http://cemadera.ucdavis.edu/Madera_County_Master_Gardener_Program/index.cfm?blogrss=7876&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed UC Gardening Blogs en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Sat, 18 May 2013 05:41:46 PST Sat, 18 May 2013 05:41:46 PST UC ANR Beneath your home, below lawns, under asphalt streets, farms and natural areas there is a complex blend of minerals and organic matter that varies widely in texture, color and structure. Producing food, maintaining landscapes and building structures all depend on this little understood, but critical outermost layer of the Earth’s crust - the soil. Anyone can learn about the United States’ diversity of soils using SoilWeb, a nationwide database of soil variability first developed in......
]]> Thu, 16 May 2013 08:29:16 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10395&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10395 The first thing I had to learn as writing staff at the John Muir Institute for the Environment, UC Davis, was the difference between "climate" and "weather." I compare it to reading a stock chart, there are jagged peaks and valleys daily, but it takes stock performance over years to reveal an unmistakable trend. The small ticks are similar to weather but the trend over decades is closer to climate. Nearly every stock chart has a huge valley at the year 2008, this is thought to be a once in a......
]]> Tue, 14 May 2013 09:40:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10380&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed sjklahorst@ucdavis.edu(Suanne Klahorst) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10380 Bed bugs are quickly becoming major household nuisance pests. California has recently experienced a multitude of bed bug reports, with San Francisco now considered one of the Top 10 most infested cities in the country. Bed bug detection can be very difficult and almost always requires special training since bugs prefer to hide in dark, inaccessible cracks and crevices near their hosts’ resting spots. An experienced pest management professional can examine all possible harborages in a......
]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 09:57:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10376&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10376 Have you heard of the UC ANR California Naturalist Program? This new UC ANR program fosters a diverse community of naturalists and promotes stewardship of California's natural resources through education and service. Designed to introduce Californians to the wonders of our unique ecology and engage volunteers in stewardship and study of California’s natural communities, California Naturalist provides hands-on instruction and exposure to real world environmental projects designed to......
]]> Fri, 10 May 2013 08:10:01 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10351&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bgamble@ucanr.edu(Brook Gamble) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10351 With the world population reaching 9 billion by 2050, creative solutions are needed for global food security. The 2013 Thought for Food Challenge has put the call out and two UC Davis teams have responded. One group, Team UC Davis, proposes a social networking game that spreads awareness through crowd sourcing and draws donations through virtual purchases. “The team is using a game platform like Farmville, which they call Global Village,” said Patrick Brown, professor in the......
]]> Thu, 02 May 2013 10:27:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10290&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gbhooker@ucdavis.edu(Bradley Hooker) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10290 First identified in California in 2004, the goldspotted oak borer (GSOB), Agrilus auroguttatus, has killed more than 24,000 oak trees in San Diego County since its arrival, probably in the late 1990s. In 2012, it was detected in Riverside County and it is expected to spread northward in the state. The most seriously damaged oaks are those in the red oak group including coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, and black oak, Q. kelloggi. It also infests canyon live oak, Q. chrysolepis but has......
]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:25:01 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10268&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10268 The troubled tobacco industry may be getting some good news for a change. UC scientists are engineering the tobacco plant to produce oils that, when extracted, can serve as drop-in biofuels to power airplanes, cars and other machines. Research success would allow farmers who have been growing tobacco for generations to continue the tradition for a different purpose, while taking advantage of an infrastructure established to serve the diminishing cigarette, cigar and snuff markets. Peggy G.......
]]> Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:20:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9806&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9806 Oaks (Quercus ssp.) are one of the signature trees of California landscapes and are among the most favored by wildlife, according to the UC publication Wildlife among the Oaks. In addition, several studies have found that open space and residential properties containing oak trees have higher property values than those areas without oak trees. Ecosystem services provided by oak forests and savannahs include recreational opportunities, shade and shelter, increased property values, aesthetic......
]]> Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:28:47 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9769&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rmillercripps@ucanr.edu(Rebecca Miller-Cripps) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9769 California forests aren’t natural anymore. Over time, human impacts such as logging and fire suppression have left forests more prone to diseases, insects and wildfires. UC Cooperative Extension received a competitive grant from Cal Fire to launch a forest management training program for private landowners to help protect California’s forests. There are approximately 33 million acres of forest in California. Forty percent of those acres are owned by families, Native American......
]]> Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:57:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9368&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed mpalin@ucanr.edu(Marissa Palin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9368 Ask most youth what they think about wildfires in forests and they will usually respond with "they kill trees and animals" or "it’s bad – they burn down homes and put out lots of smoke." They are partially right. Ask youth about considering a career studying the history of fire from a tree cookie, a slice of tree branch that shows the rings, or lake bed sedimentation. Or ask them what role wind plays in how a fire jumps from treetop to treetop or how wildfire can help open pine......
]]> Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:27:51 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9685&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kcingram@ucanr.edu(Kim Ingram) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9685 With warm weather and mostly dry skies, some California farmers are prepping their fields for spring planting. On many fields used to grow squash and pumpkins, native squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa), valuable pollinators for squash growers, are nesting in the soil, waiting for spring emergence. With over ten thousand acres of squash and pumpkins grown in California in 2011, the success of pollination covers a lot of ground. New studies are showing that native bees may be more productive......
