The Real Dirt

Finding an Ecological Niche: A Three-Part Series on Selected Foothill Woodland and Chaparral Species, Part 2 of 3: The Gray Pine By Laura Lukes, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, March 8, 2019 [Note: Gray pine (Pinus sabiniana), buckeye (Aesculus californica), and blue oak (Quercus douglasii) are...

Finding an Ecological Niche: Selected Foothill Woodland and Chaparral Species, Part 1 of 3: The Blue Oak By Laura Lukes, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, February 22, 2019 [Note: Blue oak (Quercus douglasii), gray pine (Pinus sabiniana), and buckeye (Aesculus californica) are three species that t...

By Laura Lukes, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, February 8, 2019 It didn't take long. Soon after the first post-Camp Fire rains, there was green in the burned area. Along lower Skyway, a blanket of soft verdure overlay the harsh scars of incineration.

By Brent McGhie, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, January 11, 2019 Fire is a normal part of the natural environment in California, so if you live in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), it's not so much a question of if, but of when your home will be exposed to wildfire.

By Laura Lukes, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, December 14, 2018 I first heard the term on the local evening news: Meteorologist Kris Kuyper was talking about hydrophobic soils.