Central Valley public invited to Woodlake demonstration garden

Manuel Jimenez in the demonstration garden

While many garden vegetables are harvested in the summer and others in the fall, the Woodlake Pride demonstration garden will feature both summer's bounty and robust autumn crops at their peak during an open house on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2000, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

The public is invited to see an agricultural display that resulted from meticulous planning and laborious effort by a group of teenagers and young children known as "Woodlake Pride." The group cultivated the garden under the direction of Manuel Jimenez, UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor in Tulare County, on a one-and-a-half acre plot owned by the Wutchumna Water Company.

Valley gardeners and farmers alike will appreciate not only the opportunity to view produce they may wish to try growing themselves, but the tremendous effort that went into nursing the plants for optimum production in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley autumn.

Visitors will view more than 450 different cultivars, including:

12 types of squash

6 varieties of egg plant

35 types of sunflowers

pink potatoes, purple potatoes and banana potatoes

70 varieties of peppers and at least 20 varieties of tomatoes

20 varieties of watermelon, including watermelon with flesh that's red, pink, yellow, orange and white

Muskmelons including, casaba, Crenshaw, canary, honeydew and honey lope

Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage, celery, carrots, radishes and 25 varieties of leaf lettuce

A remarkable collection of herbs, including seven basils, lemon grass, dill, fennel, spearmint, peppermint and even chocolate mint plants

Edible flowers, including Bachelor's buttons, Calendulas and edible Amaranth

Beets that are black, white, red and striped like a target when sliced

More than 20 oriental vegetables

Many others

Some of the materials and methods used in the Woodlake Pride garden will also be explained and displayed at the open house, including an extensive drip irrigation system, hot caps and tunnels, reflective mulches and the chemical-free solarization method developed by UC scientists to reduce weed seeds and plant pathogens in the soil.

Woodlake Pride established the vegetable garden eight years ago to raise money to fund beautification projects in Woodlake. Typically, the group grows and sells crops popular with local citizens, including corn, tomatoes and peppers. However, this year, to raise awareness and build enthusiasm for a larger community-wide effort to develop an agricultural botanical garden on the banks of Bravo Lake, Woodlake Pride created the extensive demonstration garden.

To get to Woodlake from Highway 99, take Highway 198 east 15 miles to the Woodlake-Kings Canyon Exit north. Continue seven miles to Woodlake.

The Woodlake Pride garden is at the corner of Bravo and Magnolia streets. From the city's main street, Valencia Boulevard, turn east on Naranjo Street and then south on Magnolia Street. Signs will be posted. Admission is free. Some produce will be for sale.

For more information contact Manuel Jimenez at (559) 733-6791, mjjimenez@ucdavis.edu.