]]> Thu, 04 Apr 2013 08:47:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9445&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed abwhite@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey White) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9445 Rodenticides used on illegal marijuana farms have already been shown to pose serious harm to the fisher—a cat-sized carnivore found in forests across Canada and four regions in the U.S. (Previous news article.) Mourad Gabriel, a doctoral candidate with the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, provides a more comprehensive look at the situation in the recent issue of The Wildlife Professional, put out by The Wildlife Society. (Article here.) New......
]]> Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:20:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9618&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed tjwood@ucdavis.edu(Trina Wood) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9618 Spring is here, almonds are blooming beautifully and farmers have not a care in the world. Actually, even though no crop-damaging insects or diseases may be present at the moment, the UC Integrated Pest Management program advises farmers to manage pests year round. Not sure what you should be doing? UC IPM has just published an online video outlining the year-round IPM program. How to Manage Almond Pests Using the Year-Round IPM Program is a narrated how–to guide for growers, PCAs, and......
]]> Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:10:10 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9602&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9602 As drought dries the landscape and rising global temperatures make for decreasing crop yields, farmers are faced with the question of how to feed billions of people in a way that both reduces global greenhouse gas emissions and adapts to the realities of climate change. Scientists and policymakers from around the world will gather today through Friday, March 20-22, at the University of California, Davis, to grapple with the threats of climate change for global agriculture and recommend......
]]> Wed, 20 Mar 2013 06:45:43 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9557&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kekerlin@ucdavis.edu(Katherine Kerlin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9557 Fields with diversified, organic crops get more buzz from wild bees, concludes a synthesis of 39 studies on 23 crops around the world published March 11 in the journal Ecology Letters. The study found that wild bees were more abundant in diversified farming systems. Unlike large-scale monoculture agriculture, which typically relies upon pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, diversified farming systems promote ecological interactions that lead to sustainable, productive agriculture. Such......
]]> Wed, 20 Mar 2013 06:45:05 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9496&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed annguy@berkeley.edu(Ann Guy) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9496 The Statewide Master Gardener Program has once again partnered with the California Center for Urban Horticulture, this time to bring you Advanced Citrus and Avocado training! The Your Sustainable Backyard: Citrus and Avocoado Series will be hosted in three locations in the upcoming weeks and will explore citrus and avocado varieties for the home garden, maintenance and upkeep, and special information on the pests that wreak havoc on citrus and avocados. Special focus will be given to invasive......
]]> Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:52:43 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9519&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9519 When actress René Russo appeared in a video (posted below) about “New Oak Threats,” she wasn’t acting. The veteran of big-budget thrillers like Lethal Weapon 3 and 4 and the Thomas Crown Affair expressed her personal convictions when she called for Californians to become educated and observant guardians of California oaks. “I love our beautiful oak trees,” Russo said. “But there’s a new pest in town, and we could potentially lose every tree that......
]]> Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:11:52 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9449&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9449 A little love goes a long way, especially when it comes to saving resources, saving lives and teaching youths responsibility. And a Solano County 4-H project is doing just that — with orphan kittens. Twenty-one 4-H’ers, all from Dixon, Vacaville, Rio Vista, Vallejo, Elmira or Fairfield, participate in the Solano County 4-H Orphan Kitten Program, doing their part to care for the orphan kittens that arrive at the Solano County Animal Care and Control Facility, Fairfield. The......
]]> Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:04:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9435&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Garvey) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9435 Citrus Greening Disease has been moving through California. We are reaching out to California gardeners and UC Master Gardeners in an effort to slow the spread. How can you learn more or help? Watch the California Garden Web for posts related to Asian Citrus Psyllid and Citrus Greening caused by the bacteria known as Huanglongbing. Help us spread the word by following us on Twitter at @ACPoutreach. Attend a talk on Citrus Greening near you! We'll post events here. Learn more at......
]]> Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:34:29 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9433&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9433 At times during the winter and early spring it looks like a vast inland sea between Sacramento and Davis. This is the Yolo Bypass, which shunts Sacramento River floodwater around the state capital during high flows. You drive over the bypass on a three-mile-long elevated stretch of Interstate 80 known as “the Causeway” (the Blecher-Freeman Memorial Causeway). The bypass is also the site of a lot of innovative fish and wildlife work. From late fall through winter you can see......
]]> Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:13:54 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9373&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jdstumbos@ucdavis.edu(John Stumbos) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9373 The third edition of Integrated Pest Management for Rice is now available. The publication's informative color photographs of pests and their damage, line drawings, tables, and figures are valuable aids in the diagnosis and treatment of common rice pests. New in this edition, readers will find information on: Exotic pests in rice Detecting, confirming and managing herbicide resistance New diseases: bakanae, rice blast and false smut New weeds: red rice, rice cutgrass, waterstargrass......
]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:21:09 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9344&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9344 In touring the back roads of California’s great Central Valley during wintertime, you may be surprised to come upon hundreds of sheep grazing alfalfa fields. The sheep are penned in by electric fences and graze the fields to near bare soil. Look closely and you may also see some Great Pyrenees dogs, used to guard the livestock from coyotes and other predators. The dogs blend in well with the sheep and it’s often fun to try to spot them in the mob. You may wonder about this practice......
]]> Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:13:32 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9249&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rflong@ucanr.edu(Rachael Long) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9249 Got pests and want to use integrated pest management? Use a year-round IPM program developed by the UC Statewide IPM Program. If you’re not familiar with what a year-round IPM program is, think of it as a checklist for the agricultural pest management activities you should be doing throughout the season. You can take the new video tour "Using Year-Round IPM Programs" to explore the benefits and uses of IPM in field, orchard and vineyard crops. If you are managing pests in cole crops or......
