- Author: Sara Milnes, Master Gardener
The Learning Landscape is open 24/7 and is located at 2101 E Earhart Ave, Stockton, 95206.
- Author: Julie Schardt Master Gardener
Spring 2020
Observing what local gardens have to offer is a great way to mark the beginning of spring. Early spring shows a garden's promise, while in late spring, fruit, flowers and foliage become more defined. San Joaquin County offers some possibilities to get you started. Two have places to sit and contemplate surrounding plants as well as the birds and butterflies that enhance the experience. Several residential areas have school gardens where you can see the work of future gardeners (and their teachers) right from the sidewalk.
Muir Botanical Garden at University of the Pacific Wild, Weedy, Wonderful
This hidden gem was created in 2012 as a result of UOP's focus on water conservation as well as to reflect the university's collection of the John Muir papers. What used to be a lawn-covered quad area is now populated with CA native plants mentioned in Muir's writings. Located between Ballantyne Hall and Wilson Hall, it has five main areas that reflect most of California's varied biomes. Several benches are placed around the garden to afford observers a chance to enjoy the space. Don't miss the Carpenteria californica (Bush anemone) and its fragrant white flowers. Plan to catch a glimpse later in summer of the exquisite but elusive flower of the Hibiscus lasiocarpus (California hibiscus) planted in the center garden area. (Although the area has become somewhat overgrown, it looks much like it would in uncontrolled natural spaces.)
In Season Market and Nursery … Vibrant Butterfly Viewing
Located in central Stockton, In Season Market and Nursery has a unique setup for garden watchers. A seating area in the middle of the outdoor space is surrounded by espaliered apple trees and a vegetable garden punctuated by flowering annuals. A Passiflora incarnata (Purple passionflower) drapes the front fence of the property. This dramatic plant attracts the Agraulis vanillae (Gulf fritillary) butterfly. During an early morning visit, you'll see the butterflies awaken and unfold
School Gardens … Seeding the Future of Gardening
Several San Joaquin County schools offer students from kindergarten through high school a chance to experience the full range of gardening, from soil preparation through harvest. It's worth a walk to see how these and other schools educate students about food crops as well as nurture future gardeners along the way.
El Dorado Elementary School in Stockton has a thriving garden created by their garden club of 4th- through 8th-grade students. The planter boxes are colorfully painted by students and decorated with garden art and plant labels. Young fruit trees are placed around the space, showing the promise of figs, cherries, pomegranates and lemons. Poppies dot the garden perimeter, and tables stand ready in the shade for students to picnic or to write and chat about their gardening adventures. The product of the harvest goes to students who work in the garden, and in late summer a farmer's market is held for the school.
In Manteca, the Brock Elliott Elementary School garden has been around for about 20 years. Its evolution over time has led to a space where feeding troughs have replaced garden boxes to prevent gophers from having a field day. A new shed houses tools for student teams to clean, plant, prune or mow the area. During spring, winter vegetables - kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts - give way to the tomatoes and squash of summer.
Whether you choose to spend some time walking or sitting, there are countless opportunities to experience what early spring brings to San Joaquin County gardens. And plan to take some pictures when you do. It's time well spent.
Additional gardens to visit at UOP: Bon Appetit Native Plant Garden, Ted and Chris Robb Garden
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- Author: Susan Mora Loyko, Master Gardener
Anyone who visits the Black Urban Farmers Association (BUFA) garden can feel the love and joy for growing produce as well as the inspiration and contribution these gardeners have for the Black farmers that came before them.
Step into the garden and most likely you will hear the sounds of soft jazz music as the gardeners plant, harvest seasonal crops, and chat among themselves. There is a joy at just being there.
The members of BUFA first cut their farming teeth in 2015 as 20'x20' plot holders on the PUENTES/Boggs Tract Community Farm. Members spent time studying and learning about gardening along with the rich history of American Black farmers. The joy of gardening by the original 15 individuals who founded BUFA was long part of their DNA. But it was gardening as a group, working side-by-side and learning about gardening and appreciating the rich heritage of the country's Black farmers that moved the group to form their own BUFA organization, according to Reatha Hardy Jordan, a foundingBUFA member.
The members of BUFA have their own self-description: “Our active hands-on farmers are all passionate baby boomers who became farmers after retirement. Several of our original founders have full time jobs but offer support by scheduling volunteers & ordering resources when needed.”
