Growing Fruits and Veggies at High Elevation
Want to grow your own fruits and vegetables here in Tahoe? Make sure you learn the tricks, the environmentally-friendly ways, and the science-based methods for gardening at high elevation by attending one of the three community garden days in May and June. Participants receive instruction on cultivation techniques, history/background on the plants being highlighted, various strategies to apply based on their local growing environment, and ultimately take home free plants for their gardens. These are family-friendly workshops, with opportunities to get acquainted with growing fruits and vegetables. All workshops are in collaboration with UCCE Lake Tahoe Master Gardeners and Slow Food Lake Tahoe. Registration is not required, reach out to lwitt@ucdavis.edu with any questions.
The 2024 Grow Your Own Community Gardening Festival will feature TERC staff, researchers, and volunteers onsite to provide science fun for the whole family. Visitors can also get an insider look into the TERC Tahoe City Field Station and learn about the latest research from UC Davis.
La Guiara Bistro a woman-owned food stall from Grass Valley will be making hot and fresh arepas to order as well as other tasty Venezuelan treats using locally sourced ingredients. Tahoe National Brewing will be onsite to provide the best refreshing, summer beers coming out of Tahoe City to quench your thirst this year. Organic compost (the garden's black gold) is generously being donated from Full Circle Compost for all participants. Bring your own bucket, bag, or container of your choice to take home compost to boost your soil for happier and healthier plants. Bike, walk, or carpool to the event and receive a raffle ticket to win a gift card to Perennial Landscape and Nursery in Tahoe Vista, CA. This little festival will pack in the fun, come on out and check it out!
Locally grown plants can be pre-ordered and picked up at the festival. These specific plants are featured in each workshop and are part of a long-term phenology study that will determine the plants that grow best in our region.
The 2024 Grow Your Own Community Gardening Festival will feature the following crops available for pre-order:
Peas & Beans ($15 set includes multiple seeds of each: Blue Lake Bush Bean, Gold Rush Bush Bean, Celine Bean, Sugar Ann Pea, and Oregon Sugar Pod Pea)
Leafy Greens ($15 set includes one seedling six-pack of each: Redbor Kale, Black Jack Kale, Roquette Arugula, and Outredgeous Romaine lettuce)
Tomatoes & Peppers ($20 set includes one 4-inch pot of each: Sun Gold, Red Racer, SuperSweet 100, Juliet F1, Bonus pepper or tomatillo, dependant on germination success)
Edible flowers ($15 set includes one six-pack of each: Violia and Nasturtium And, one 4-inch pot of Calendula and Super Pic Summer Squash)
Squash & Pumpkins ($15 set includes one 4-inch pot of each: Superpik summer squash, Butterbush F1, Emerald Delight Zucchini, and Small Sugar Pumpkin)
Onions & Leeks ($15 set includes 6-9 seedlings of each: Red Candy Apple, Red Torpedo, Cippolini, and Lancelot Leeks)
Potatoes ($15 set includes 3 seed potatoes of each: Red La Soda, Sifra, Constance, and Bellanita (fingerling))
Root crops ($15 set includes a 50-60 seed packet of each: Yaya carrot, Purple Star carrot, Donato radish, Bravo radish, Touchstone gold beet, Red Ace beet, and Albion parsnip)
Micro-Greens ($5 set includes 2 seed packets, mixed variety)
Pre-order your plants before they sell out!
Dates for the 2024 Grow Your Own Festival:
- Tuesday, May 14: Common Ground Movie Night at Sunnyside Restaurant and Lodge
- Friday, May 31: Grow Your Own Community Festival in Tahoe City, hosted by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center
- Saturday, June 1: Grow Your Own Community Festival in Truckee, hosted by Slow Food Lake Tahoe
- Saturday, June 8: Grow Your Own Community Festival in South Lake Tahoe, hosted by the Great Basin Outdoor Institute
Visit our upcoming events page to learn more and register for the Common Ground Movie Night!
Planting/Harvesting Resources (Info Sheets)
2022 Mushroom Cheat sheet
2022 Potato Cheat Sheet
2022 Spicy Salads: Kale, Lettuce, Mizuna, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, and Strawberry Spinach
2022 Beans and Peas Cheat sheet
2020 Tomato Cheat Sheet
2020 Garlic Cheat Sheet
2022 Garden Workshop Recordings:
Tahoe Mushrooms
2021 Garden Workshop Recordings:
Watershed-Friendly Gardening
Potatoes
It's not Chard to Eat Green
Beans and Peas
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Herbs
2020 Workshop follow-up surveys (must be completed prior to plant pick-ups)
Organic Gardening 101: https://tinyurl.com/organicgardeningsurvey
Potatoes are Appealing: https://tinyurl.com/potatoessurvey
Lettuce not forget Kale: https://tinyurl.com/lettucekale
Okey Dokey, we'll try Artichokes: https://tinyurl.com/artichokesurvey
Tomatoes, for gardening masochists: https://tinyurl.com/tomatoessurvey
Tasty, tasty Garlic: https://tinyurl.com/garlicsurvey
2020 Garden Workshop Recordings:
Organic Gardening 101 (link)
Growing an organic garden is better for you, better for your community, and better for the environment. It can be a challenge, but your body and the Earth will thank you for accepting the challenge.
Potatoes are Appealing (link)
Featuring the much loved starchy potato, one of the few vegetables known to be grown at Lake Tahoe (Glenbrook House) during pioneer times. The potato, native to the Andes Mountain Range, is well suited to our climate. Interesting varieties have been selected for our trials, including blue, red and gold types.
Lettuce not forget Kale (link)
One of the first crops to be harvested from any garden every year are leafy green vegetables like kale and lettuce. They are super easy to grow and will be a satisfying growing experience for any new gardener. Add a couple of other veggies from the high elevation garden talks and you have one great spring salad or soup. Get a bountiful harvest multiple times throughout the season, make kale chips for a super food snack or augment your salad mix with our heirloom varieties!
Okey Dokey we'll try Artichokes (link)
Meet the thistle you actually want in your garden. The artichoke is an unbloomed flower of a plant and each plant can produce up to 20 artichokes, so plenty for the entire household. Register here!
Tomatoes: For Tahoe Gardening Masochists (link)
In cooler climates tomatoes typically are grown in greenhouses. We are trying hardier varieties of tomatoes that have the potential to thrive in the Tahoe climate. This fruit is notoriously the problem child for gardens here in Tahoe. Learn the techniques required to successfully grow these plants in our highly variable summer temperatures.
If you're looking for some key points of information, please note the timestamps below:
Planting (22:57)
Watering (30:41)
Suckering (36:42)
In cooler climates tomatoes typically are grown in greenhouses. The Lake Tahoe Master Gardeners and UC Davis TERC are more interested in the hardier species of tomatoes that can handle the climate of Tahoe. This fruit is notoriously the problem child for garden families here in Tahoe. Learn the techniques required to grow these plants in our cool summers. Topics include proper varietal selection, location in the garden or container, planting options and methods for protecting the young plants and fruit. Register here!
Tasty, tasty Garlics (link)
tricks of the trade in growing garlic and onions in high altitude.
These varieties are specifically chosen to survive tough Tahoe winters and provide a hearty spring harvest. Topics include proper varietal selection, location in the garden or container, planting options, and methods for protecting the young plants.