]]> Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:10:49 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9238&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9238 Releasing aquarium fish into local waterways — or down the toilet — can damage aquatic ecosystems in a number of ways. The fish themselves can become an invasive species, they can disrupt habitats for other fish and aquatic species, and they may introduce secondary problems such as harmful pathogens or other aquarium species (seaweed, snails) into the waterways. At least 13 of the 102 aquarium species that are imported into California have been introduced into California marine......
]]> Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:07:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9221&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed afilmer@ucdavis.edu(Ann Filmer) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9221 Dan Morain’s opinion piece on California Technical Bulletin 117 in the Sacramento Bee last Sunday has most of the facts we need to learn about our toxic couches. Drafted in the 1970s to mandate the fire protection for household furnishings, the bulletin was intended to save lives. That was in a naïve era, before methods could measure fire retardants in women and children or correlate their accumulation over years in our bodies to lack of attention, poor motor skills and low IQ in our......
]]> Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:44:50 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9162&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed sjklahorst@ucdavis.edu(Suanne Klahorst) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9162 Anaheim boasted a thriving wine industry in the late 1800s, before an unnamed affliction killed 40,000 acres of the grapevines and put 50 wineries out of business. The problem was later found to have been Pierce’s disease of grapevines. Would Anaheim be wine country today if it weren’t for Pierce’s disease? Probably not, but the sad fate of this Southern California wine industry underscores the importance of controlling the disease and the insects that spread it in......
]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:53:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9039&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9039 Styrofoam — referring generically to #6 expanded polystyrene foam — is a disposal headache. Extremely bulky, yet lightweight, it takes up space in the waste stream (and in landfills), but its removal doesn’t add much value to what is known as “diversion numbers.” In 1989, California Assembly Bill 939, known as the Integrated Waste Management Act, mandated reduction (or diversion) in waste disposal: jurisdictions were required to meet a 50 percent diversion goal......
]]> Wed, 16 Jan 2013 06:59:28 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9045&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rmillercripps@ucanr.edu(Rebecca Miller-Cripps) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9045 There is a new predator in the forest these days. It has arisen quietly over the years. Any wildlife feeling hungry when they come upon it in the Sierra is vulnerable. This predator is amazingly small for the scope of its damage; it can’t run fast or climb high. This new predator is rodenticide in pellet form, used in violation of all safe-use regulations in our national forests by large-scale marijuana growers. Rodenticides are being used to protect young and tasty marijuana seedlings......
]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:11:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8922&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8922 Ants can be a huge nuisance in and outside our homes, particularly if you have food lying around. But now, it turns out, they’re unwelcome, too, on citrus trees. A year ago, UC Riverside entomologists released Tamarixia, a parasitoid wasp and natural enemy of the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) imported from Pakistan, into a biocontrol grove in Riverside, Calif. Tamarixia can serve as an excellent biocontrol agent against ACP, a citrus pest first detected in 2008 in Southern California......
]]> Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:33:01 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8891&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8891 The rotten-egg stink that invaded Southern California in September was blamed by scientists on an unfortunate combination of a large fish die-off in the Salton Sea, a storm churning the fetid lower levels of the sea and unusual gusts from the southeast blowing the odors toward Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times. That was just latest episode in a series of environmental woes for the lake that formed 150 miles southeast of Los Angeles in 1905 when the Colorado River flooded the......
]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2012 11:15:36 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8843&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pam.kanrice@ucanr.edu(Pamela Kan-Rice) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8843 Approximately every ten years, the research team at the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility at UC Davis gets the chance to dig deep into their research material to help answer questions about the long-term sustainability of agricultural systems. With a steel probe attached to the back of a tractor, the team digs three meters deep to take soil samples at 432 different points around the 72-acre field. The initiative takes the team nearly a month to complete, and the information in......
]]> Fri, 30 Nov 2012 08:28:57 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8783&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed abwhite@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey White) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8783 Decades of extreme weather crippled, and ultimately decimated, first the political culture and later the human population of the ancient Maya, according to a study by an interdisciplinary team of researchers that includes two University of California, Davis, scientists. The collapse of the Maya is one of the world’s most enduring mysteries. Now, for the first time, researchers have combined a precise climatic record of the Maya environment with a precise record of Maya political......
]]> Wed, 28 Nov 2012 08:55:11 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8784&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kekerlin@ucdavis.edu(Katherine Kerlin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8784 Take a look at the nearest light switch: is it up or down? The answer means more than you think. When you flip a switch — or run a washing machine, or plug in a space heater — you’re creating demand. And on a vast, interconnected electrical grid like California’s, supply must always meet demand. Otherwise, it’s lights out. For more than a century we’ve taken the balancing act between supply and demand for granted, and for the most part, it’s worked. To......
]]> Mon, 26 Nov 2012 08:26:11 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8760&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed annguy@berkeley.edu(Ann Guy) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8760 Sun, 18 Nov 2012 10:12:08 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8737&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ehightower@ucdavis.edu(Eve Hightower) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8737 Colony collapse disorder (CCD) has certainly increased public awareness about bees — but also public misinformation about bees in general. CCD, the mysterious phenomenon characterized by adult bees abandoning the hive, leaving behind the queen bee, immature brood and stored food, surfaced in the winter of 2006. Scientists believe CCD is caused by multiple factors: diseases, viruses, pesticides, pests, malnutrition and stress. Meanwhile, misinformation about bees continues to surface.......
