Master Gardeners, March 26

Your friendly local LA County Master Gardeners are springing into Spring at the Green Tent on Sunday, March 26 (CicLAvia day) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. They’ll bring plants and seeds to give away and will answer your gardening questions. 

Here’s what they’ve planted up for you this month:

Ornamental Sunflowers (Royal Flush variety) — includes multicolored flowers from brown to red to yellow 

Birds and Bees Sunflowers  — These will grow to 8 feet high with yellow petals and chocolate discs that follow the sun!

Italian Arugula -- that lovely spicy salad green. And their flowers are a revelation, with a nutty flavor.   

Wine Country Mesclun —  a salad blend straight from Napa Valley

Baby Leaf Lettuce Mix — a mix of Bambino, Simpson Elite, Esmeralda, Red Sail, Bravehart, Red Tide lettuces, just perfect in salads

Heirloom Tuscan Baby Kale — A favorite; healthy, hearty and lovely to look at; sweeter and more delicate than the bigger varieties

Wild Russian Heirloom Kale — lovely frilly edges, great in soups, stews or simply sautéed with oil and garlic 

Snow Peas (Oregon sugar pod) — great in stir fry dishes or raw in salads, eat pods and all.

Sugar Ann Snap Peas — chunkier than snow peas, and delicious sautéed, blanched or raw, pods and all, super sweet  

Broccoli Raab (aka Rapini) — a traditional Italian heirloom that produces an abundance of deep green leaves and tender shoots with tiny bud cluster. Imported from Italy!

Slow Bolt Cilantro — Lovely, bright, pungent — you let it go to seed, you’ll end up with coriander seeds, which you can use whole or grind into powder. For the haters, it’s a key ingredient in Indian cooking and tastes nothing like the leaves. For the lovers, you get both! 

And here’s a great resource for you: http://celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program/Garden_Tips_for_Los_Angeles_County/

As always, please remember to bring your leftover “six packs” so the MGs can continue to grow plants for you each month.