This month's UCCE San Bernardino County Master Gardener Spotlight is on Dee Denton.  She is new to our team here in

the Master Gardener program, but not new to our counties UC Cooperative Extension! She is also with the Master Food Preserver (MFP) program, first as a volunteer and now as the program's coordinator.  Our programs have worked together for many years. We teach people about growing food, and the MFP program teaches people how to preserve their harvest.  It's a perfect match!  Dee has always been interested in growing food, asking questions when we work together at events and presentations, but it wasn't until this year's Master Gardener training class that she decided that it was time to take the plunge and join our team of garden loving volunteers, and we are so glad to have her!  She has a genuine interest in learning all she can about growing food and being self-reliant, and that interest shows when she interacts with the public.  As her coworker, I have watched her teach food preservation classes and talk with the community at events, and it's always a delight to see how she takes the fear out of safe food preservation and helps show people that “they can do it too!”  Her enthusiasm for self-reliance and genuine interest in empowering others is a quality and talent that we are excited to bring into our program!  The next time you see us at a presentation, or an event keep an eye out for our new Master Gardener Dee to learn more about both gardening and food preservation.  Here's a little more about Dee in her own words.           

                              -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.

 

UCCE Master Gardener Roxana Price had been a supporter of the UCCE Master Gardener program for many years, but it wasn't until fall of 2020 that she finally decided to join our program….probably because she knew we were just too much fun!! Well, just kidding (sort of)! She had been an educator with UCCE in San Bernardino County with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Program (EFNEP) for many years and had partnered with our Master Gardener program at events. In San Bernardino County our Master Gardeners, EFNEP and Master Food Preserver programs all work together to get research-based information out to the public and help improve outcomes in every community. Our collaborative work earned a statewide UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) “Star Award” in 2020 based on its success integrating the three programs and last year the team received a UC ANR Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Program (SAREP) grant to continue and expand this work, creating a “how to” toolkit for use by other Cooperative Extension county offices. (To learn more about our collaboration and the SAREP grant, that Roxana was instrumental in helping develop, read this blog: https://ucanr.edu/b/~NjC.

 

Around the office and at events Roxana was always full of gardening questions and really showed an interest in learning more and improving her skills. Her genuine interest and enthusiasm for gardening was inspiring and she always wanted to the take the program but couldn't quite yet due to her busy schedule. During the COVID pandemic, Master Gardener Coordinator Maggie O'Neill graduated another class of Master Gardeners, including (lucky for us!) Roxana!

 

Right away she saw what a need there was to offer the classes and information we had for the public about growing food, sustainable landscaping and better living through gardening to the Spanish speaking audience. Roxana was ready to get started right away on translating presentations and teaching classes in Spanish. With her leading the way, we began offering classes in Spanish every month and also held “Ask a Master Gardener” times where we answered questions in Spanish for the public. With Roxana's help, other Spanish speaking Master Gardeners volunteered at information tables, events and gave presentations. Roxana's enthusiastic personality and genuine interest in growing her own knowledge as a gardener and program ambassador has helped us reach many new audiences! Her genuine desire to make a difference coupled with her knowledge about improving mental and physical health through gardening have made her an invaluable contributor to our Master Gardener program. We look forward to continuing to expand and develop our Spanish language gardening outreach with Roxana and know with her determination she is really “growing” places!!

 

Let's hear a little bit more about Roxana in her own words!

 

Hi there!! My name is Roxana Price, and I was asked to describe my experience as a Master Gardener with you. Before

2015 I had no idea UCCE San Bernardino County offered great community resources about gardening, food preservation, and evidence-based nutrition education. My journey with UC began when I was hired by UCCE San Bernardino County in 2015 to provide outreach to communities and teach nutrition education workshops throughout the county at schools, libraries, community centers, and anywhere else there was community interest in learning evidence-based nutrition education resulting in healthy lifestyle changes. My time spent with UCCE has truly been a blessing for my personal growth, and my family.

I became a Master Gardener in 2021 through the online course (due to the COVID pandemic). I have to say, if it wasn't for the MG program being offered online at the time, perhaps I would not have been able to achieve such an endeavor, and that to me was the silver lining I needed. (But it would be a lie if I told you I did not miss the in-person interaction.)

Prior to becoming a Master Gardener, I remembered simple things I had learned in school long ago about flowers, seeds, the process of growing plants, and fruits, and vegetables. I realized I had become accustomed to purchasing my fruits, veggies, and plants at grocery stores, not making the connection that I too could grow, plant, harvest my own food. The Master Gardener class provided infinite possibilities and options for my family and me and provided another tool under my belt to better serve the community I work, and live in. Especially my gente (people), the Spanish speaking community, where now I can share evidenced based gardening tips in Spanish to!

Presently, I am experimenting with composting and preparing space for my future vegetable garden. I have learned that planning is key to successful gardening. I have learned to propagate my house plants and have gained a tip or two about proper watering techniques. I am far from being an expert on gardening, but I have discovered that the more I experiment and put what I have learned in the Master Gardener program to practice, the better my garden will be. I love being connected to the Master Gardener community, and the volunteers in it. I have plenty of resources, and plenty of volunteers that are willing to lend a hand or a tip. In addition, I get my “fitbit” steps at the events throughout the San Bernardino community I volunteer at as a Master Gardener and connect with members that, like me, enjoy gardening, and building community.