]]> Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:42:09 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8713&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Garvey) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8713 In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, climate change and global greenhouse emissions are a hot topic these days. Dozens of UC Davis scientists study many facets of the causes and consequences of global warming. One of them is Frank Mitloehner, UC Cooperative Extension specialist and professor in the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis. Mitloehner has studied the role of the livestock industry in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Mitloehner was recently selected to chair a United......
]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:03:37 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8657&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jdstumbos@ucdavis.edu(John Stumbos) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8657 California’s Central Valley is home to a rich diversity and solid abundance of birds. Many are year-round residents, while others are migrants that winter in our valley or travel to destinations further south. Currently more than 400 species of birds call the Central Valley their home; these include raptors, songbirds, ducks, geese, shorebirds, hummingbirds, and others. (Download a checklist of Central Valley birds here.) All birds depend on habitat for food, shelter and nesting sites.......
]]> Wed, 31 Oct 2012 07:57:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8614&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rflong@ucanr.edu(Rachael Long) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8614 The Volunteer Leadership Summit is the first ever leadership training designed for California Master Gardener volunteers. At this free one-day workshop participants will hear from a range of speakers and be challenged to engage in the larger Master Gardener community by networking with their peers from across the state. The workshop will be held November 9, 2012 at the UC Davis Campus. The idea for this conference was actually introduced by a volunteer earlier this year. She had noticed that......
]]> Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:31:40 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8589&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8589 Some of California’s many introduced species — plants, animals, insects, and aquatic organisms — have marked impacts on ecological systems. Invasive aquatic organisms can impact fish, shorebirds, marsh plants, and other wetland species, and alter functions of lakes, watersheds, floodplains, and coastal ecosystems. Estuarine ecologist Ted Grosholz, a UC Davis professor and Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, is an expert on......
]]> Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:17:37 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8566&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed afilmer@ucdavis.edu(Ann Filmer) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8566 The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is one of the most widely distributed terrestrial mammals in the world. California is home to red foxes of both native and non-native ancestry. Red foxes in the Sacramento Valley were long thought to be non-native. However, in 2005 genetic analyses performed in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory revealed these foxes to be native to the region and potentially in decline. The estimated population size of Sacramento......
]]> Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:27:49 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8498&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Amy Brasch http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8498 Global warming promises to be among the most immense challenges to human adaptation in history, as big as social media. But the climate topic has been overshadowed in recent years by the recession. Just as the Dow Jones can’t be described by the fluctuations of a single decade, climate science is not defined by periods less than centuries. These thoughts were shared at a breakfast Oct. 16 at UC Davis hosted by Capital Public Radio. The speaker: Ben Santer, MacArthur Fellow (1998),......
]]> Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:30:55 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8529&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed sjklahorst@ucdavis.edu(Suanne Klahorst) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8529 After just experiencing my first Davis summer, I find it hard to describe anything in Davis as cool. But according to Sierra Magazine, UC Davis is just that. So much so, that the school was recently named the #1 Coolest School in the nation. Granted, they weren’t talking about the weather. Instead, they were referring to UC Davis’ environmental stewardship. With all that UC Davis does to create and promote environmentally friendly programs and facilities, it’s no wonder the......
]]> Wed, 10 Oct 2012 08:51:46 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8461&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed mpalin@ucanr.edu(Marissa Palin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8461 September is national honey month, a time when pollination season has largely ended and many commercial beehives are harvested for their honey. Now for the first time, beekeepers have a new tool to track just how much energy their efforts take, and the amount of greenhouse gases those efforts emit. With growing consumer interest in the carbon foot prints of products and cap-and-trade legislation under AB32, emissions-tracking is becoming increasingly important for agricultural producers -......
]]> Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:48:34 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7835&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed abwhite@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey White) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7835 Because management projects in contentious natural resource contexts often involve finding reasonable compromise or shared understandings between participants, the success (or failure) of such management is partly about communicating information. Techniques for public participation continue to evolve in order to facilitate a more comprehensive flow of information to, from, and between diverse audiences. The Internet is part of this evolution: web-based tools provide information exchange......
]]> Wed, 26 Sep 2012 08:21:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8362&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kcingram@ucanr.edu(Kim Ingram) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8362 Lately, I’ve seen the familiar signs of back-to-school. The school bus noisily pulls away from my neighbor’s house before the sun has fully risen. The neighborhood kids are inside a bit earlier in the evening (probably to finish that pesky homework), and I see throngs of students walk down the street with heavy backpacks slung low over their shoulders. But there are a few new signs in my neighborhood that school is back in session; kids with dirty jeans, mud stained at the knees......
]]> Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:03:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8354&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed abwhite@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey White) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8354 As competition for water increases, the green, green grass of home has become a guilty pleasure. Over half of the water used by residents flows outside the house for gardens and landscape plants. To curb water use, an ordinance that took effect in 2010 mandates water conservation on urban landscapes. UC scientists are studying ways to make it easier to be green – conserving water but still enjoying green plants around the yard. Turfgrass and landscape professionals will gather tomorrow,......
