Harvest Festival Begins Saturday! Fall may have started officially last Friday, but around Orchard, Fall really gets going when Harvest Festival begins. Pumpkins have been arriving all week by the truckload! The farm animals are arriving Thursday – I can’t wait to see what animals we’ll have visiting this year! Scarecrows and Harvest displays will be in their full glory by Saturday. If you need help getting into the Fall spirit, Orchard is the place to be! We’ll have events every weekend for the month of October. Here’s what’s going on here this weekend.

Saturday, October 1st

10-12 - Roses 2012
Once again, Orchard’s rose expert, Bonnie Brusseau, presents what’s new for 2012, and offers helpful information on the care and cultivation of your roses.

10-2 - The Art of Luminarias
Artist Alejandro Bassi shows his wares and the techniques used in creating these festive lanterns.

1-3 - Hydroponic Veggies All Year
Come meet Greg Thiel of Hydrofarm, the nation’s oldest and largest manufacturer of hydroponics equipment and grow lights, and learn how to grow strawberries, tomatoes, and lettuce year-round from the convenience of your own home.

2-4 - Latin Guitar
Lively Latin music with artist Alejandro Bassi.

Sunday, October 2nd

11-12 - How To Build A Ribbon Wreath
Our Flower Shop Gals teach you how to build a simple and whimsical seasonal wreath. Then you can choose from a variety of materials to create your own at home.

12-2 Golden Ticket - Charlie Hinton
An acoustic duo specializing in rock and pop covers.

12-2 - Mangia! With Bella Cucina
Meet Chef Marjorie Brewster, and taste ‘Artichoke Lemon Pesto’ their most popular pesto with a beloved combination of artichokes and fresh squeezed lemon.

2-4 - Urban Chickens
With the increasing interest of families in keeping chickens, an informal organization has hatched with the laughable name, CLUCK—City of Lafayette United Chicken Keepers. Papa John Kiefer provides education, support and networking for local chicken families.

Fall Classes
 
Tuesday, October 4th , 10 am – Fall and Winter Vegetable Gardens – Learn what vegetables to plant now for Fall and Winter harvests. Many vegetables that can be planted now beat summer vegetables’ nutritional value by a landslide! They’re packed with ‘good for you’ nutrients.
 
Wednesday, October 5th , 10 am – Dividing Perennials – Fall is the time for perennial maintenance. Learn what can be divided now, and when to cut back perennials for the winter.
 
Friday, October 7th , 10 am– Fall, the Best Planting Season – Learn why Fall is the perfect time to plant, along with tips for successful Fall plantings. What plants benefit most from being planted now? Should any plants not be planted now?

Calendula, widely recognized as the Flower of the Month for October, comes from the Latin word calendae, meaning "throughout the months." Gardeners who plant this long-blooming herbaceous annual will find it certainly lives up to its name.

Although members of the marigold family, calendulas' needs are quite different. They actually prefer cooler temperatures and evenly moist soil, and at 1-2 ft. tall, calendulas can get quite a bit bigger than your average marigold, too. If you're putting in transplants, use a slow-release fertilizer at planting time. Calendulas also do great in containers.

As your calendulas grow and flower, prune back spent blossoms to prolong blooming; some will continue to bloom into late fall, a nice treat since calendula's predominantly orange and yellow flowers fit in with autumn's color scheme. In hot climates, calendula will continue to grow throughout the winter.

Calendulas can continue to perform even after they're cut. Add the dried flowers to vinegar and use as a fish marinade or salad dressing. (In fact, the leaves themselves can be harvested for salads.)

Give this hard-working beauty a try, and you'll be enjoying calendula -- as its name says -- "throughout the months"!

