- Author: Margaret J O'Neill
Summers in most parts of San Bernardino County are hot, dry, windy, and sometimes extra challenging due to fires. Add on the layer of continued drought and water restrictions, and it can seem almost impossible to get a fruit or veggie crop to grow. On the other hand, we are fortunate to have good sunlight, lots of great soil, and a Mediterranean climate where we can get almost anything to grow if we give it enough attention and resources. I also always remind myself, that right now, at this very moment, someone in So CA is successfully growing all kinds of fruits and veggies, and you can do it too! Here are a few tips that will help you get the fruit and veggie crop of your dreams to become a reality.
Benefits of growing your own food:
So, is using water to grow food at home, at school, or in a community garden a responsible thing to do or should you buy produce at a farmers market or close-by market instead? Like most things, there are several factors to look at when making that decision. Growing your own fruits and veggies has a number of benefits. One of the main ones is that they are fresh! As soon as produce is harvested the flavors begin to change and nutrients begin to break down. The longer the time between harvest and consumption, the less flavorful – and sometimes less nutritional it becomes. At home, you can harvest your produce at its nutritional peak. Another benefit to growing food at home is reducing the food miles that your produce must travel, which saves time and energy and reduces the carbon footprint. Lastly, gardening has lots of physical and mental health benefits as well! Gardening and being outdoors and out of your head is great for your mind and body. It's also a wonderful family activity.
Water usage:
Let's start with looking at the responsible use of water in a drought. Fruits and veggies can still be watered anywhere in CA even under drought restrictions; they are exempt from those restrictions. And, they are not generally low water or drought tolerant plants, and they will need to be well watered in order to be successful. It might seem counter intuitive that watering your veggies well and as much as needed is a water conservation measure, but it's important to remember that if fruits and veggies are cared for poorly, inconsistently watered, and not kept healthy, they will not produce a lot of fruit. Perennial veggies, like asparagus, artichokes and a few others may be a little more drought tolerant and may be a good layer to add in an area with a lot of drought stress. Note these plants will still take additional water, like all other plants (including native plants), to establish in their first year. With that said, it's still a good idea for to conserve water whenever possible while producing a healthy crop! Suggestions are to add a layer of mulch on top of your garden to reduce soil evaporation and keep competing thirsty weeds out, water early in the morning to reduce evapotranspiration (water loss from the soil and plant), and hand water or use a soaker hose or drip irrigation system rather than a sprinkler system to conserve water. (Sprinklers apply water over a wide area, including between plants, which is often a wasteful practice.) Improper or inconsistent watering can cause cracking, bitterness, and may also result in fruit or blossom drop. Following proper cultural practices (applying the right amount of water and fertilizer at the right time, etc.) will help ensure you get the harvest you are looking for. Overfertilizing at a period of time when a certain crop doesn't need it can increase water use and be counterproductive. Pest infestations will also cause more stress on drought stressed plants. Piercing sucking insects like aphids and spider mites suck the juices right out of your plants, and will cause your
plants to go through more water. Using Integrated Pest Management strategies (IPM) and catching pests early will reduce the stress they put on your plants. Consider pulling plants that start succumbing to pests like spider mites if they are starting to lose the battle and will infest neighboring plants doing well, which also saves water. Mechanical barriers will help keep vertebrate pests, who are also looking for a good meals, especially in times of drought, away.
Heat tolerant vs drought tolerant plants and heat reduction:
There are many types of veggies that are bred for heat tolerance, but there are limitations. Plant mechanisms for tolerating heat are often not the same as plant strategies to tolerate drought. Many fruits and veggies will still grow when it's very hot, but fruit production often slows down. Radiating heat from impervious surfaces like asphalt, cement, or decomposed granite can also slow down fruit production. This radiating heat can be reduced by raising pots up off the ground a few inches with a piece of wood, like a 2x4 for example. Solar radiation can be reduced by creating shade, using material that is manufactured to be used as shade cloth, or something as simple as a light-colored sheet in a hot spell. Note that while you can reduce heat on plants you want to make sure they still get 4 to 6 hours of sun for good production. They also need good aeration and access to pollinators so it's important to maintain good airflow!
