- Author: Margaret J O'Neill
Here are a few planting tips for your “cool season” veggies:
1) Selecting varieties: There are lots of things to think about when it comes to selecting which type of veggies you will grow. Keep in mind things like disease resistance qualities, flavor, size, quality, pollination needs, and if they are open pollinated rather than hybrid if you are seed saving. If you are shopping at local garden centers rather than through catalogs then that often narrows down the choices you have and can sometimes make it easier to choose. Smaller garden centers should sell fruits and veggies that are appropriate for your area, but it's always good to ask! Larger garden centers that are part of chain stores don't always have seasonally appropriate veggies and often have sales to move plants that did not sell at the end of the season, so keep that in mind when shopping. If shopping through a catalog then be sure the plants you select are appropriate for your area as well since these companies are located all over the county, and sell all over the country and world!
2) Soil quality matters for fruits and veggies! Most veggies and fruits do best in soil that is well draining and rich in organic matter. If you have sandy soil, or heavy clay soil, you can amend your planting area with compost to improve water holding capacity and improve drainage respectively. Adding compost is a great way to increase the organic matter in your soil. Compost is relatively low in nutrients, so it's not a replacement for fertilizer, but it adds to the overall soil and microbe health so it's great stuff!!
3) Fertilizing your veggies: If you are planting transplants that you grew yourself or that you bought at the store you can add fertilizer to the soil when planting and then fertilize approx. every 4 to 6 weeks. If you are planting seeds directly into the soil (which is the preferred method for root veggies like carrots and radishes) no need to fertilize when planting but you can begin fertilizing about when the plant is about 4 to 6 inches tall.
4) Mulch is for veggies too! Adding mulch to your cool season veggies will keep weeds down and help keep moisture in the soil, which is especially important if we have a long dry winter.
5) Keep your plants from getting overwatered! While rain may seem like a distant memory …….sometimes we get too much at one time in the winter and spring. Keep an eye on your veggies and fruits when we get a lot of rain to try to avoid having them sit in soggy or standing water. Make sure if you are planting in pots that they have adequate drainage holes. If you are planting in a low spot of your yard, consider planting on berms or mounds or in a raised bed. For your larger plants and fruit trees that have troughs around them to hold water you may need to open the ring to allow excess water to flow out.
6) Protecting your plants from cold snaps! Having a plan in place to protect cool season veggies from cold snaps will help you be prepared for the handful of days that we have below freezing. You can buy frost cloth from your local garden center, or use sheets to protect your plants. If you use plastic to keep your plants warm be sure the plastic is not touching the plants to avoid frost damage and when the temperature warms a bit in the day it's important that there is some air circulation given to the plants. Leaving the plants fully covered can lead to pathogens that damage your plants.
7) Water born plant diseases, like mildews and molds, can be a problem when we have a wet, humid winters. While we can't control what nature has to offer, we can take steps to make sure we reduce the amount of moisture that sits on our plants. If we haven't had any rain but it's cool and humid in the mornings avoid getting any water on your veggies leaves. In the summer that moisture will usually evaporate off, but in the winter that moisture sits on the leaves longer and is a great environment for molds and fungus. You can also plant varieties of plants that are more resistant to these airborne, moisture facilitated diseases.
8) Pest management in your cool season garden. Common cool season pests are slugs and snails, gophers, caterpillars and aphids to name a few. To learn more about what's “bugging” your garden check out our UC Integrated Pest Management website (UC IPM http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/menu.homegarden.html ) or contact our Master Gardener Helpline for help at mgsanbern@ucanr.edu. The most important thing to remember when dealing with garden pests is to use best management practices to keep your plants healthy, to properly ID your pests so that you are treating the right pest in the right way, and lastly to use least toxic methods possible.
9) Looking to bring more pollinators into your yard? Cool season veggies are often overlooked as a source of nectar for pollinators since we usually eat the leaves, immature flowers, stalks and roots of the plants, but they flower too!! If your crops “blot” (send out a flower stalk too soon) due to late season heat then consider not pulling them out, but instead letting them go to flower for the pollinators (they also make some really pretty flowers) and then maybe you can save seeds from them too!
Hopefully with these tips and list of cool season veggies you are excited to grow a little or grow a lot in your cool season
- Author: Gretchen Heimlich-Villalta
Getting Started with IPM
Now you're clear on what IPM is—and why it's vital to a thriving garden, or landscape, or farm. You're ready to get IPM-ing. But where do you start? There are five main components to a successful IPM program1:
- Pest identification
- Field monitoring and population assessment
- Control action guidelines
- Preventing pest problems
- Integrating biological, chemical, cultural, and physical/mechanical management tools
Why Pest Identification Is Important
Let's start at the beginning—pest identification. Pest identification can be intimidating. Why is it important? Suppose you find a new insect on your peach tree. As an IPM trainee, you know that not all insects are “bad,” and that some are actually beneficial. Your insect is brown, shield-shaped. You will need to identify it in order to determine whether it is an invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug or a beneficial Spined Soldier Bug, and whether you should squash it, or leave it in peace. Or if you're able to identify the fungus on your grass as Dollar Spot, you may decide to apply nitrogen and adjust your irrigation instead of just applying fungicide. When you can identify all the factors contributing to disease, you will be able to make management decisions that support the overall health of your plant, enabling it to defend itself better against predators and disease. And of course, without accurate identification of your pest, your treatment may be a waste of your time and resources.
