- Author: Morris Lacey
Winter is finally here! Leaves have fallen or are in the process of leaving our deciduous plants naked. Sends shivers up my spine!
What's an avid gardener to do? There must be more to life than raking leaves. Growing winter crops help us stay active in the garden with the added benefit of providing vegetables and fruit for our friends and family. Pests are ready to take advantage of our weaknesses should we drop our guard and ignore their signs. Use these simple scientifically proven methods to control the following pests of the season. You may also learn of other pests you encounter this winter and learn how best to deal with them at your local Cooperative Extension via the volunteer Master Gardener program in the form of telephone hotline or website, listed at the bottom of the page.
Black Aphids are a common pest during the late fall / early winter period attacking green onions, garlic, and chives, including society chives (landscape). These aphids suck the life out of the plant while they feast up and down the leaves, reproducing parthenogenically, birthing live offspring along their way. If you catch them early you can prevent damage by washing them off with a firm stream of water. In the cooler weather you may not check your crop daily and may encounter plants covered from top to bottom with black dots as pictured above – these may require at the minimum a soapy water mix or Neem Oil mixture to salvage the crop. Be sure to follow manufacturer's directions when applying Neem Oil products. Aphids may escape and hide in the innermost leaf material surrounding the stem and bulb. If you choose to transplant these affected plants, make sure to leave the aphids behind by submerging the plant in a bucket of soapy water to suffocate the little critters. Peel back as much of the damaged leaves as possible to eliminate their hiding places. For more info, visit the UC IPM Page.
Fungus pests are hiding at this time of year. One such hidden pest waiting to rear its ugliness in the coming spring is Leaf Curl, Taphrina deformans, which typically attacks nectarines and peaches. Since the leaves are all off, now is the time to apply a preventive fungicide treatment. If timed properly, a single fall/winter treatment of copper-based fungicide can prevent leaf curl and shot hole disease! A “2-fer”!
If your trees showed symptoms last spring, be sure to treat your trees now. Don't wait to see if it disappeared by itself or your pruning removed all the infested areas. It is still there and needs treatment to stop its spread. Your fruit production will improve, and your neighbors will thank you for sharing your bounty. For more information visit the UC IPM page.
Do you recognize the plant in the picture? While this “grass” mixes well with commercial sod and can become one with your lawn, it also spreads from its wind-blown seeds and germinates heartily in the winter in our flower or vegetable gardens. Vulpia microstachys is a species of grass known by the common names Small Fescue and Small Six-weeks Grass. Native to western North America, its presence in the flower garden or crowding out your vegetables can relegate it to “pest” status. To manage this pesky grass, simply pull it out by hand or uproot it with a flat or hula hoe and remove it from the area. It can go in the compost pile if you make sure the pile heats up properly to kill off the seeds, lest you plan to spread your compost on the lawn to improve thickness of said lawn in the cooler weather. If it goes to seed before you remove it, you will get another crop with the next rain or watering. Good news – it usually only lives 6 weeks.
Visit http://sjmastergardeners.ucanr.edu or call us at 209-953-6112 with your questions regarding specific issues you may encounter in the pursuit of gardening enjoyment.
- Author: Julie Hyske
If you're like me, you'll be serving up soup all winter long. These comforting soups are perfect for those long, chilly nights spent at home. Paired with a crusty loaf of bread and a salad filled with seasonal greens, dinner is done! The cheesy cauliflower soup is a quick fix and features another way to serve this all-star winter vegetable. Best part is you decide whether you prefer a smooth puree or prefer to leave it chunky country style.
Your new go-to tomato soup is loaded with golden onions and mini pasta that delivers a five-star rating. The best part is the grilled cheese croutons for a meal to remember.
Finally, the spicy black bean soup packs a punch. This vegan soup loads up on beans, veggies, and rice to fill up your crew. Garnish with sour cream, tortilla chips, avocado and cilantro; what a beautiful presentation. You decide which of these offerings becomes your new favorite bowl of comfort!