Keeping your soil healthy:
Healthy soil that is full of beneficial organisms will help your plants grow and produce and there are a few things you can do to keep your soil happy, healthy, and hydrated! First, it's best to start with a well-draining and organic rich soil. Before planting, add a few inches of compost or other type of organic matter to the surface of your soil and mix it in at least 4 to 6 inches deep. (Making your own compost is highly recommended. It recycles tree trimmings, grass clipping and old landscape and garden plants and plant parts which also reduces the carbon footprint since it's all done at home!) This helps prevent water and nutrient loss below the root zone in sandy soil and improves drainage in heavier soils. Compost is a great soil amendment, helping to turn your dirt into living soil, but it's important to remember it's usually low in nutrients, so it's not a replacement for fertilizer. Once you have a nice soil, keeping those beneficial soil microorganisms healthy is important too. Mulch will help with that!
Reach out to our free UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Helpline to get your questions about home food production, composting, and all other home horticulture issues addressed: mgsanbern@ucanr.edu (909)387-2182.
- Author: Deborah Schnur
In April, I attended the Growing School Gardens Summit in Denver, Colorado, thanks to support from UCCE San Bernardino. The conference was promoted as “a gathering to inform, inspire, and invigorate the school garden movement” and was hosted by the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation in partnership with LifeLab and the School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) Network. It was so exciting to meet school garden educators and influencers from across the country and return home with a suitcase full of seeds, handouts, business cards, and healthy snacks to motivate me for months to come! In this blog, I want to share my most memorable moments from the conference and give you an update on the Upland High School waste audit.
Growing Garden Leaders
Monthly webinar topics included planting with students, culinary connections, garden maintenance, seed saving, and composting. To keep trainees engaged remotely, a variety of tools and techniques were used: guest speakers, school and teacher spotlights, live demonstrations, breakout rooms, interactive group platforms, activity kits, Q&A sessions, and a social media group. I'm always looking for more tools to add to my environmental education toolbox! In addition, this type of “train the trainer” framework could be useful for our Master Gardener School Garden Committee.
Providing Effective Support to School Gardens
The “Growing Garden Leaders” workshop dovetailed nicely with another workshop held on the last day of the conference. “Providing Effective Support to School Gardens in Your Region” showed how to increase the impact and effectiveness of garden-based activities with limited capacity. Presented by the United States Botanic Garden and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (both in Washington, D.C.), the session introduced the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. This approach advocates building a strong foundation of “tier 1” activities that are available to everyone and disseminated widely. About 80 percent of those served will get what they need from tier 1. Two examples are a school garden guide and a monthly newsletter. The remaining 20 percent will need more support from tiers 2 and 3 such as group training or a site evaluation. This concept resonated with me because our School Garden Committee just finished adding school garden resources to the Master Gardener website, a tier 1 activity. Now we have a place to refer those who contact us for help.
Decomposition!
Edible Schoolyard New Orleans
Staff from Edible Schoolyard New Orleans gave two excellent short talks. Sasha Solano-McDaniel discussed how a Spanish cooking club enabled language acquisition in the kitchen classroom. Both English language learners and native English speakers benefitted from sharing their cultures and building community. Brian Tome outlined how he created a resilient, undemanding, and educational garden at the Phillis Wheatley Community School. He accomplished this by planting cover crops and perennials and creating a food forest using plants common in the tropics and subtropics such as taro, ginger, turmeric, papaya, and lemongrass.
Food Forests for Schools
My favorite presentation of the conference was “Food Forests for Schools” presented by The Education Fund, a non-profit organization that provides leadership and support for public education in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Food forests are multi-layered food growing systems consisting of trees, bushes, herbs, vines, and ground covers. In Miami-Dade County, 26 of the 51 elementary schools have perennial, edible landscapes that provide food for students to take home and eat in the cafeteria.
Through the Edible Outdoor Eco-Labs to Accelerate Learning program, The Education Fund installs food forests and shows schools how to use them as outdoor classrooms to teach science and nutrition lessons. The main design elements of the food forest are a defined entrance, walking paths, an outdoor classroom, and a compost circle surrounded by banana trees. I would love to see this type of design used in more school gardens in Southern California. Many tropical plants that grow in South Florida can also grow here at lower elevations.
