- Author: Tina Saravia
At just about midnight the other night, I received disturbing news that a childhood friend had passed - five years ago. I was chatting online with a mutual friend and I had just said goodnight, when our mutual friend broke the news. Needless to say I had a restless night.
I woke up feeling a little groggy from lack of sleep and remembered last night's news. I wasn't totally shocked, after all I hadn't seen or talked to my friend for over a decade. So I started going about my day.
First thing, the iris (Iris sp.) plants that my dad dropped off at my doorstep had to be moved to the side yard. These rhizomes will go to the Master Gardener's Plant Exchange on Sept. 26.
Then I picked my first group of ripe heirloom tomatoes. Using a small sickle, I also harvested some lavender flowers. (How come nobody told me about my friend dying — for 5 years. Am I not important enough to be told?)
Later, as I go from room to room in the house, I noticed a couple of paper bags of harvested plants and seeds from many weeks ago; Garlic (Allium sativum) — I took some of the excess papery skin off and put them in an open weave bag. Cilantro (Coriandrum sativium) seeds — I removed the seeds from the plants and stored them in an airtight jar. (Did nobody tell me of my friend's passing because he wasn't important enough?)
Just when I thought I was done, I noticed another paper bag with seed pods in it —Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena). This plant with beautiful blue flowers and frilly leaves had shown up in my spring vegetable bed, next to the cilantro, carrots (Daucus carota), collards and broccoli (Brassica oleracea). Possibly a "gift offering" from the birds that ate all my blueberries last spring.
As I start crumbling the brown dried-up seed pods, the tiny little black seeds appeared. The beginning of next year's crop that will grow into little new plants, bloom, go to seed and the cycle starts again.
Seeds: Like a person's life, we are born, we live and we die. But what we leave behind is the memory of how we live that we pass on to those left behind to carry on and keep the cycle going.
My friend may be gone. But I will always remember his loyalty, protectiveness and wise advice.
As to my Nigella seeds, I finished separating the seeds from the chaff. Then I started pouring off what I thought was the chaff onto the ground. I caught myself in time so I still have about 20 or so seeds left in the container. I guess I'll be seeing volunteer Nigellas with my succulents next year.
- Author: Trisha Rose
Watering our lawns is now restricted to 3 times a week between 9 PM and 6 AM here in Vallejo. The newly instituted restrictions are focused on common sense, don't water the hardscape or you may get fined up to $500 per instance. We have a controller for our home irrigation system, so no big deal right ? So day 1, change timing from 8 PM to 9 PM, realized about 10:30 that water hadn't come on because got the AM switched with the PM. Reset the system to PM and reset the days again. So about 11 PM no water yet. So now 3 days later had to reset the day sequence again and get the timing right. Watching TV and darned if the water didn't come on again!! This time I go out and manually turn on each valve, of course it's 10:30 at night, at least we only have a lawn in the backyard. My husband can't believe we've been outsmarted again. Well at last he found the culprit, the battery had died in the controller. Boy, that brought back memories of my class with Ken at Solano Community College last semester and all the issues we ran into setting up the irrigation for the new orchard out there.
In the meantime after I finish with watering the lawn last night about 11 PM, it starts sprinkling. What the heck, it's August.
- Author: Janet Snyder
Several years ago, my mom had a VERY large tree removed, a sweet gum tree (Liquidambar spp.). It was a beautiful tree, but the roots were raising the sidewalk and the spiny seed pods were a terrible mess to keep clean. So, the tree came out.
Fast forward about five years, and the various plants put in the area left by the tree, especially a gorgeous rose tree, had done a great job of filling in. While watering and weeding the area, mom came across a huge mushroom-like growth (in the neighborhood of a couple feet in diameter). It was about 2.5 inches thick, white, and covered in a red powdery dust. She immediately removed it, of course, but to this day they continue to grow in that area. Sadly, the gorgeous rose tree did not survive the fungal infestation.
A visit to the UC IPM website tells us that mushrooms are the visible reproductive (fruiting) structures of some types of fungi. The purpose of the visible mushroom is to distribute airborne spores to new sites. These spores germinate if the conditions are favorable in to long thin filaments known as hyphae. The hyphae can decompose wood, leaves, and other organic matter to feed itself, but they can also develop in to unsightly mushrooms in your garden or, worse, parasitize and cause plant diseases. The mycelium made up of grouped hyphae produce the mushrooms we see when conditions are favorable (places of prolonged moisture). Picking the visible mushroom does not rid your garden of the fungus. Only the absence of the mycelium will stop the fungal invasion.
Obviously, in the case of the removal of the tree, residual wood from the tree and roots became a prime host of the fungus in my mom's garden. She has removed a fairly large amount of soil, replacing it with fresh soil, but the problem persists. The IPM website has some excellent suggestions for gardeners to follow if this is a problem in your gardens. However, sometimes we just have to let time and nature do it's job.