]]> Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:13:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8310&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pam.kanrice@ucanr.edu(Pamela Kan-Rice) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8310 From California’s Ponderosa fire to Colorado’s record-breaking Waldo Canyon fire and other blazes burning across the West, the summer of 2012 -- like many recent summers -- has been marked by a long, intense wildfire season. It has claimed thousands of acres, hundreds of homes, and in some cases, lives. Malcolm North, professor in the Department of Forest Ecology at UC Davis and U.S. Forest Service research scientist, studies the effects of fire on Sierra Nevada coniferous forests.......
]]> Wed, 29 Aug 2012 08:30:01 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8225&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kekerlin@ucdavis.edu(Katherine Kerlin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8225 It had been 40 days since he applied for his visa, and Abdul Wali Modaqiq, the deputy director general of Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency, had not heard a peep from the U.S. embassy in Kabul. The Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) at UC Berkeley was starting in just days but, despite having a diplomatic passport and a government-sanctioned mission to attend the program, he and his Asia Foundation sponsors didn’t know if they were stuck in a......
]]> Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:26:12 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8188&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed annguy@berkeley.edu(Ann Guy) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8188 In the many forested areas where wildfires are currently burning, the question will soon arise: What should be done after the fire goes out? That depends on the severity of the burn and land owner goals. For high severity burns where very few or no live trees remain to provide seed for the next generation, forest recovery can take a very long time. Typically forest landowners want to restore their lands to a forested condition as quickly as possible. In that case, an active approach can help......
]]> Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:50:06 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8172&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed sdkocher@ucanr.edu(Susie Kocher) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8172 Two people in California were recently diagnosed with hantavirus infection, and one has died. Both of them spent time at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park, according to the California Department of Public Health. These new cases of hantavirus are a reminder to be aware of the threat and to take precautions to prevent infection. Hantavirus is a very rare but very serious disease. About one-third of cases identified in California are fatal, CDPH reports. Since hantavirus was first......
]]> Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:43:20 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8175&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8175 The “Invasive Ambrosia Beetle Public Meeting” that took place on Aug. 14 in Riverside, Calif., turned the spotlight on a beetle named “Polyphagous shot hole borer.” The PSHB has spread in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Both the beetle and a fungus it spreads were found on several backyard avocado trees in residential neighborhoods in these counties earlier this year. The beetle is responsible for the death of box elder trees in Long Beach in 2010. The box elder is one......
]]> Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:37:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8170&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8170 It's like going back to nature, but it's always been there. Honey bee expert Norman Gary, emeritus professor in the Department of Entomology at UC Davis, says that honey is at its best "when it is sealed in the comb." "It's packaged in the original, natural container that preserves its flavor and goodness until consumed," he said. "Some of these qualities are compromised during the harvesting process." In his book, Honey Bee Hobbyist, the Care and Keeping of Bees, Gary writes that, "When......
]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2012 11:07:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8142&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Garvey) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8142 The Polyphagous shot hole borer is a beetle that attacks oak and avocado trees, causing branch dieback and eventually death. The beetle bores into the trees and spreads a fungus that, in turn, attacks the vascular tissue of the tree and disrupts water and nutrient flow. The beetle also attacks coast live oak, box elders and other trees. Both the fungus and the beetle were discovered on several backyard avocado trees in residential neighborhoods and a commercial avocado grove in Los Angeles......
]]> Wed, 08 Aug 2012 08:17:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8095&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed iqbal@ucr.edu(Iqbal Pittalwala) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8095 Now that recertification is 100% done I wanted to be the first to say welcome to a new Master Gardener volunteer year! In previous years, a welcome like this only applied to those programs that began their new year on July 1. Now, thanks to the Statewide Master Gardener Program, ALL the California Master Gardener programs are beginning the new membership year at the same time, with the same expectations for all! This may be considered a minor point by some, but after working as a Master......
]]> Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:08:40 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8082&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8082 A report on climate change and its effects on California released on July 31 by the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Energy Commission features more than 30 reports by UC scientists. Experts from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC San Diego/Scripps Institution for Oceanography, UC Santa Cruz, UC Cooperative Extension and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory contributed to "Our Changing Climate." The report, the third such assessment since 2006, provides......
]]> Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:56:15 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8073&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pam.kanrice@ucanr.edu(Pamela Kan-Rice) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8073 When you see a carpenter bee seemingly dive-bombing you, think twice about fleeing. You may consider these insects intimidating because of their huge size and loud buzz, but they’re actually very gentle and important pollinators in our environment. Unlike honey bees, they have no hives to protect. Carpenter bee females can sting in defense, but males, which may appear a bit more aggressive and territorial, cannot sting. Carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.) look like bumble bees. The largest in......
]]> Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:51:37 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8049&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rflong@ucanr.edu(Rachael Long) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8049 Rat poison used on illegal marijuana farms may be sickening and killing the fisher, a rare forest carnivore that makes its home in some of the most remote areas of California, according to a team of researchers led by University of California, Davis, veterinary scientists. Researchers discovered commercial rodenticide in dead fishers in Humboldt County near Redwood National Park and in the southern Sierra Nevada in and around Yosemite National Park. The study, published July 13 in the journal......
]]> Wed, 25 Jul 2012 08:59:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7988&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed afilmer@ucdavis.edu(Ann Filmer) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7988 Fri, 20 Jul 2012 11:57:19 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7974&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7974 And now what you've all been waiting for...registration is finally open for the Edible Landscape Train-the-Trainer workshop. This two-day conference will give you an edge on all things edible and how to present it to the public. Six conference locations around the state mean that this exciting conference is coming to a city near you! Registration fees are only $35 for two days worth of instruction from UC experts, additional resources to take back to your community, as well as refreshments and......
