It's football season, and what better to snack on then fresh guacamole with your favorite chips or vegetables. If you are one of the thousands enjoying the ever delicious avocado, be sure that you rinse and dry the fruit, as you would any other, before slicing it regardless of eating the peel or not.

We often don't think about the journey our food encounters before it reaches us - from harvesting, transporting, market to fellow consumers like yourself who may give it a squeeze before it goes home with you. Each of these processes invite potential bacteria and viruses to be introduced to the peel.

When you cut into the fruit, you could move any present pathogens from the outside to the inner goodness you intend to eat. Some of the bacteria could make you sick.

The UC ANR Publication #8121 states that when possible, scrub fruits and vegetables with a clean scrub brush or with hands to remove excess dirt and germs. Be sure to then dry your fruits and vegetables with disposable paper towels. It is not necessary to use antibacterial soaps or dish detergents to wash fruits and vegetables because soap or detergent residues can remain on the produce. To prevent cross contamination, do not soak fruits and vegetables.

So before you treat yourself to those delicious, buttery green fruits, be sure to take a couple of minutes and exercise caution following the steps above to ensure a good time with no regrets.

To learn more, go to the UC ANR Nutrition, Personal Finance, and Food Safety website.

 

 

 

WE INVITE YOU TO COME AND JOIN THE FUN!

 

Trying to decide what type of fruit tree to plant in your landscape?

Rather than the ever popular citrus varieties that could potentially be one of the citrus greening disease casualties, check out this informative website and learn about fruit tree alternatives to consider planting.

 https://ucanr.edu/sites/AltsToCitrus-ACP-HLB/

Summer is here, and we're halfway through 2019 already! Why not get jump on finishing up your continuing education units by taking online courses from the UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM). If you are a license or certificate holder from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), and your last name begins with the letters M through Z, you should be receiving your renewal packet in August.

We're excited to announce some changes.

• In January, we switched all of our online courses to a new learning system located at https://campus.extension.org/. This new system has extensive technical support, is easier to navigate, and is more stable than the old one. Note that the extension platform offers courses from all across the country, including several providers from California. Look for the UC IPM logo to be sure you are taking one of our courses.
• We are pleased to announce that a brand-new online course on the Fuller rose beetle was added to our citrus integrated pest management IPM series. Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell, a citrus IPM specialist and research entomologist, and Dr. Joseph Morse, emeritus professor of entomology, developed the course. The course describes the life cycle, natural enemies, and management of Fuller rose beetle and explains why it is important for countries that export citrus. Fuller Rose Beetle has been approved by (DPR) for 1 hour of credit in the Other category and by Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) for 0.5 hour of IPM credit.
• Many of our courses are now credited not only by DPR for continuing education hours, but also by the California Structural Pest Control Board (SPCB), Certified Crop Advisor (CCA), Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (WCISA), and also by Arizona Department of Agriculture.

DPR encourages license and certificate holders to avoid the end-of-the-year rush and submit renewal applications by November 1 to ensure license renewal by January 1, 2020. Submitting your renewal early avoids late fees and gives you time to address any issues that may arise such as not having enough hours to successfully renew.

 

Another incentive to get a jump on completing your needed continuing education units (CEUs) with UC IPM's online courses is that we are offering an early-bird price for four of our most wanted courses until November 1^st.

• Proper Pesticide Use to Avoid Illegal Residues (2 hours Laws and Regulations; early bird price $40, full price $80)
• Proper Selection, Use, and Removal of Personal Protective Equipment (1.5 hours Laws and Regulations; early bird price $30, full price $60)
• Pesticide Resistance (2 hours Other; early bird price $20, full price $40)
• Pesticide Application Equipment and Calibration (1.5 hours Other; early bird price $15, full price $30)

You can find all of our twenty-one courses listed on the UC IPM website at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/training/.