Home front: Grow garlic; learn about native pollinators

A roundup of local home and garden news and events on the Midpeninsula, including classes on growing onions and garlic; creating a native-plan pollinator garden; and making cheese.

GROW YOUR OWN GARLIC … If you use this fragrant bulb frequently, have you ever thought of growing your own? The UC Master Gardeners will host a class on Wednesday, Aug. 29, called “Growing Onions and Garlic.” Though they mature in the summer, onions and garlic are best started in the fall. Learn how to take advantage of the mild and rainy winters of the Bay Area to grow a gourmet garden of bulbing onions and garlic. Presenter Susan Zaslow will teach students how to select the best varieties for our area, how to prepare the soil and when and how to plant, grow, harvest, cure and store them. The free event will be from 7 – 8:30 p.m. at the Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos.

NATIVE GARDENS AND POLLINATORS … On Saturday, Sept. 8, Gamble Garden will host a class on how to create a native-plant pollinator garden and habitat. The class will cover how to create a landscape plan, what plants to use and why. After the presentation, there will be a walk-through of the native-plant area at Gamble Garden. Instructor Juanita Salisbury is a California-licensed landscape architect and founder of the Palo Alto-based volunteer group Primrose Way Pollinator Garden, which transforms and maintains unused public spaces into pollinator habitats. The event will be held from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. at 1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto. Cost is $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers. To register, go to gamblegarden.org.

GARDEN AND CHEESE … In a change of pace, Gamble Garden in Palo Alto will hold a cheese-making workshop on Thursday, Sept. 20, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Local goat farmer Jeannie McKenzie will teach participants how to make fresh, organic goat cheese and as well as provide them the opportunity to sample cheese made with goat milk from her Oakland Hills farm. Cost is $75 per person, plus a $10 materials fee. Gamble Garden is located at 1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto. For more information, go to gamblegarden.org.