Their mission: “To promote a healthy lifestyle by providing fresh, locally grown vegetables & herbs that highlight African American cuisine & a plant-based diet.” But the BUFA members and the garden are much more than that.
Reatha Hardy Jordon said in addition to the group's love of gardening, the purpose of the garden is “give community people access to fresh, local produce; reduce hunger; strengthen the garden community; teach folks the importance of eating fresh veggies.”
It was when the members of BUFA met with farm owner Kitty Brown that the notion of starting their own BUFA garden became a reality. Ms. Brown leases (at a cost of $1/year) 1/6 acre of her property to BUFA for its garden, located at 580 W. Bowman Rd., French Camp. A farmer herself (KB Farms), Ms. Brown is amazed at the bounty of year-round crops on the acreage. “It is amazing what they've done. It's just beautiful out here.”
BUFA members put in the hard work to turn the bare ground into the beautiful growing area with planter boxes teeming with seasonal crops and herbs. The group also subscribes to healthy soil, sustainable farming, and good agricultural practices. The farm's produce is available for purchase to the community. BUFA currently has about 50 regular customers who come to the garden to purchase in-season produce and herbs and/or subscribe to a bi-weekly or monthly “BUFA Produce Box” at a cost of $25 per box filled with 10 different items.
Another benefit of the garden has been to teach others how to grow veggies on their own. In addition to providing produce for sale, BUFA regularly donates fresh vegetables to St. Mary's Dining Room as part of the collaboration BUFA has with Alice Waters' Edible School Yard that supports the farm by purchasing produce from the BUFA garden and donates to St. Mary's Dining Hall.
Reatha Hardy Jordon said some students have come to the garden for classes or help with small projects such as building and installing planter boxes. The BUFA group is hoping to have more opportunities for student involvement in the future.
To learn more about BUFA, check out the links below:
- Facebook/BUFA
- Twitter: @BUFA_SJC Con
- BUFASJC@gmail.com
- Author: Regina Brennan, Master Gardener
At the time of this article, we are still engaged in struggling through a pandemic that makes venturing outside a risky undertaking. It would appear that the only safe place is in our garden, spending quality time planning and working for bountiful harvests of fruit and vegetables that we can share with family, friends, and organizations whose purpose is to feed the hungry.
With these goals of sharing the bounty of our garden in mind, care must be taken about what is put into the garden to ensure that what comes from our garden meets our expectations. Many factors come into play when planting and maintaining our crops before we can see the results of our hard work at harvest time. There are three key points to keep in mind: choosing the potting soil that best meets your needs, using fertilizer according to manufacturer's directions, and finally at the end of the season, recycling the remaining soil. Fortunately, there is a lot of help available on the San Joaquin County Master Gardener's website. Everything you need to know to proceed is available.
Whether we are looking at a big box nursery section or a small independent nursery, there are many choices of packaged soil mixes. It can be an unpleasant surprise if you need to fill five wine barrels that take two large bags each, and the bags are almost $20 each. Even if your budget can handle it, it is still mind boggling to realize that raising your own produce may be fun and fulfilling, but certainly not cost effective considering the number of great Farmer's Markets we have available locally.
There are a few points to consider when making a purchase of potting soil. For most, price is a consideration and another is whether you will be using containers or in-ground planting. The highest yields are crops grown in ground with carefully selected soil amendments mixed into the native soil. Container-grown plants require closer monitoring because they are apt to dry out quicker than in-ground and they use up the nutrients in the soil rapidly, so supplemental feeding is critical throughout the season.
Being human, we are tempted to buy the seasonal large bags of potting soil with added compost and fertilizers from our favorite big box store because of the price compared to our usual favorite. As we know, different brands have different formulations and despite reading label statements of promised bounty, we can wind up being disappointed with poor crops. Specialty mixes are available to maximize growing of groups of plants such as African violets, cactus and succulents, citrus, roses, etc.
During the growing season and at the end of harvest, it is important to have established connections with organizations that distribute food to the hungry. If we have been blessed with bountiful crops, our friends and family will probably hide from us when they see another bag of zucchini on their doorstep, but many organizations will gladly accept the fresh veggies.
What do we do with the now-spent potting soil that cost us a lot of money at the beginning of the season? Some sources say remove the top portion of the used soil and replace it with new soil according to the expected depth of the new plants' roots (winter vegetables). Other recommendations are to replace the soil in your container once a year because of salts that accumulate from the water. At any rate, we have used soil to recycle somewhere. One of the best uses for old potting soil is as an amendment for in-ground native soil. Spread it around and slightly work it in so it can continue to serve a purpose in the garden.
