Spring 2020 - Volume 1, Issue 2
Hello Gardeners,
Shelter in place! We are all doing things a little differently than originally planned. The Master Gardeners’ mission, however, has not changed: we are in this together and we are here to help! During this time of isolation, I find it heartwarming to see the togetherness of our communities, especially people helping each other. We'll get through this!
Master Gardeners are working remotely and following all social distancing restrictions. Consequently we are cancelling all in-person events. Some of our 24,000 plants are now available at
Orchard Nursery
in Lafayette. They accept online orders only. Others will be donated to community gardens and needy families. Check our
Facebook page
or
website
for updates, as we hope to make more available through nurseries that have set up safe processes for plant delivery.
Mother Nature is so beautiful right now with an abundance of new growth. We have many tasks for our
Spring Gardens
.
There are also countless native plants in bloom for us to enjoy right now. In this issue Laurinda Ochoa writes about two CA native perennial plants that are suitable for spring planting. Most CA natives are better planted in the fall. Therefore we will recommend more native plants in our fall issue.
'Good Bug / Bad Bug' , written by John R. Fike, is a fun read about aphids (voted as the most disliked pest), and the beneficial bugs that eat them.
With the extra time you are spending at home Marilyn Saarni gives you some excellent advice on quickstarting vegetable growing during shelter-in-place.
Finally, the extra resources as well as the bonus question might entice you to explore more ideas.
Stay strong and healthy,
Hedwig Van Den Broeck, Editor
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From our Bay Area
County Director, Frank McPherson
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UC Master Gardeners are University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) trained volunteers. They are residents of our community that give back all year to provide UCCE researched-based horticultural information to individuals in their communities and throughout the state.
They give talks and demonstrations, conduct plant clinics, staff phone help lines, provide training at community gardens, support school garden programs, staff information tables at Farmers’ Markets, fairs, nurseries and much more.
Thank you!
Frank McPherson, Bay Area County Director
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Two CA native plants suited for spring planting
by Laurinda Ochoa
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Eriogonum grande rubescens
(redflower buckwheat)
photo courtesy UC Davis bee gardening news
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Monardella villosa
(coyote mint)
photo courtesy UC Master Gardeners
of Butte County
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More than 6,000 native plants grow in California, and more than a third of these plants are endemic to California. Not only do these plants provide beauty, enrich the soil and feed and shelter birds, insects and other wildlife, they evolved with California’s climate of warm dry summers and cool wet winters. No matter what soil type, there is a California native plant that will thrive there, with or without water. They do not need to be fertilized, pruned or mowed.
When planting California native plants, it is critical to remember that many
natives are summer dormant and grow during the colder wet winter and spring months
. CA natives can easily rot with regular summer watering, so the ideal time to plant them is during late fall to allow their root systems to develop through the wet winter and early spring. A more detailed article on our CA native plants will appear in our fall issue.
For the spring issue, I have selected two easy-to-grow perennial families that can be planted now. Remember to water them carefully!
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Good Bug, Bad Bug
by John R. Fike
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Aphids
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/aphidscard.html
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Aphids
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/aphidscard.html
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Beneficial: Lady Beetle
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/ladybeetlescard.html
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Beneficial: Syrphid Fly
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/NE/syrphid_flies.html
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Our yards, gardens, orchards, forests and open spaces are teeming with small to microscopic creatures whose very presence is essential to the healthy ecosystem we call home. Many, if not most, people consider the insects in their local environment to be pests and, historically, they have often resorted to rather noxious chemical means to control or eradicate such ‘bad bugs.’ However, nature has provided a safer and, arguably, a better solution to this problem, and if understood and properly supported, ‘good bugs’ can not only control the pest populations, they can also enhance the vitality and the biological diversity of the garden.
A recent missive from the Smithsonian estimated that there are approximately 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects alive. That roughly translates to 300 pounds of insects for every pound of human on earth. I suspect the person who made that last calculation had far too much time on his or her hands! Regardless, and even in the context of the evolving insect apocalypse, there are really a lot of insects around.
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Quick start for vegetable growing
during Shelter-in-Place
by Marilyn Saarni
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photo courtesy Marilyn Saarni
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Many beginner gardeners, for the very first time, are preparing to plant veggie plants this spring. Or for experienced gardeners, you are brainstorming on how to have a fast start on expanding your veggie growing capacity during this Shelter-in-Place season. Excellent! To save backs, and dampen the grief due to gophers and other vicious veggie assassins, consider using fabric grow bags, especially if you haven't prepared any space already for plants that require rich soil. Veggies (except for herbs) require richer soil than other plants, and will deplete nutrients more quickly. In addition, they are usually the first item that gophers attack—and we have so many gophers across Contra Costa County! Nothing like weeding in your garden, and seeing a young endive tremble, and suddenly—zoop!—it disappears into the earth!