What Is a Pest?
The definition of pest seems obvious, until it isn't. My students are often surprised when they learn about the many uses of our “weeds,” both as food and medicine. It's often said, “A weed is a plant out of place.” If you think about it, a “weed” is defined by human needs and wants. Pests, likewise, can be defined as “organisms that reduce the availability, quality, or value of a human resource”1. In other words, if they mess with our stuff, they are a pest. Any organism could be considered a pest, given the right conditions. These organisms are often important members of the ecosystems they inhabit. IPM encourages us to look into our hearts and wallets and consider what amount of pest damage we are willing to tolerate, and to make educated control decisions that will have the least impact on the other organisms with whom we share the planet. Do we need to be able to continue growing oranges and lettuce and broccoli? Definitely. Do we need to kill every last aphid in our garden? Maybe not.
How to Identify Pests
Now it's time to put on your pest detective hat. But where do you start? I've found there are a few key details that can narrow down your pest search considerably:
- Host plant
- Site conditions (recent changes, humidity, temperature, weather, time of year, soil conditions)
- Symptoms (changes in plant appearance)
- Signs (physical evidence of the pest: bacterial ooze, fungal fruiting bodies, frass/insect poop)
Most pests require specific foods and conditions in order to survive. Because of this, knowing which plant species is being affected is a vital first step in identifying your pest of interest. For example, it is easy to confuse a pine beetle and an invasive shot hole borer (ISHB), but since they have different hosts, knowing what tree it was found on can help you narrow down the possibilities.
Resources for Pest Identification
There are a number of resources online to help with pest identification. “.edu” educational websites can generally be relied upon to have good, science-based information, as can the USDA.
In California, the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) UC IPM website is the go-to reference for anyone practicing IPM. The information they've compiled is thorough, science-based, and specific to the plants and pests of our region. Their website has an entire tab dedicated to identifying and managing pests. Narrow your search based on your pest's location (Home, Garden, Turf and Landscape, Agriculture, or Natural Environment). From there, you can narrow your search by plant species or pest category.
*Grass and Identification Key images courtesy of UC IPM.
Obviously, pest identification is a larger subject than I can address in one blog post. Hopefully I've at least gotten you pretty excited to explore the UC IPM website, and to start testing out your identification prowess. And if you're struggling with a pest that you just can't identify, or want specific help with IPM in your own garden, you can contact a Master Gardener volunteer at mgsanbern@ucanr.edu.
Author info:
Gretchen Heimlich-Villalta is an ISA™ certified arborist who has been a San Bernardino County Master Gardener since 2014. She received her AS in Integrated Pest Management from Mt. San Antonio College, where she has helped teach IPM since 2020. She received BA degrees in Creative Writing and Photography, and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Plant Pathology at the University of California, Riverside, where she is researching citrus root and soil health; she also helps manage the Strub Avenue Community Garden in Whittier.
Sources:
- Flint, M. L. IPM in Practice, 2nd Edition: Principles and Methods of Integrated Pest Management. (University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2012).
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o you want to help residents of San Bernardino County garden and landscape more sustainably; grow food in home, school, and community gardens; and improve the health of our communities? Becoming a University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Master Gardener volunteer may just be for you!
To become a Master Gardener volunteer, you must complete a 50-hour online training course taught by UC and other subject-matter experts.
Important Dates: December 15, 2021: Deadine to complete online application Continuous (through January 7, 2022): Rolling acceptance of applicants on an individual basis.
January 31, 2022: $150 class fee paid online, Master Gardener handbook purchased (not included in tuition: $28-$40), and background check completed (not included in tuition: $25-$40)
April 30, 2021. Final date to complete on-line course requirements (view and complete quizzes for all modules, complete a midterm and final exam, and a class presentation online or in-person.
June 30, 2023: Final date to complete your required 50 volunteer hours. MG program graduation requirements include viewing and completing quizzes on all classes, passing an open book midterm and final exam, and co-presenting
UCCE will ensure the health and safety of accepted applicants and the public served through the program by requiring physical distancing and other precautions as necessitated by COVID-19 throughout the training and volunteer period, including returning to all on-line formats if necessary.
In addition to completing and submitting the online application found here: https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=36040, you must attend (via Zoom) an information/Q and A sessions about the program. Saturday, November 20, 2021 (2-4 PM) Tuesday, November 30, 2021 (7-9 PM) Wednesday, December 1, 2021 (7-9 PM) Saturday, December 4, 2021 (3-5 PM) Saturday, December 11, 2021 (9-11 AM).
Why did you decide to apply to the UCCE Master Gardener program in San Bernardino County?
I decided to become a UCCE Master Gardener because I was interested in improving my knowledge in pesticide -free food production. I had been growing vegetables and fruit trees but a lot of experimentation and trial-and-error was involved. The UCCE Master Gardener program provides researched based gardening information and training that MGs can then share with diverse communities in a variety of settings.