From huge chocolate rosettes standing on sturdy trunks (like A. ‘Chocolate,’ A. ‘Schwartkop,’ A. ‘Cyclops’) to low mounds of green, pink and cream,(like A. ‘Kiwi,’ A. domesticum, A. pseudotabuleforme, ), Aeoniums come in a wide range of sizes, textures and colors. Members of the stonecrop clan Crassulaceae, Aeoniums are a bit frost tender on the east side of the Caldecott Tunnel, but with just a few precautions they can make a strikingly bold statement in any garden. Those of you who live in frost-free zones by the Bay need not worry about winter protection – any well-drained soil in your garden will do. Those of us who are Valley dwellers need to pay more attention to placing Aeoniums where they can be covered or moved to a warmer location in winter. If planted in a container, move it against the south wall of your house under the eaves. The roof will block frost from settling on it; the ambient warmth from your house and the southern sun will provide enough warmth to keep it from damage.

If your Aeoniums are not mobile, bring the protection to them. Put your large tomato cages to work on your tender plants for winter! They are a great ready-made framework for "tenting" tender plants. Just attach clear plastic sheeting over the top of your frame (clothespins work well) and let it hang down the sides not quite to the ground, leaving a small open space at the bottom. This allows cold air to escape and traps warm air at the top of the ‘tent’. Instant greenhouse! It also keeps the soil at the base of your plant from staying too wet during our long rainy season. Come springtime, if the weather warms a little too much, just "undo" a couple of clothespins during the day to let excess heat out.

Stop by the succulent section of Orchard Nursery today and see our wonderful selection of Aeoniums and other beautiful plants. The selection is prime right now for fall planting.

Jan Enderle
Advanced CCNPro

Artichokes
The artichoke is a perennial, so make sure you prepare the soil extra well before planting. The plants reach a height of 3' - 4' and a spread of up to 6' in diameter, so allow plenty of space for them to grow. The artichoke does best in frost free areas having cool, foggy summers. Freezing temperatures kill the buds and hot dry conditions destroy the tenderness.

Artichokes require frequent irrigation during the growing season being about once a week and more often in warm areas. Moisture deficiency results in loose buds of inferior quality, during the growing season. If the soils are heavy, water less.

In the cool coastal areas, two crops per year can be expected. If you live outside the temperate coastal area with hot, dry summer, plant in partial shade.

Cardoons
Cardoons, like their close cousins artichokes, are members of the thistle family and native to the Mediterranean. Some food scholars believe that the relationship is more than simply close, however. They insist that the artichoke was born in fifteenth century Europe as a result of cultivating a cardoon. Still relatively unknown in the United States, cardoons look like gigantic, overgrown celery stalks with artichoke tendencies, and they taste almost like a tangy cross between artichokes and celery. While the artichoke plant is prized for its edible flower, the cardoon plant holds the promise of pale, cloudy gray-green stalks.

A damp, mild climate is ideal for cultivating cardoons, and they are grown as a food crop in Italy, France, Spain, Australia, and Northern California, among other places, and primarily as ornamentals in England. Very cold weather is said to make the stalks tender.

Cardoon is a hardy herbaceous perennial to 3 - 4' high and 4 - 5' wide with handsome spiny foliage. For border or accent. Purple-thistle like flowers in summer. Plant in the sun with well drained soil and average water. Feed in the fall and again in the spring.

Now’s the time to order bareroot fruit trees. As always, we have 2 different fruit tree lists to order from. Order from the basic fruit tree list before December 1st , and receive 20% off the 2012 prices. We have a second fruit tree list of specialty trees, dozens of unique varieties to choose from. We will not be carrying all of these varieties in stock, but you can pre-order them before November 9th. Pre-season discounts to not apply to this list. Drop in or call us to pre-order your bareroot fruit trees!

Mint Pesto

• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 tablespoons (packed) feta cheese
• 2 tablespoons (packed) Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped jalapeno chili
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups fresh mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine first 7 ingredients in processor. Using on/off turns, process until mixture is smooth. Add mint leaves and lemon juice; process until smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Gradually add oil and process until mint pesto is smooth and creamy. (Can be made 1 day ahead, cover and refrigerate.)