Building a Sustainable School Garden Program
In “Building and Institutionalizing a Sustainable School Program”, Dan Brown, a junior/senior high school teacher in rural Northern California, described how he and his students started with an existing greenhouse to build a garden program that now sells about 2000 pounds of organic produce each year. In 2007, he began applying for grants and used the Ag Mechanics shop to build raised beds, cold frames, shade frames, and high tunnels. Over the years, the garden program has sold many types of plants and produce, saved seeds, and run a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) project.
Green Bronx Machine
Green Bronx Machine started as an after-school, alternative program for high school students and has evolved into an organization that serves more than 50,000 students with an interdisciplinary, project-based curriculum. Green Bronx Machine also supports the Food for Others Garden on a decommissioned city street in the Bronx, a wheelchair-accessible urban farm and culinary training kitchen for special needs students, and an outdoor Learning Garden at Community School 55 among many other projects and partnerships. Truly amazing!
Upland High School Waste Audit Update
As a follow-up to the waste audit, the UUSD Nutrition Services Department is evaluating ways to collect and recycle food waste, increase education on school meal requirements, provide share buckets for unwanted items, switch to bulk condiments and sauces, and make more sustainable purchasing choices. Changes such as these will help UUSD meet the Senate Bill 1383 requirements for organic waste reduction and edible food recovery.
Have you enjoyed reading this blog? Do you have questions or need information on environmental topics? If so, send an email to dschnur@ucanr.edu. I look forward to hearing from you.
- Author: Margaret J O'Neill
Tips for Spring (and Summer) Fruit and Veggie Garden Success!
I begin each spring full of visons of wonderful summer harvests in the veggie garden! It's a wonderful time to dream about what the possibilities are, and they seem endless! There are plants of all types and varieties in the garden centers, seeds of every kind imaginable online and in catalogs, and people like the Master Gardeners are telling you every chance they get that “you can do it, and we are here to help!” ….and we stand by it …..“you CAN do it and we are here to help!!!”
So here are a few tips from our Master Gardeners to you to help you reach you veggie garden dream!! Each tip has a resource linked to it if you want to learn more.
1) Good access to water: Keeping the soil your veggies are growing in evenly moist, like a wrung-out sponge, is key
2) Size matters: It's easy for us all to get carried away with a big veggie garden in the spring when there are plants and seeds for sale everywhere and the weather is not blazing hot! When planning your summer/warm season veggie garden think about caring for it in the summer when it's hot, and try to keep it to a manageable size. This is also especially true this year with the need to save water in our drought. Each year as I learn more, I expand my garden little by little when I feel like I can handle a little more responsibility! Check out our blog post about Ten Tips for the Busy Veggie Gardener to get some more tips on this: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=48940)
3) Mulch for your veggie gardens: Mulch can be used in your veggie garden too! It will keep weeds out, help keep soil moisture in, and also help cool the soil on hot summer days. Check out this blog from the University of Illinois to learn more about the pros and cons of different types of mulches in the veggie garden: https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2022-01-20-common-mulches-used-vegetable-garden
4) Using compost to build your soil: Compost is a great way to improve your overall soil health, and it can help improve drainage in heavy clay soils and improve water and nutrient retention in sandy soils. Adding some finished compost to your veggie beds or containers is a great way to get soils rich in organic matter, which is so important for good veggie growth. Check out this class we just did online about Composting Basics at Home on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwC4VZgTuUc
5) Pollinators in the garden? Hopefully! Lots of summer fruits and veggies need pollination, and will suffer in size, quality, quantity, and shape if they don't get adequate pollination. Planting flowers and using least toxic methods of pest management will help make your garden fruitful and beautiful. Check out this comprehensive publication on “How to Attract and Maintain Pollinators in Your Garden” to learn more https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8498.pdf
6) Pests in the Garden: In addition to having pollinators for proper pollination, there are also many insects that act as beneficial predators. To learn more about using integrated pest management (IPM) in your garden to manage pests with least toxic methods check out one of our Master Gardeners favorite sites, the UC IPM page, to find out about the pests bugging your garden: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/menu.homegarden.html. While you are there check out the section on Natural Enemies in the garden to learn all about beneficial insects: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/natural-enemies/ Want to learn more about how soil is tied to your plants health and is a key part of overall integrated pest management? Check out this blog from last month titled Integrated Pest Management: Building on the Basics: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=51690