Now, do we remember which of the new potting soils we tried worked like magic and which one worked like toxic waste in a bag? Garden Journals are both friend and foe at the same time. Having the information we need for next year is critical if we are to learn from experience what works and what does not. If we don't make entering important information a habit, we are going to be stuck repeating our same mistakes. Let's do ourselves a favor and try writing down the brand, type and price of our purchases. Who says you can't teach an old gardener a new trick?
- Author: Constance Starner, Master Gardener
We've been hearing some alarming statistics about wildlife recently. Research published in the journal Science pointed to a drop of nearly three billion birds in North America since 1970. A recent article in National Geographic, “You'll Miss them When They're Gone,” details the increased rate at which insects are disappearing and the devastating effects that will have on our planet. It's easy to feel discouraged, even hopeless, in the face of such news.
Author Douglas Tallamy, chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, suggests a solution many of us can participate in. His book, Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants (2007) makes a convincing case for using native plants in backyard gardens to increase habitat for insects, birds, and other fauna. Collectively, our gardens can not only be an enjoyable way to spend time outdoors, appreciate the beauty and diversity of plants, and enjoy exercise and fresh air, but they can also contribute to a rich and healthy ecosystem that enhances our sense of place.
Non-native plants can crowd out natives, and often local insects cannot use them for food because they have not evolved together. Although a garden without insects sounds appealing in some ways, Tallamy reminds us that insects provide an essential link: they convert plant tissue to insect tissue, which in turn provides food for a large percentage of bird and animal species.
Recognizing that most gardeners aren't particularly fond of most insects, Tallamy focuses on butterflies as a group that gardeners typically do appreciate. He points out that butterflies and moths need two types of plants: those that provide nectar and those that provide food for their larva. A butterfly bush, for instance, provides nectar but is not a host for butterfly larva, so it is not sufficient to sustain a butterfly species.
Although Tallamy does provide lists of native plants by region in an appendix, he states that his goal was not to write a “how to” book. This is a book to read for inspiration and to gain a new appreciation for the beauty and complexity of ecological systems that evolved together over millennia.
Written in an accessible, conversational style, the book includes sections on designing, planting, and maintaining native plant gardens, as well as helpful descriptions of the characteristics and uses for a variety of native plant families. When planning a garden, Ellas emphasizes that the purpose of the garden is a primary consideration, followed by the design elements of repetition and simplicity; she recommends using a few species that are repeated throughout the garden. Interest is another important design element which can be created by varying foliage type and plant form, not only by flowers. While there should be something interesting to look at in the garden each season, an individual plant does not have to be interesting all year long.
Ellas provides a wealth of information on planting and maintaining natives with advice on irrigation, pruning, and controlling weeds. In the section “Specific Plants & Special Uses,” she describes riparian-community plants—reminding us that it is a myth that all California natives require little water—and other families of plants such as ceanothus, manzanitas, wildflowers, and native grasses, giving examples of suitable plants for specific garden needs.
For more information, there are several online resources for learning about California native plants. Here are a few:
California Native Plant Society. Dedicated to being “the primary and enduring voice for California's native flora and places,” its activities include conservation, education, and gardening. It is also the source for the Inventory of Rare Plants, the Manuel of California Vegetation, and the Calscape databases. Calscape is particularly useful for gardeners who wish to learn which plants are locally native; they can be searched by street address and plant type. It even includes links to nurseries that sell the plants.
Calflora, a nonprofit website and database, has lists of California native plants with detailed information about their characteristics, maps showing where specific plants grow in the wild, photos, and a database of locally native plants searchable by county. Users can also get help in identifying plants by uploading a photo to the Plant ID Help Group.
Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants provides resources on California natives that are searchable by plant type, flower color, and water needs, as well as plants suitable for special situations such as container gardening, pollinator gardens, and heavy soil. Seeds, books, and clothing can be purchased online, including a California poppies face mask!
Websites related to the books reviewed:
Bringing Nature Home is Douglas Tallamay's website with information on his books and lectures. It includes the Native Plant Finder, which lists plants ranked by the number of butterfly and moth species that use them as host plants for their caterpillars, searchable by zip code.
Quercus Landscape Design includes information on the company's services and periodic blog posts written by Peyton Ellas.