Read more about gophers
When you use fabric grow bags, the fabric naturally trims the roots via air exposure at the edges, which is much better than what happens with clay or plastic pots. In those containers the roots turn, and start circling around, in the end strangling the plants, disturbing how the water flows through the soil, and reducing the health of the plant. Also you can buy clean planting mixes from a reputable nursery (sadly, not cheap stuff), which are often treated with heat and tested to prevent soil-borne disease (not what you'd want to bring into your garden!). Fabric grow bags can last two to five years, and at lower cost than building raised beds with wood or stone. Many professional nursery growers use them nowadays, and they are continually evolving and improving.
If you are also dealing with deer or squirrels that dig in that lovely loose soil, you'll also want to buy bird netting or something similar, and materials to build a simple support over the grow bag, so the barrier prevents harm to your plant babies. This is especially recommended if you plant seeds directly (wait just a bit longer for the soil to warm up!) into the grow bag, since small birds love to nibble on fresh sprouts.
For healthy tomatoes, expect to use at least a 20-gallon fabric grow bag. A 30-gallon fabric grow bag is even better, especially if you're growing indeterminate tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are usually indeterminate), which will keep growing and growing, with lots of tomatoes to harvest until frost. You'll need cages (think tall; indeterminate tomatoes often vine up to 6-8 feet!) or some sort of support for indeterminate tomatoes. Most peppers (many don’t need support) are satisfied with 15-20 gallon fabric grow bags. Herbs can use much smaller grow bags; you can even mass herbs in a 3-gallon fabric grow bag. Grow bags are particularly popular for growing potatoes, since you can easily add layers gradually as the potatoes grow.
Read more about growing potatoes
If you want a really big grow pot for perennial vegetables or fruits (say, artichokes, berries, rhubarb or asparagus), you can buy 200-gallon grow pots. Just remember that’s a LOT of soil! That’s equivalent to 26 cubic feet, or 1 cubic yard (a typical dump truck delivery from your local bulk soil amendments source). And you have to navigate getting into the middle of it. Typical dimensions for a 200-gallon grow bag is 50" in diameter, and 24" high. (Remember, gophers can’t climb over 18”, so if you’re dealing with gophers, make sure the height is greater than 18”.)
Read more about container gardening.
Since we’re all sheltering in place, I strongly recommend online ordering. Grow bags are not available in most local hardware stores, and many of the local nurseries are in reduced services mode. Here’s to our successful Shelter-in-Place veggie gardens for 2020!
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Our Demonstration Gardens
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- The Richmond Dry Demonstration Garden is OPEN while observing social distancing requirements.
- Our Garden in Walnut Creek is CLOSED.
- Rivertown Demonstration Garden in Antioch (formerly Mangini) is CLOSED.
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Got a Gardening Question?
Our
Help Desk
is staffed 50 weeks of the year,
Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-Noon.
Currently, we are communicating through email ONLY
In your email request:
- Include your name and city (plant advice depends on local conditions!).
- Describe the problem in detail. Include the name of the plant if known, when the problem began, and cultivation history such as watering, fertilizing, pruning, pesticides, etc.
- Send photographs, if appropriate.
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A few more resources and a quiz
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We truly hope you and your families
are all in good health
Here are a few more resources just in case you run out of ideas while being isolated at home and feel like further educating yourself and your children:
- The California Garden Web is a University of California site dedicated to sustainable gardening in the many unique climates of California. Visit the site at http://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/General/
- For select native plants for your garden, go to https://calscape.org/. CalScape allows you to search for plants that do well in your climate, and in the many different microclimates that may occur in your yard.
- For parents with children at home, the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom has activities, games and lesson plans for children related to pollinators, gardening, agriculture, fruits and vegetables at https://learnaboutag.org/.
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The answer to this bonus question will be published in our Summer issue.
"
This time of year I grow abundantly in forests and probably in your garden too as long as the weather is cool and damp. At first I look like a little green rosette. Later on, it appears that a small white (sometimes pale pink) flower grows through my mature circular leaves. Alice Waters had me on her salad menu at Chez Panisse. I am loaded with Vitamin C. However, just like spinach, I also contain a lot of oxalates, which are not good for you
".
Who am I?
To end this newsletter on a note of hope: we are all part of a larger community of people who believe that another, better world is possible. If we all hold that vision together, we can get there, one day at a time.
Stay strong and healthy!
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