Tell us about the “climate-ready” landscape tree mulch/no mulch research project you've led for the past several years.
As of February of 2019, I meet up with a group of several UCCE Master Gardeners to measure tree trunk circumference as part of a citizen-science project. The trees for this climate-ready tree study are located at the Chino Basin Water
Note from UCCE Lead Researcher Janet Hartin: Irene and her team (MGs Wayne Borders, Christian Ordaz, Roger Lai, Esther Martinez, Judy Scott, Debi Adams and Kit Leung) have played a critical role in identifying the impacts of mulch vs no mulch on drought, heat, and pest resistant trees that stand up to the challenges of climate change. Properly selected and cared for landscape trees cool urban heat islands, provide shade and habitat, and - at maturity - absorb and store carbon produced by the burning of fossil fuels. The four species of trees (‘Bubba' desert willow, ‘Maverick' mesquite, ‘Red Push' pistache, and ‘Desert Museum' palo verde) included in this project were selected from a larger project at UC Riverside due to our interest in determining the impacts of mulch on tree growth and development and water conservation due to less soil evaporation. Irene's team has meticulously taken quarterly data on tree circumference at two heights and photographed the trees throughout the project.This is just another example of how UCCE Master Gardeners help UCCE's mission to develop
I would tell a San Bernardino resident interested in becoming a MG to apply to the program. They will find that the decision to learn further about gardening and sustainable landscaping will not only enrich their own life but also that of those they share the information with. They will also likely make new friends with others who are also passionate about nature.
- Author: Deborah Schnur
Debbie Schnur, UCCE San Bernardino County Master Gardener and Community Education Specialist
When I lived in Minnesota, fall was my least favorite time of year. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the changing colors of the leaves or the crisp fall air. I just dreaded the coming winter with its barrage of snowstorms and minus 30 degree wind chills. By the time December arrived, the sun set at 4:30 pm, and I felt like I was living in constant twilight.
Since I moved to southern California, I actually look forward to fall and the changes the season brings to the inland valleys–strong Santa Ana winds, refreshing rains, cooler days and even cooler nights, and leaves gradually turning subtle shades of brown, gold, and orange. Fall actually feels like a relief from the long, hot, dry summer. It's time to plant lettuce, spinach, peas, radishes, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower once again, and worry less about watering and maintenance.
One thing I've been thinking about a lot lately is composting. When I was a FoodCorps service member at Phelan Elementary, my students used to call me “Ms. Debbie the Garden Lady”. Now I'm becoming known as “Ms. Debbie the Compost Lady”! Not everyone is as excited as I am about composting, but I can't think of a better way to build community while building soil. In October, I gave an online presentation for the San Bernardino Master Gardeners titled “Composting for School and Community Gardens”. If you missed it, you can watch the video on the UCCE San Bernardino YouTube channel. The presentation covers the basics of composting and development of the Root 66 Community Garden composting systems.
The main difference between backyard composting and school and community composting is scale. More compost means a bigger composting system and more people to manage it. As stated in the Institute for Local Self-Reliance report, Community Composting Done Right, “the distinguishing feature of community composting is retaining organic materials as a community asset and scaling systems to meet the needs of a self-defined community while engaging, empowering, and educating the community.”
Although larger scale composting requires additional planning and organization, it can be a tremendously rewarding project for everyone involved. The main steps to begin composting include setting goals, identifying a team, developing a management plan, selecting and designing a site, and choosing a system. Once composting is underway, the focus shifts to collecting and managing the materials and managing the process and site. Connecting with experienced composters to share best practices will increase your chances of success. There's a wealth of composting expertise in the Inland Empire!
You may be wondering if it's a good idea to start composting in the fall or winter, and the answer is yes. Any time is a good time. As temperatures dip, simply insulate your compost pile with browns such as mulch or leaves to keep the interior warm. You can also cover the pile with a tarp and turn it less often (if at all). The decomposition process may slow down but will continue throughout the winter.
A new composting project I want to highlight is the Green Ambassadors program at Captain Leland F. Norton Elementary School in San Bernardino. The principal, Elizabeth Cochrane-Benoit, and I met during Master Gardener training and worked together to build the composting system at the Root 66 Garden this past year. Norton Elementary has been recognized as a 2021 California Green Ribbon School at the Silver level and is aiming to reach the Green Achievers level. The Green Ribbon Schools Awards Program honors achievement in reducing environmental impact, improving health and wellness, and providing effective environmental education.
Sixth grade students in the Green Ambassadors program are learning how to audit their cafeteria waste and sort it into recycling, compost, and trash bins. Once they've mastered the process, they'll teach it to the rest of the school. The Community Composting for Green Spaces program (funded by CalRecycle) will help transfer the food waste in the compost bins to local gardens for composting. At a recent lunchtime audit, the fourth and sixth grade classes filled a 17-gallon container with uneaten food. I can't wait to see how much waste Norton Elementary teachers and students divert from landfills in the coming months!
What gardening and environmental projects do you have planned this fall and winter? Do you need support? If so, contact me at dschnur@ucanr. Happy composting!