7) Should you start your plants from seeds or transplants? It depends! With seeds you can often find more varieties, but they can be harder to start for the busy gardener. Most root veggies do best when started from seeds. Starting with transplants (plants that are already 4 to 6” tall) can give you that instant garden look but can be more expensive. Best of both worlds for non root veggies: start them from seed at home and then transplant them into the garden. Having trouble with your young seedlings dying off? Check this link to learn about “dampening off” and how to manage it http://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/dampingoffcard.html
8) Seed Saving from your summer garden? Seed saving can be a great adventure and there is so much to learn and explore! Did you know we offer free monthly classes on seed saving online? Check out the recording of our April class on “Seed Saving from your Cool Season Veggie Garden” https://youtu.be/QkdZECMbNDA and check out this short video on seed saving tips (https://youtu.be/I0St3DMm2h0)
9) Fruit Trees: Don't forget about growing fruit trees at home! Fruit trees are a great way to expand your home food forest and there are lots of different types of trees you can grow. They can be grown in big and small yards, and even some will grow in large pots! For more information about growing fruit trees at home check out UC's California Backyard Orchard site at https://homeorchard.ucanr.edu/
10) While you're at it grow some herbs too, they are another great addition to your home veggie garden! Check out our blogs on easy ways to grow herbs at home in this blog https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=50170 The University of Illinois Extension also has some great information on growing herbs too! Remember they have a different climate than we do here is So Cal, but there is still lots of great information so check it out at https://web.extension.illinois.edu/herbs/directory.cfm
Lastly…..You can do it….and ….We are here to help! As always, we are here to help by phone or email! Send us an email with any questions you have about your garden, and including pictures of your plant problems or questions can help too. Don't want to email? Give us a call and leave a message and we will get back to you to help with any of your plant related questions! Also check out our free classes online and in person in your neighborhood throughout the county to learn more about a wide variety of gardening related topics! See our website for more information and check out our helpline at: https://mgsb.ucanr.edu/
San Bernardino County Master Garden Helpline:
Phone number: 909-387-2182
Email: mgsanbern@ucanr.edu
For a general overview of veggie gardening check out this publication “Vegetable Garden Basics” https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8059.pdf
- Author: Margaret J O'Neill
This month's UCCE San Bernardino County Master Gardener Spotlight is on Dee Denton. She is new to our team here in
-Maggie O'Neill, UCCE San Bernardino County Master Gardener Program Coordinator
Tell us a little about yourself Dee:
In 2017 my family found themselves with more fruit than we could eat or share. This city girl found herself wanting to learn about food preservation and found the Master Food Preserver program. I was accepted into the program and was certified that very year. I started preserving a ton of stuff – almost anything I could get access to. I jumped into my volunteer commitment even before I graduated the program and was so excited to talk about the skills I was learning. I felt so empowered that I was learning skills that would help my family one day.
Why did you decide to be a MG?
I joined the Master Gardeners so I could learn best practices and researched based information to ensure the best outcome from growing food for my family. I want to make sure that I teach my younger family members how to be self-reliant - growing and preserving food is a great place to start. I want to make sure they have the skills they need to leaders and a contributing member of their community.
What are your gardening passions?
I want to have a garden that is plentiful. I want to grow items that I may not normally purchase in a store or farmers market. I want to make sure that I teach my younger family members how to be self-reliant and growing food is pretty important. I want to make sure they have the skills they need to be productive.
What is a tidbit or two you've learned as a MG that the public reading our newsletter could gain from?
I have learned that the gardening education is there if you want it. If you have any issues, you can reach out the volunteer staffed hotline for advise and they will get back to you with your options to address your issue. Talk about an EASY button….
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a UCCE MG?