]]> Wed, 18 Jul 2012 22:07:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7964&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7964 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:36:10 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7916&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed acrump@ucdavis.edu(Amanda Crump) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7916 During the 2000s, organic milk production was one of the fastest growing segments of organic agriculture in the United States, according to a USDA Economic Research Service publication Characteristics, Costs, and Issues for Organic Dairy Farming. In 2008, about 3 percent of the nation's cows were managed organically. Among the conditions necessary for a cow to produce organic milk, she must eat only organic feed or browse on organic pasture for at least the previous 36 months. However, dairy......
]]> Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:41:12 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7899&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7899 Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:35:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7845&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed mpalin@ucanr.edu(Marissa Palin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7845 The Water Conservation Act of 2009, also referred to as Senate Bill x7-7 or “20 by 2020,” mandates that California reduce urban per capita water use by 20 percent by the year 2020. It also requires all water suppliers to increase water use efficiency. It’s estimated that 50 percent of California’s residential water is used outdoors — to water lawns, ornamental plantings and vegetable gardens, and in swimming pools. Our water use practices can always become more......
]]> Wed, 27 Jun 2012 09:09:09 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7791&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rmillercripps@ucanr.edu(Rebecca Miller-Cripps) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7791 ...
]]> Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:38:10 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7802&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7802 Poodle-dog Bush is a California native plant and a common fire follower. This attractive plant has reached very high densities in recently burned areas, and is an important early colonizer that can help these areas recover. Look but don’t touch (or smell or collect) though, because this plant can cause serious allergic reactions for some people. A member of the forget-me-not family (Boraginaceae), the poodle-dog bush, Terricula parryi, is a subshrub (with flexible, slightly woody stems)......
]]> Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:47:33 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7672&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed sldrill@ucanr.edu(Sabrina Drill) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7672 Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:59:30 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7766&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7766 Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:57:36 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7760&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Ambray@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey Bray) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7760 In this post I want to point out more of the improvements to our program that have resulted from the work of our Statewide Master Gardener office. I can personally attest to what a difference these improvements have made in Alameda County. We had none of the following when I became a Master gardener in 2001, and we were constantly making things up as we went along. 1. Master Gardener Program Administrative handbook, June 2008: defines policies and procedures for MG programs all over the state.......
]]> Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:49:33 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7546&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7546 In this post I want to point out more of the improvements to our program that have resulted from the work of our Statewide Master Gardener office. I can personally attest to what a difference these improvements have made in Alameda County. We had none of the following when I became a Master gardener in 2001, and we were constantly making things up as we went along. 1. Master Gardener Program Administrative handbook, June 2008: defines policies and procedures for MG programs all over the state.......
]]> Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:48:52 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7548&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7548 ‘Visualizing’ forests from computer and other technological data is common practice in the field of forestry. Forest visualization is used for stand and landscape management and to predict future environmental conditions. Currently, most visualization software packages focus on one forest stand at a time (hundreds of acres), but now we can visualize an entire forest, from ridge top to ridge top. The Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project (SNAMP) Spatial Team principle......
]]> Wed, 13 Jun 2012 08:43:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7634&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kcingram@ucanr.edu(Kim Ingram) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7634 Many of you have been asking for embroidered patches of the Master Gardener Logo for additions to bags, hats, your favorite gardening shirt or apron. We now have them available for you to order! The cost is $2.00 each which includes tax. For bulk orders of 10 or more, the price is $1.50 each, which includes tax. They are 3" x 3". Please see below for shipping costs. To order, just send an email to the Statewide MG Program Representative Aubrey Bray ambray@ucdavis.edu and provide a UCANR......
]]> Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:50:59 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7664&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7664 The size, scope and intensity of research at Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility at UC Davis make the 300-acre experiment like no other in the world. The ranch’s unique focus on sustainability research is what draws producers, researchers and students to its annual Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Field Day. Located just west of the main UC Davis campus, Russell Ranch is a testing ground for the long-term sustainability of various farming methods. Research at the ranch......
]]> Wed, 06 Jun 2012 08:27:21 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7650&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ehightower@ucdavis.edu(Eve Hightower) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7650 Sudden oak death is a misnomer because it doesn't fell a tree like a lightning strike nor does the disease limit itself to oaks. Nonetheless, the moniker has stuck and UC scientists remain committed to containing the culprit. UC, federal and state agencies and landowners in Humboldt County recently received national recognition for their collaborative efforts to halt the spread of sudden oak death. Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. Department of Agriculture deputy secretary, praised the partnership......
]]> Wed, 30 May 2012 12:01:34 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7601&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pam.kanrice@ucanr.edu(Pamela Kan-Rice) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7601 This is is the second in a series of short articles on the benefits we receive from the Statewide Master Gardener Office. The Office coordinates a Statewide Master Gardener conference every few years, with the last one being in Santa Rosa in 2011. Conferences have previously been held at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, San Jose, and Sacramento. They are always stimulating, informative, and enjoyable. They also are a tremendous amount of work, and the state office is essential in making it......
]]> Tue, 29 May 2012 14:04:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7547&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7547 This is the second in a series of short articles on the benefits we receive from the Statewide Master Gardener Office. The Office coordinates a Statewide Master Gardener conference every few years, with the last one being in Santa Rosa in 2011. Conferences have previously been held at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, San Jose, and Sacramento. They are always stimulating, informative, and enjoyable. They also are a tremendous amount of work, and the state office is essential in making it happen.The......