I look forward to continue to volunteer as a UCCE San Bernardino County Master Gardener for many years to come. I am also presently enrolled in the Master Food Preserver class. There is No stopping this chica (girl). That is right, I will be able to grow, harvest, and now preserve my own food 2022! I hope my husband is prepared to be the test taster! I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to work, and learn, and play with the San Bernardino UCCE team. I hope that my shared experience inspires the next Master Gardener prospect to become certified Master Gardener too. Hope to see you around the gardening watering hole, peeps!!

Have you found yourself in the garden looking at a plant and wondering what is going on with those leaves?  You think your plant is getting enough, but not too much, water but it just doesn't look right.  Or have you been out checking your veggies and seen strange bugs and wondered what they are and if they and are they harmful to your plants? Do you have an old tree in the yard that is just not looking its best and wonder what to do?

Well, we have the resource for you!! Our Helpline is here for you! Our helpline is a free resource for the community where we answer questions on a wide variety of topics. Some examples include: what vegetables to plant this time of year; what is eating your plants; why are your plant's leaves twisting; what type of tree would be good for your area; why are your tomatoes not producing; how should I use compost or mulch in my garden; how do I fertilize my plants; what is the best way to manage ants and other pests in my yard; what type of tree is this in my new back yard……and much more…but you get the idea!  We get questions about anything and everything gardening related and we love to help! 

Kelly, one of our Master Gardener helpline volunteers says:

   “We at San Bernardino Master Gardener Helpline learn from our clients every time we pick up the phone or read email inquiry. It's a mutual sort of learning like a cross pollination of information that occurs when fielding the broad range of questions from our residents in surrounding communities (& Sunset Growing Zones). Whether it's about identifying a strange crop from client photos or how to deal with pests in productive ways, researching these subjects to provide practical real-time answers is always interesting and fun, because gardens and gardening are ultimately about sharing food, flowers, information, and experiences. The MG helpline is a strong hub of researched information and resource gathering which helps us to grow our program, because we communicate with so many clients from all the surrounding regions and Sunset Growing Zones consistently, Monday through Friday of every week. I really enjoy being a part of the MG Helpline Team and serving as a San Bernardino Master Gardener since 2017. I think my fellow Master Gardeners would agree that working the MG Helpline has made us strong, more informed representatives for the Master Gardener Program in the field at events and working on community projects, and I look forward to learning more.”

Master Gardener Helpline volunteer Loleta adds: “The Helpline is one of the world's best-kept secrets. It's a place where people can get answers they can trust. Our answers are based in science and research, and they're specific to our western climate zones.”  So, if you know about the helpline or have been using it be sure to pass the information on to friends and family so that everyone knows we are a free gardening hotline here to help you out every step of the way!!  ….and don't forget that the only silly question is the one that you don't ask, so don't be shy…send us an email or give us a call today! We are looking forward to hearing from you and taking the mysteries out of gardening!

So how do you use this resource?  It's free and available to you 24/7!  Just send us an email or give us a call (contact information at end of blog) and leave a message and we will get back to you within a day or two and get to solving your challenges! It's great when you can send us photos of your troubled plants as well, and that is a big help in having us figure out what's going on in the garden. 

Typically, a phone call to the helpline will go like this: you will call and leave a message with your question and contact information and then we will research the topic and get back to you.  We often will get back to you with some follow up questions to help focus in on specific details so we can give you the best answer possible and follow up with an email if possible.  Email questions are great since you can send photos! We respond to your emails in a timely way that often includes follow-up questions to clarify your issue/problem. Besides finding an immediate solution, our goal is to provide resources for you to use in the future that help you find solutions as problems occur, and mostly, to prevent the problems from occurring in the first place!  As another one of our Helpline volunteers, Cindy, (who is also the Helpline committee lead, helping to organize Master Gardener volunteers and manage the Helpline infrastructure) says “I can tell that many of the people who use the Helpline have really come to depend on it in a personal way and that (we) are dedicated to helping them no matter how hard or mysterious the questions are.  It's like being the detectives of the gardening world.” So let us help you with your garden mysteries!!

Many members of the public use this resource regularly and we are so happy to see that they know we are here for them to help with their gardening journey's and adventures, but still there are people out there who don't know about it! 

Helpline Contact information for all areas of San Bernardino County:

Phone number: 909-387-2182

Email:  mgsanbern@ucanr.edu

 

 

Integrated Pest Management: Building on the Basics

This month, I'd like to continue building on the basics of integrated pest management. If you recall, there are five main components to a successful IPM program¹:

1. Pest identification
2. Field monitoring and population assessment
3. Control action guidelines
4. Preventing pest problems
5. Integrating biological, chemical, cultural, and physical/mechanical management tools

Preventing Pest Problems

A large percentage of pest problems can be traced back to issues with cultural practices—that is, meeting basic plant needs through good water management, healthy soil, proper nutrients, and appropriate site and plant selection. A pathogen (a microorganism that causes disease) can only cause disease when three elements are present: a susceptible host, the pathogen itself, and a favorable environment. This relationship can be visualized in the disease triangle, with each element represented by a side of the triangle.