Ingredients
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
2 carrots julienned and cut into 1-inch strips (matchsticks)
2 shallots minced
4 cloves garlic minced
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. paprika
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 large head cauliflower or 2 small/medium heads, cut into florets
¾ cup heavy cream
1 cup grated cheddar or Colby Jack cheese
In a large stockpot set over medium-low heat, add the butter. Once melted, add the celery and sauté for 3 minutes. Then add the carrot, shallot and garlic. Sauté for two minutes. Add the flour. Whisk the flour until it turns golden brown, taking care not to burn. Gradually pour in the chicken broth, whisking continuously until combined. Turn heat up to medium and bring to a simmer. Add the salt, garlic powder, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper. Add the cauliflower, allow the soup to gently boil for 15 minutes, then remove 2 cups and puree in a food processor or blender until smooth and return the mixture to the soup. If you prefer a puree, use an immersion blender directly to the pot until silky smooth. Pour in the cream and continue to gently simmer for an additional 10 minutes, then add the cheese and whisk to combine. Remove from the heat and serve.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium sweet onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ cup Acini di Pepe pasta or orzo
½ cup heavy cream
In a large pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the chicken stock, tomatoes and salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, add in the tiny pasta and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the cream, return the soup to a very gentle simmer and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn off heat, cover the pot, and let rest for about 10 minutes (this will allow the pasta to plump up a bit more.)
Serves 6
Grilled Cheese Croutons
Place the cheese between the bread and butter the outsides. Put the bread, butter-side down, on preheated pan. Grill until golden, flip and grill the other side. Let cool slightly, then cut into cubes with a serrated knife and float in the soup.
Ingredients
SOUP
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 red onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds remove, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. chiles in adobo
1 tbsp. cumin
½ tsp. garlic powder
3 (15 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (15 oz.) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
3 cup V8 (or other brand vegetable juice)
32 oz. vegetable broth
1 cup uncooked rice
1 tbsp. sugar
Juice of 1 lime
Kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
GARNISH
Tortilla chips
Sliced avocado
Sour cream
Fresh chopped cilantro
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, green pepper, and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently for 4-5 minutes. Add jalapeno and garlic to the pot and cook for another minute, stirring frequently. Add chiles in adobo, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, black beans, corn, tomatoes, vegetable juice, vegetable broth and rice. Stir everything together and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes or until the rice is cooked through. Be sure to stir every couple minutes to avoid sticking. Stir in sugar along with juice of 1 lime. Season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish as you like.
Serves 8
/h4>- Author: Cheryl Carmichael
While researching the horticultural term “Fasciation” for our winter blog, Master Gardener Cheryl Carmichael came across the following article on the same subject posted to the Wisconsin Master Gardener website by Susan Mahr, University of Wisconsin – Madison in March 2011. Rather than re-write the article, we are reposting it here for our San Joaquin readers.
Every once in a while, the normal growth pattern of a plant goes awry, producing an interesting “mistake” that can be attractive and ornamental, or ugly, bizarre, or humorous. This physiological disorder, called fasciation, can occur in almost any plant part, but is most noticeable in the stems or in fluorescence. In a normal plant, growth in the apical meristem occurs at a single point, producing essentially cylindrical growth. Fasciation causes an elongation of the apical meristem so that flattened, ribbon-like growth is produced instead. This abnormal activity in the growing tip often produces very flattened stems with a fan-like enlargement on the end, leading to another descriptive term for this condition of “crested.” It may appear like several stems have been fused so that the stem looks like a wide, ribbed ribbon (fasciation comes from the Latin word fascia which means “a band” and refers to anything which resembles a wide band in shape); stems may be bent or coiled in abnormal directions; numerous growing points may develop to produce a witches'-broom effect; flowers and leaves may appear at odd angles to the stems and the leaves growing from distorted stems are usually smaller and more numerous than normal; or flower heads may be elongated, deformed, or misshapen with more flowers than normal. There is also a much rarer type, ring fasciation, with a ring-shaped growing point, which produces a hollow shoot.
Although this condition is not common, it has been recorded in hundreds of different plant species, including ferns,
woody plants, herbaceous annuals and perennials, and fruits and vegetables. Most coniferous and broad-leaved trees and shrubs can bear fasciated branches, but some are far more susceptible than others to malformations. It is most common in the plant families Cactaceae, Compositae, Leguminosae, Onagraceae and Rosaceae, and among species that have indeterminate growth.