]]> Tue, 29 May 2012 14:02:56 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7545&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7545 I love the taste of summer. For me the taste of summer is that first charcoal-grilled hot dog of the season, sun brewed iced tea, and the big bowl of slightly chilled cherries that is always present at summer BBQs. If you are about to start collecting your summer bounty of beautiful, red ripe cherries be aware that this year might not be the bumper crop you expected due to one pesky little problem. Spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii, is a fruit fly that infests soft-fleshed......
]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 12:35:50 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7577&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7577 Hello, everyone! I wanted to take a second to meet all of you. My name is Aubrey Bray and I am the new Program Representative for the Statewide Master Gardener Program. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be a part of such an incredible organization! A little about me….I was born and raised in Lake Isabella, CA a quaint little town nestled in the Sierra foothills. I found my love for agriculture through high school agriculture classes and the FFA. I attended Cal Poly State......
]]> Wed, 23 May 2012 15:11:20 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7558&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7558 Wed, 23 May 2012 08:59:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7544&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7544 This is the first of a series of short articles about the benefits Alameda County Master Gardeners have received from the establishment of a statewide office and the hiring of a statewide coordinator in 2006. We were very fortunate to be able to hire Pam Geisel, a longtime farm advisor and local MG coordinator in Fresno County for this role. She has been excellent-- knowledgeable, politically savvy, forward-thinking and very competent. I have had the privilege of serving on a state advisory......
]]> Wed, 23 May 2012 08:37:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7542&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7542 Managing crop residues to essentially make them disappear has been the norm in California agriculture. But a growing body of research, and experience with conservation tillage on thousands of acres of Central Valley farmland, is showing that reducing tillage and leaving crop residues on the soil surface can improve water use efficiency. “Crop residues are an inevitable feature of agriculture,” Jeffrey Mitchell, cropping systems specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences, UC......
]]> Wed, 23 May 2012 08:16:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7539&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Janet Byron http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7539 How wood is used after it is cleared from a forest and where that forest is located largely affects the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere, according to a new study by UC Davis. The study, published this week in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Climate Change, provides a deeper understanding of the complex global impacts of deforestation on carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions. When trees are felled to create solid wood products, such as......
]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 07:56:41 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7500&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kekerlin@ucdavis.edu(Katherine Kerlin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7500 The competition between farmers and fish for precious water in California is intensifying in wine country, say biologists at the University of California, Berkeley. A recently published study links higher death rates for threatened juvenile steelhead trout with low water levels in the summer and the amount of vineyard acreage upstream. Like salmon, steelhead trout migrate from freshwater streams to the ocean before returning to their birthplace to spawn. Steelhead trout in Southern California......
]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 10:20:50 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7447&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed annguy@berkeley.edu(Ann Guy) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7447 When you drive around Yolo County farmlands, you may see them: a colorful mix of native forbs meant to attract bees and other beneficial insects. What's a forb? A forb is a broad-leaved herb (as opposed to grass) that commonly grows in a field, prairie, or meadow or alongside farmland. What's the best mix of native forbs? Native pollinator specialist Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, and research associate Kimiora Ward are researching which......
]]> Wed, 02 May 2012 08:15:58 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7395&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Garvey) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7395 Spring brings an abundance of phone calls with often panicked people wondering what to do about masses of bees that have moved into their neighborhoods. The arrival of a swarm of bees isn’t really great cause for alarm. Swarming is a natural means of colony reproduction. That’s how bee populations expand and move into new areas. Honey bees swarm when their hives become congested due to the rapid buildup of bees and stored food as temperatures warm in the spring. Swarms are usually gentle and......
]]> Tue, 01 May 2012 08:56:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7387&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed scmueller@ucanr.edu(Shannon Mueller) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7387 This year was a tough year for the peaches and nectarines.  It seemed that even though we sprayed with a copper oil spray and with a registered fungicide at the right time, the PLC was very noticeable on the trees this spring.  Treating now is useless as is pulling off the infected leaves.  Never the less, many people do it because it makes them feel better and they don't see the infected leaves anymore.  Chuck Ingles on the other hand is trying to do something about it!  He has been working on......
]]> Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:08:25 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7379&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7379 A pair of leading UC Davis experts will provide a rare glimpse into efforts to protect California biodiversity at a public lecture May 10, 4–6 p.m., in the UC Davis Conference Center. Lisa Thompson, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist and director of the Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture, will discuss how the campus’ specialized aquatic laboratory plays a crucial role in research into endangered and threatened fish such as Delta smelt and green sturgeon. Ted Grosholz, an......
]]> Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:40:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7324&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jdstumbos@ucdavis.edu(John Stumbos) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7324 The California Energy Commission has awarded Biodiesel Industries of Ventura a $2 million grant for research and development of biodiesel fuel. A key issue with biofuel production has been the need for inexpensive feedstocks that do not compete with agricultural land use or food production. To develop low-impact feedstock suitable for underutilized land, the company is partnering with Stephen Kaffka, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis. Kaffka......
]]> Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:11:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7312&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pam.kanrice@ucanr.edu(Pamela Kan-Rice) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7312 Due to their low-maintenance, low-input, environmentally friendly features, fineleaf fescue species are becoming increasingly popular choices in urban landscapes. All species of fineleaf fescues are perennial, cool-season grasses. Potential sites for these grasses include: slopes, median strips, golf course roughs, cemeteries, untrafficked areas of parks, and industrial, commercial and home landscapes. The UC publication No-Mow Fineleaf Fescue Grasses for California Urban Landscapes provides......