Join the volunteers in San Bernardino to make a change! I know what you are thinking - Public speaking is not for me. Let me tell you something – I FAILED speech in college and now I am excited to get up in front of a group and share with others everything I have learned. This program needs dedicated people to make changes, people just like YOU! There is lots to do, so don't let public speaking stop you from making a difference.
- Author: Deborah Schnur
Ever since Senate Bill 1383 took effect earlier this year, local governments and organizations across California have been scrambling to develop strategies to recycle organic waste. Schools are no exception. As I discussed in my February blog, SB 1383 requires our state to reduce organic waste disposal by 75% and increase edible food recovery by 20% by 2025 (relative to 2014 levels). California schools and universities generate over 560,000 tons of waste per year according to CalRecycle.[1] While implementing programs to reduce and recycle waste, schools are in a unique position to teach youth about a wide variety of environmental topics including resource conservation, composting, and food rescue.
A good way for schools to start developing a waste handling strategy is to conduct a waste audit. The main goal is to characterize the type, quantity, and source of materials being discarded. An audit is often part of a more comprehensive assessment to evaluate school district policies and procedures that affect waste generation. In 2014, CalRecycle performed a waste characterization study using 45 samples from K-12 schools.[2] The study showed that the largest components of the waste stream were organics (50.8%), paper (31.4%), and plastic (12.7%). The organics category included food, plant material, and some textiles.
I recently helped Cassidy Furnari, the Upland School District Farm to School Program Manager, conduct a lunchtime cafeteria waste audit at Upland High School. The Farm to School Program is part of the Nutrition Services Department, which is concerned about food waste and cost. Cassidy and I recruited members of the school garden club, GRO (Grow Recycle Organize), to participate in the audit to empower them to promote change on campus. The students are currently preparing to present their results at an upcoming Board of Education meeting.
The first step we took in planning our waste audit was to write a brief project plan. To keep the project manageable, we decided to perform an audit during a typical 30-minute lunch period. Upland High School has over 3000 students who all eat at the same time. Only seniors are allowed to leave campus during lunch.
To avoid influencing student behavior, we didn't make any major changes to the meal service or trash disposal. Rather than asking students to sort their own waste, we placed distinctive purple liners inside existing trash containers shortly before the lunch period. The week before the audit we counted over 90 trash containers in the areas where students eat lunch.
During the planning process, we informed and consulted with the school administration, cafeteria staff, custodial staff, and parents of the garden club members. We also asked for help from our friends at the Community Composting for Green Spaces Grant Program to tap into their experience with waste audits.
To design our data collection sheets, we considered what questions we wanted to answer. What is the total weight of the waste? How much of the waste is food, paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass? How much can be composted or recycled? How much uneaten cafeteria food can be recovered? By answering these questions and others, we can help the Nutrition Services Department make more sustainable and economical food purchasing and packaging decisions.
After a month of planning, the big day of the waste audit finally arrived on March 9th. Our team consisted of nine people from Upland Farm to School and Community Composting for Green Spaces. Our first tasks were placing purple bags in the trash receptacles and setting up a staging area to sort the waste. Before we knew it, the lunch period had come and gone, and the hard work of collecting the bags and sorting the waste began. Sorting was much messier and more tedious than I had expected, especially since we had over 30 waste categories. The garden club members joined us after school to help count, weigh, and record the items in different waste categories. We eventually finished tallying the results and cleaning up six hours after we started. It was a long day!
What did we learn from our waste audit? Although we're still analyzing the results, we've already answered our initial questions. The total waste generated in a single lunch period was 370 lbs. The two largest types of waste material by weight were food (63%) and paper (19%), and more than 80% of the waste was compostable or recyclable. Students threw away over 200 pieces of uneaten whole fruit and 40 unopened cartons of milk, which potentially could have been recovered. Every question we answer gives rise to new questions and new ways to examine the data. We're already thinking about performing a waste audit at an elementary school to see how the waste profile compares.
I hope this story inspires you to support waste reduction, recycling, and recovery efforts in your local schools. Stay tuned for an update on my journey into school waste auditing in a future blog!
[1] CalRecycle. School Waste Reduction Programs. https://calrecycle.ca.gov/recycle/schools
[2] CalRecycle. School Waste Composition. https://calrecycle.ca.gov/recycle/schools/composition