Now, there are many, many different types of these fungus/mushrooms, and I have yet to study what type of invasion is in my mom's garden, but I do know that ALL of them need to be treated as extremely toxic to people and pets. Remember to dispose of the mushrooms in your trash bin, not your green tote or compost bins, and immediately wash your hands after handling them.
- Author: Toni Greer
As a new Master Gardener we have a large amount of opportunities available in which to participate. Whether it is volunteering within our individual communities or working to continue our education we could stay and be as active as desired.
This was my first time working as part of the team helping to create the Fair's entrance garden for the competition gardens as well as the amateur garden entry for competition. This year the theme was “Cruising The County”. The soil and boxes were provided, but the rest was left up to us. The prep work was started several weeks ago with the planning meetings, painting, building and so on.
The first garden which the visitors were greeted with was the Solano County Fair entrance garden. Whether it's the post with our individual community arrow signs sitting slightly askew, the mural with the airplane, rolling hills and grapevines, or the WONDERFUL borrowed sculpture by Phil Glashoff (A GIRL ON A PEDAL CAR) the goal was to envision driving down one of our many beautiful county lanes and off into the hills. The mural and signs were hand created, with guidance from Master Gardener Kathy Gunther, by Master Gardeners. Such fun it was! Verbena, Russian sage, lantana, crepe myrtle trees, as well as additional, sage varietals helped to create the perfect invitation to learn about Solano County. It's been many hours since I was working in that garden, yet I'm still smelling the fragrance of Russian sage in my hair. That's what happens when you use your hands as your trowel to plant the pots!
The Master Gardener amateur garden (competition garden) consisted of an arbor and fence (built on site), potting bench, water feature as well as an adorable truck to haul whatever is needed for a garden. The truck is loaded with plants giving the appearance of a delivery waiting to be planted. With its many pieces of functional garden art and plants the Master Gardener garden draws the visitors eyes to many colors and sites. It's a delight to all. The potting bench, truck and water feature were built by Master Gardener, Dave Harper. It was wonderful having the MG men and my “volunteered” husband with us to do the construction of all of the above.
This truly was a group project which required many minds, hands, backs and opinions! As a new M.G., it is something that I will volunteer to assist in again next year.
- Author: Launa Herrmann
I thought I had heard and read everything about the drought and our need to conserve water. But with each passing day I stumble upon yet another excuse for why we're in such a state of affairs. Apparently now it's the cow's fault. Seems that the “beef” grazing the hillsides and waddling through the pastures “takes 11 times more water for irrigation” than other animal proteins.
So what does that mean for California's cows (Bovinae)? I certainly don't want to forfeit a juicy hamburger now and then for a steady diet of eggplant. My garden won't take kindly to giving up its blanket of steer manure this winter. Aged manure atop compost slowly releases nitrogen, enables decomposition of organic material and also reduces soil erosion during rainy months.
Perhaps one of the reasons people are now blaming the cow is these larger than life domestic animals are big targets. I mean, Angus and Hereford bulls can weigh as much as 3000 pounds. I know. My uncle raised cattle on his small Nebraska farm. During visits I saw first hand how much they contribute to our lives. I drank the milk, ate the cheese and savored my aunt's chicken-fried beef steaks with gravy. I also stepped in dung patties that became fertilizer for alfalfa and field corn. Today I'm wearing sandals made from cowhide. For many a spring, I've enjoyed gazing at the herd atop the open space at the end of a Vacaville cul-de-sac. These mammoth "weed abaters" lower the fire danger in dry sizzling summers like this one.
Cows are as much a part of America's agricultural and horticultural landscape as the pioneers who hitched them to the back of their wagons and moved them west to feed their families and to graze the rangeland unsuitable for crops. How can anyone look into those big beautiful brown eyes in the photo below and badmouth the cow when there's plenty of blame to go around?
Here, in Solano County, we get the seriousness of this drought. Who among us wants to dole out $500 for wasting a drop? After all, we are witnesses to the receding waterline at Lake Berryessa and lowering ground water levels. Local farmers are foregoing certain crops and rethinking orchards. Residential gardeners are reconfiguring sprinkler systems. Many of us are ripping out lawns. The rest of us are watching sod morph into straw and plants wither. And several of us are still speaking to friends in Southern California who have never rationed water a day in their lives. In fact, I wonder if some communities in the state even intend to shut off the faucet, if May's water usage for Orange County is any indication — up 63.6 percent.
Oops, I ‘gotta go check the water shooting out of the flowerbed drip system and turn off the hose I left on in the vegetable patch.
Endnotes:
1. “Compared with other animal proteins, beef produces five times more heat-trapping gasses per calorie, puts out six times as much water-polluting nitrogen, takes 11 times more water for irrigation, and uses 28 times the land, according to the study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.” (Source: The Reporter, A-7, Tuesday, July 22, 2014, “Beef pollutes more than pork, poultry, study says,” by Seth Borenstein of The Associated Press)
2. “Dealing with drought is everyone's duty,” from Chico Enterprise-Record. (Source: The Reporter, B-4, July 22, 2014)