]]> Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:11:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5764&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Chris Webb http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5764 Whether you’re trying to garden at home more sustainably (minimizing water use or using pollinators), or whether you want the most up-to-date information on beautiful new plants, new gardening practices, or new hardiness zones, I have assembled some practical information for home gardeners. Arboretum All-Stars The horticultural staff of the UC Davis Arboretum have identified 100 tough, reliable plants for California that are easy to grow, don’t need a lot of water, have few problems with......
]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:58:08 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7192&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed afilmer@ucdavis.edu(Ann Filmer) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7192 Poets have romantically suggested that a “weed is no more than a flower in disguise.” But when burning nettle, pigweed and purslane rob water, sunlight and nutrients from vegetables you are growing to make a living, weeds are a despised nemesis. For conventional growers, chemical herbicides have taken the drudgery out of weed control. For organic farmers, weeds continue to be a perennial headache. Many large-scale organic growers have turned to mechanical cultivators to dislodge weeds.......
]]> Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:44:53 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7087&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7087 The arrival of spring heralds the return of bats to California’s Central Valley. Every year, hundreds of thousands migrate to this area. Some come from local areas where they hibernate; others species travel over 1,000 miles from their southern overwintering grounds. How bats find their way home is still a mystery, but studies on bat migration suggest they use a combination of factors such as the earth’s magnetic field, stars and landscapes.  Many bat species return to where they were born, and......
]]> Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:35:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7074&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rflong@ucanr.edu(Rachael Long) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7074 Drinking water is a commodity often taken for granted in the United States. When we turn on the tap, we assume the water streaming out is at least safe, if not always up to our individual taste. We expect that problems with our drinking water are isolated, temporary and newsworthy. Which may be one reason why a report released yesterday by UC Davis made headlines. According to the report, one in 10 people living in California’s most productive agricultural areas is at risk of exposure to......
]]> Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:12:20 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7029&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7029 Many funding sources for weed eradication have been reduced or completely eliminated.  According to the California Assembly Budget Committee’s annual Preliminary Review of the Governor’s Proposed 2012-13 State Budget, the California Department of Food and Agriculture will absorb a permanent budget reduction of $12 million in program cuts, in addition to a $19 million budget reduction in 2011-12.  Funding for weed management areas (WMAs) has been reduced to the point that many WMAs have become......
]]> Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:48:37 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6940&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rmillercripps@ucanr.edu(Rebecca Miller-Cripps) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6940 UC scientists with the Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project (SNAMP) are investigating the uses of Lidar (light detection and ranging) in providing detailed information on how forest habitat is affected by fuels management treatments across a large landscape. Mapping forest structure can illustrate how a forest influences surface hydrology, provides for wildlife and how a forest might burn given certain weather and wind patterns. This research is proving useful in wildlife studies, water......
]]> Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:28:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6830&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kcingram@ucanr.edu(Kim Ingram) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6830 Sudden oak death (SOD) has been spreading among trees throughout coastal California and Oregon for the last 15 years. In that short time, the disease has infested 10 percent of California’s at-risk habitat and killed over a million tanoak and true oak trees, raising major concerns about the potential impacts of further pathogen spread. The disease is caused by the non-native pathogen Phytophthora ramorum. Research by UC Cooperative Extension staff in Humboldt County shows that infection and......
]]> Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:56:38 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6787&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pam.kanrice@ucanr.edu(Pamela Kan-Rice) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6787 In a comprehensive study published in the January-March 2012 issue of the University of California’s California Agriculture journal, researchers evaluated the myriad factors that contribute to crop damage from Fusarium wilt, and conclude that an integrated management approach is most effective. “Management of Fusarium wilt requires an integrated approach that includes crop rotation to reduce soil inoculum levels and the use of resistant cultivars during the warmest planting windows,” wrote UC......
]]> Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:40:53 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6782&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Janet Byron http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6782 As a long-term UCCE environmental horticulture advisor, I would like to express my appreciation to Master Gardener Program Director Pam Geisel and Program Representative James Sigala for providing outstanding statewide leadership. In a mere six short years under Pam’s direction, the UC ANR Master Gardener program has received $ 300,000 in grants that provided support to the CA Garden Web; updates to the Backyard Orchard; the FAQ system; outreach materials such as posters and tips; sustainable......
]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:48:44 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6766&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6766 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:39:37 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6765&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pgeisel@ucanr.edu(Pamela Geisel) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6765 Tree rings. Ice core records. Cave stalactites. All of these things tell the story of Earth’s history and climate. Now, a UC Davis researcher and others are expanding on that story from the ocean’s point of view. They just returned from scouring the seafloor — digging deep into layer upon layer of mud — to uncover centuries of climate data from beneath the ocean floor. UC Davis geophysicist Gary Acton is one of 34 international scientists that set sail from the Azores Islands on Nov. 17 aboard......
]]> Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:35:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6727&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kekerlin@ucdavis.edu(Katherine Kerlin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6727 The closer homes are to open spaces – parks, stream and river corridors, forests and other natural lands – the higher the value of the homes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. However, if homes are far from such open land, homebuyers tend to place an especially high value on lot size. These were some of the findings of research, which graduate student Monobina Mukherjee at UC Riverside conducted in collaboration with Linda Fernandez, a former associate professor in the UC Riverside......
]]> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:04:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6660&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6660