Stanislaus County Library Composting Classes
Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Salida Library
Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. – Riverbank Library
Monday, September 12, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Ceres Library
Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Oakdale Library
Monday, September 26, 2022 at 6:15 p.m. – Modesto Library
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Turlock Library
Stanislaus County Agricultural Center, Harvest Hall Composting Class
Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. rooms D&E
Turlock Community Gardens
We taught composting at this location in spring, so this month we are offering vermicomposting, the fun and easy way to compost kitchen scraps using red wiggler worms. Children are welcome!
Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.
Patterson Library
We are offering a Fall Vegetable Gardening Class at the Patterson Library, in case you missed this class last month at other locations. Class is Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. Composting will be taught at the Patterson Library on October 12 at 2:00 p.m.
Never miss a class, bookmark our online calendar: https://ucanr.edu/sites/stancountymg/Calendar/
/h3>/h3>/h3>/h3>- Author: Anne Schellman
Fall Vegetable Gardening?
Even though your tomatoes are probably still going strong, now is the time to start planning for your fall vegetable garden! This month we have added the Patterson Library to our schedule. They specifically requested Water Thrifty Gardening, so next month we will offer Fall Vegetable Gardening at their location.
August Library Branch Schedule
- Monday, August 8, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. - Fall Vegetable Gardening - Ceres
- Tuesday, August 9, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. - Fall Vegetable Gardening - Salida
- Wednesday, August 10, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. - Drip Irrigation/Water Thrifty Gardening – Patterson
- Wednesday, August 10, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. - Fall Vegetable Gardening - Riverbank
- Tuesday, August 16, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. - Fall Vegetable Gardening – Oakdale
- Monday, August 22, 2022 at 6:15 p.m. - Fall Vegetable Gardening – Modesto
- Wednesday, August 24, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. - Fall Vegetable Gardening - Turlock
Class Descriptions
Fall Vegetable Gardening: Did you know you can grow vegetable plants in fall? Grow your own salad by planting leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and Swiss Chard,and root vegetables like carrots, beets and radishes. These plants can be grown in the ground or in containers. Great class for beginning gardeners.
Water Thrifty Landscaping (now called Drip Irrigation): Want to make your garden more water wise? This class will teach you how to use less water, and includes detailed tips on how to install a drip irrigation system. It also includes recommendations on low-water use plants you can plant this fall once the temperature is cooler.
Ejoying our classes? Have a comment or request? Post a message below. We want to hear from you.
Contact your local library branch to find out more or if your library isn't offering our classes yet, tell them to contact us!
/h3>/h3>/h3>- Author: Anne Schellman
In California, we can't rely on Phil. Instead, we have gophers which are active all year. This makes them an unreliable source of information about the start of spring, since they are constantly popping up out of their burrows. Incidentally, spring officially starts on March 20 this year.
For gardeners, the presence of gophers can be frustrating. Most can tolerate a few insects on plants, or a small patch of a disease that can be cut off. However, just one gopher can consume an entire vegetable garden or dig multiple holes in the lawn and landscape in a short amount of time.
What made the holes in my garden or landscape?
If you see a hole, it might be a gopher or a mole. Gophers digging in lawns and landscapes leave holes that look like the photo to the right. Typically, they are crescent or horseshoe in shape. As they dig tunnels, gophers move fresh soil to the surface. You can usually see a plugged hole next to the mound.
Moles are another burrowing animal that also create mounds. However, their mounds are more circular, as shown in the photo in this post.
To learn more about gophers and how to control them, visit the UC IPM Pest Notes: Pocket Gophers.
If you suspect the holes in your landscape or garden are made by another animal, read the UC IPM Pest Notes: Ground Squirrels.
/h4>- Author: Ed Perry
Most mature trees will not show any immediate effects of root cutting, such as wilted leaves or branch dieback, even when a fairly large number of roots are cut. Indeed, root cutting is a routine practice where landscapes are being renovated or sidewalks are being repaired. However, it's the long term effects of root cutting that needs consideration.
Roots can decay when they are attacked by microorganisms, usually fungi, that live in the soil. The microorganisms often infect a root through a wound, but some are able to penetrate a root directly, especially if the tree has been weakened by drought or overwatering. Some root rot fungi can kill a tree before it falls, others cause living and healthy looking trees to fall. You can sometimes see trees blown over with the remains of their decayed root systems still attached.
It is often very difficult to detect rotting roots, since the problem takes place out of sight below ground. Trees infected with root rot fungi sometimes have visible fruiting structures of the fungus, called conks or mushrooms, on the trunk near the ground. If you see such signs on a large tree, consider having the tree inspected by a qualified arborist.
Construction activities or trenching are especially damaging to the roots of nearby trees. Trenching and earth moving equipment used around trees often sever a large portion of the existing tree roots. Without the support of the entire root system, the tree is structurally weakened. The probability of failure increases as a greater amount of the root system is cut or damaged.
It is usually impossible to predict the exact effect that root cutting will have on a particular tree, or when an effect will occur. A tree may fail a few months or many years following root injury, or it may never fail due to the root injury. Tree species vary in their ability to tolerate root disturbances. Also, no two root systems are exactly alike. A tree with a deep, extensive root system will tolerate more disturbance than a neighboring tree with a poorly developed root system. In general, it is important to take every step possible to avoid cutting or damaging a tree's root system.
Despite an occasional failure, most large trees are very safe. Root systems are well designed by nature to hold trees up, regardless of the tree's size. For the most part, they do just that.
Ed Perry is the emeritus Environmental Horticultural Advisor for University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Stanislaus County where he worked for over 30 years.
Planting for Pollinators will focus on native and compatible non-native plants that thrive in our area, and which pollinators have been documented visiting these plants.
It can sometimes be hard to spot these pollinators, so our speaker will tell us what time of year to look for them, and which plants to use to attract them.
Our speaker has many years of experience planting native plants and observing the pollinators that visit. She will combine her observations with research on what insects to expect on specific plants.
Watch our YouTube Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naL3BM5aP-s&t=5s
About the speaker:
Ellen is a professional Horticulturist specializing in beautiful, heat tolerant, reduced-irrigation plantings that thrive in landscapes in the Central Valley of California. Most recently she has been exploring her passion for Pollinator Gardening and how it can contribute to biological diversity in urban and suburban California landscapes.