar.
Food and drinks are available for purchase during the event.
Help prep Filoli’s orchard for the summer
9 a.m.-noon., Friday & Saturday, June 13-14, Gentleman’s Orchard at Filoli, 86 Cañada Road, Woodside | Registration and information.
Spend the morning in the Gentleman’s Orchard as you help Filoli’s Horticulture team mulch, weed and prune the historic fruit trees to prepare for a summer harvest. During the learning break, hear about the history of the orchard and how to care for fruit trees. The project is open to all experience levels. Physical requirements include bending, kneeling, lifting, reaching and the ability to carry 20 pounds.
Participants receive free admission to Filoli on the day of the program.
Free summer seeds at local libraries
Not sure what to plant as summer approaches? Head to your local library. Several public libraries on the Midpeninsula include seed libraries stocked with vegetable, fruit, herb and native flower seeds that residents can bring home and plant for free. You can find the seeds stored in old library card catalogs at most libraries that offer this service – and you don’t need a library card. Available seed varieties are rotated seasonally according to optimal planting times for our area.
Rinconada, Menlo Park, Belle Haven, Mountain View and Redwood City public libraries are among those that operate seed libraries in the area. Contact your local library for more information.
Explore Palo Alto’s historic corridors
Self-guided walking tours by the Woman’s Club of Palo Alto | various Palo Alto corridors | More information
The Woman’s Club of Palo Alto offers three self-guided walking tours along various corridors in Palo Alto that explore historic places and homes related to the club’s early members. The digital guides provide a look at the families, architecture and history of the historic corridors along Homer Avenue, Ramona Street and Embarcadero.
See the site where early resident Lee De Forest, known as the “Father of Radio,” invented theAudion vacuum tube in 1906 that led to the modern radio. Learn about University AME Zion Church, the first African-American church on the Peninsula. See historic homes with unique architecture along Cowper Street, as well as other points of interest. The Woman’s Club of Palo Alto originated in the 19th century during the Woman’s Suffrage movement and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Movement and its members played a role in the successful local drive for California women’s voting rights in 1911.