Napa RCD Weekly Activity Digest - 9th Edition
Greetings from Napa RCD!
We could all use a pick-me-up these days, and the
Napa Youth Stewardship Council
wants to help! Starting this week, 1 gallon wildflower pots are available to reserve for pickup in Napa on May 25 - 27. Each pot includes native milkweeds and other wildflowers grown by students in an effort to restore monarch butterfly habitat and brighten your patio or garden!
Please follow this link to reserve your plants
. Plants are free to good homes, and we suggest a $15 donation to help cover costs and support the next cohort of Napa Youth Stewardship Council students. Bug out on the activities in this week's digest, and let us know how you're doing!
As always, don't forget to share the things you're finding and doing on social media, tagging @NapaRCD and #WILDnapa. We can't wait to see what you're up to!
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Many thanks to the following education and outreach activity sponsors for their support: NOAA, County of Napa, Napa County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program, City of Napa, the Watershed Information and Conservation Council, and Friends of the Napa River.
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Online & Inside Activities
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Productive Pollinators
"Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals that pollinate plants are responsible for bringing us
one out of every three bites
of food." - Pollinator Partnership
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Bay-Friendly Garden Month
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Our friends at
Our Water Our World
recently recorded a very helpful presentation on Organic Vegetable Gardening. Learn the difference between helpful and harmful bugs in the garden, and ways we can all protect pollinators, soil, and water.
Coming up this week, we're focusing on designing a sustainable home garden. Whether you have a whole yard, a small deck, or anything in between, join Marcy Berruezo for an online workshop on
Zoom and Facebook Live this Tuesday at 7pm
. We'll also be checking in with Evelyn and Bob Zlomke's garden on
Facebook Live at 11am on Thursday
. Don't miss out! (
Helpful tip: if you miss our Live events on Facebook, you can watch them later on Facebook and the
Garden Month page
on Napa RCD's website.)
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It's a bug's life!
Put your observation skills to the test this week by investigating bugs! Designate a spot that you can revisit each day, or hopefully, a couple times a day. Use a hula-hoop or string to outline an area where you'll perform a bug study.
With nature journal in hand, observe your bug area for as long as you like. You can count how many bugs you see and how many different kinds of bugs you can distinguish. Maybe you wonder what they're doing or where they're going. Are you seeing the same bugs each time you visit your study area? Maybe practice some sketching skills by drawing bugs that stand out to you.
Finally, choose your favorite bug that you observed and imagine what kind of journey you would have as that bug. What would you see? What kinds of obstacles would you face? What would you eat? What kinds of adaptions would you need to help you survive?
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Make a humane bug-catcher!
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Bugs, bugs, bugs, and... MORE BUGS!
A teacher from New Tech HS sent in this photo of a beetle she found, can you tell us what it is?
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Look out, there's FUNGUS AMONG-US! This fungi is common throughout Napa County, and is called a split gill mushroom or
Schizophyllum commune.
This particular specimen, and the one at the top of this eNews, were found at Skyline Wilderness Park recently
. You can learn more about this furry fungus on
iNaturalist
and
Mykoweb
.
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Help support RCD Programs -
Donate
Today!
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Napa County Resource Conservation District | 707-252-4189 |
NapaRCD.org
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