Certain fasciated plants are prized for their unusual appearance,
particularly the undulating folds of growth on cactus plants, where the growth may eventually become convoluted, somewhat like a brain. In some cases, the changes are so dramatic that the resulting cactus plant loses almost all resemblance to the original species. Fasciated specimens of cactus and other succulents with their unusual forms – which can often be perpetuated by vegetative propagation – are highly sought by collectors. Some plants seem to develop this condition more readily than others, suggesting a genetic tendency. Many of the ones perpetuated by vegetative propagation become cultivars with descriptive names such as ‘Monstrosa,' ‘Cristata' or ‘Tortulosa.'
Japanese fantail willow (Salix sachalinensis ‘Sekka') is a clone with fasciated stems propagated from cuttings. The “cockscomb” cultivars of celosia (Celosia argentea var. cristata) are grown especially for their dependably fasciated flower heads, a trait that is passed on in the seeds. And some dwarf conifers with abnormally dense stems or odd branching patterns are fasciated plants.
identified two genes in Arabadopsis (the lab rat of plant research) that
cause fasciation when mutated. Some plants may inherit the trait, while in others the condition is not stable and affected plants may revert to normal growth from a fascinated growing point. While fasciation affects the plant's appearance, it has little effect on the health of the plant and affected plants have the same cultural requirements as normal plants.
I have seen several instances of fasciation in dandelion in my yard, as well as in Hosta, Sempervivum, and ‘Romanesco' broccoli. Keep an eye out in your own yard for the unexpected surprise of these random, fascinating oddities!
Additional Information:
Fasciation: Fascinating distortions of the plant world – Colorado State University Extension
Fasciation – in an old (1903) volume of The Ohio Naturalist
- Author: Lee Miller
- Author: Jody and Morris Lacey
Did you know that the use of Pomanders date back thousands of years? Hippocrates, Thucydides, and Galen, all of whom lived through plagues due to pestiferous or “Bad Air” used a simple version to breathe easier and stay healthy. If breathing “corrupted air” was the cause of disease, then the solution was to surround oneself in a shield of pleasant fragrance. This could be as simple as an orange studded with cloves or an apple with resin bits stuck into the skin. You would simply carry the fruit with you and when you needed a breath of fresh air take it in your hand and roll it to activate the smell and hold it under your nose.
In 1348, a report from the Medical Faculty of the University of Paris states “The present epidemic or pest comes directly from air corrupted in its substance”. The recommended remedy by the writers was to use incense in combination with fragrances, which “hampers putrefaction of the air and removes the stench of the air and the corruption (caused by) the stench.” Nutmeg, aloeswood*, ginger, cloves, camphor, sandalwood, and cinnamon were faculty approved for use in pomanders. We know today face masks do a better job at filtering out the “pests” in air we breathe, but the smells of the spices and herbs would be an improvement! Take that COVID-19! A drop of cinnamon oil in your mask could be the secret to keeping the mask on while you shop or sit through a meeting.
* Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood or gharuwood is a fragrant dark resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small carvings. It is formed in the heartwood of aquilaria trees when they become infected with a type of mold (Phialophora parasitica). Prior to infection, the heartwood is odorless, relatively light and pale colored; however, as the infection progresses, the tree produces a dark aromatic resin, called aloes (not to be confused with Aloe ferox, the succulent commonly known as the bitter aloe) or agar (not to be confused with the edible, algae-derived agar),in response to the attack, which results in a very dense, dark, resin-embedded heartwood. The resin-embedded wood is valued in Indian-North Eastern culture for its distinctive fragrance, and thus is used for incense and perfumes.
Ever wonder why Holly is the tree from which we decorate the halls with boughs? Let me shed light on this tree.
The Holly tree possessed protective qualities according to the Druids (early Celtic culture). They would bring boughs into their dwellings to protect against evil spirits and bad luck, as well as provide shelter from the cold for the fairies, who in turn would be kind to those who lived in the dwellings. (Is this an early start of “Elf on the shelf” or even the beginning of being classified as “naughty or nice”?) When you look at the Holly tree, its abundant spiked leaves are a great spot for garden birds to safely make their nests and enjoy the protection from predators.
Is it no wonder that Christmas and New Year celebrations take place during the Winter and days of Holly, aka Holly Days?
Happy Holly Days to All!