Seasonal observations of the UCCE Master Gardeners
- Author: Betty Homer
Published on: May 12, 2014
Because I have always lived in small, urban places, I love the idea of small-scale gardening. One of the best and most productive expressions of small-scale gardening is sprouting. Sprouting is fun, easy, quick, and inexpensive, and at the end of a week, your reward is to reap your harvest and enjoy a live, tasty, nutrient-dense food.
Equipment List
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Cheesecloth;
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Mason jar with a lid and metal band or sprouting lids that screw onto mason jars (they come in various sizes, approximately $5 per lid) or a sprouter (approximately $10; pictured below);
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Sprouting seeds—experiment and choose a variety that you like. Some sprouts are spicy, others, mild. ($5 on up, depending what variety of seeds you are looking for and quantity. A small bag will go a long way. You can purchase sprouting seeds on-line or go to a health food store or a well-stocked nursery/garden center); and
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Cold water. Preferably distilled or filtered water, but not necessary.
Instructions
Step 1: Clean your equipment.
Step 2: Depending on the size of your mason jar or sprouter, using a measuring spoon, scoop little less than 1 tablespoon of seed per jar. Add enough water to cover the seeds.
Step 3: Place the cheesecloth over the mouth of the jar and tighten the band around the cheesecloth so that the cheesecloth stays in place. Alternatively, tighten a sprouting lid around the mason jar if you have one. If you have a sprouter, follow the instructions that come with your kit.
Step 4: Pour the jar over and strain the seeds (the cheesecloth or lid, if applicable, acts as colander). Leftover moisture will cling to the seeds, which is what you want.
Step 5: Place the jar in a sunny location, like a kitchen window.
Step 6: Rinse and strain the seeds twice a day—once in the morning and once at night. Keep monitoring the seeds, especially for mold (see more below).
Step 7: At the end of a week, you will have enough sprouts to last a couple of salads or sandwiches. You can remove the sprouted seedlings (to enable you to start another batch in your sprouting device) and place them in a container in the fridge and remove what you need. The sprouted seedlings should keep up to a week if properly refrigerated.
Potential Pitfalls
One of the most common problems with sprouting is mold. Mold usually occurs when conditions are warm and moist, and there is not enough air circulating in the jar or sprouter. You must observe your seeds carefully each time you rinse. If you see mold beginning to grow, just remove the part that is showing signs of mold and continue to rinse the seeds twice daily with cold water (e.g., straight from the fridge). If mold has overtaken your batch, start over.
Make sure to shake out as much water as you can while leaving the seeds moist. If you have a sprouter, sometimes I will “unstack” the trays for a day and allow the seeds to dry out a little. I have not had a problem with mold since employing these techniques.
Various seed packets you can buy. ( photos by Betty Homer)
My sprouter which I have had for years. You can use a mason jar covered with cheesecloth or sprouting lids in place of a sprouter.
Distributed seeds on my sprouter.
Ready to eat freshly harvested sprouts (this took 1 week)
- Author: Betsy Buxton
Published on: May 8, 2014
For those of you who don't work the booths at Farmers' Markets or other information booths, this list of questions and the answers might be a little puzzling. For those of us, who work these venues, the following questions are par for the course.
- Why do my green beans, in this case, fava beans have lots of brown spots? Congratulations, the beans have a bacterial disease. And yes, you can eat them anyway!
- I “sweated” my bare root roses just like “they” said to on the on-line before planting and now they like dead. They probably are! Looking on-line myself, I found only 1 reference to “sweating” roses. Unfortunately for the gentlemen with the question, the information was from a grower in Canada and indicated to “sweat” AFTER planting if the temperature is below 15 degrees C. According to Veseys, this is done by “completely covering the exposed canes with a mound of loose organic mulch, wood shavings, compost, peat moss, or sphagnum moss after plant” in order to make sure canes don't dry out during warm, sunny weather before the roots become established. The fellow with the question admitted he covered his with a “light weight” tarp!
- Are rats eating my lemons? Good possibility! Roof rats, rates (aka citrus rat, fruit rat) love citrus, papaya, cantaloupe and watermelon. They are nocturnal so they often go unnoticed UNTIL the homeowner finds the evidence of their munching. The characteristic damage includes a circular hole about the size of a quarter – head-sized for a rat – and the whole fruit hollowed out with just the rind or skin left behind. I recognize that damage as this is the way I find pomegranates on my own bushes! To keep the rats, very hard to do as they are excellent climbers, plant your fruit trees isolated from each other; that way, a rat can't use limbs from other trees to reach your fruit tree. Also, keep fruit trees away from fences, overhead wires, stringer boards and support poles, and phone or cable-TV wires; all of these provide “run ways” for rats. Use pre-made or make your own rat guards of sheet metal. And good luck!
- Why are my 7-year old asparagus plants “popping” out of the ground? My 1st thought was “this is a rose day”, what?? But doing my research, I found that asparagus is usually planted “a full 6 inches deep” according sources and the plants are set for up to 20 or so years. The roots of asparagus move outward rather than downward so plants are spaced 18 inches minimum apart. I did notice that the article from UC Davis, Vegetable Research and Information Center (William L. Sims and Ronald E. Voss, Extension Vegetable Specialists, Cooperative Extension, Davis) mentioned in the 2nd year, adding 1 or 2 inches more soil so that eventually there will be a raised bed which might entail putting boards up along the rows of plants or gently sloping the soil to maintain plant coverage.
- What varieties of flowering plants should I grow in Davis? Some of the more specific questions like that; I referred to asking at the Davis Farmers' Markets where the askers were going anyway.
So, if you enjoy looking things up in books and on-line; if you enjoy research and people, then please sign up for any of the Farmers' Markets OR the tables at Lowe's or Home Depot. You'll have loads of fun AND learn things!!
- Author: Jennifer Baumbach
Published on: May 8, 2014
Today the UC Cooperative Extension celebrates it's 100th Birthday! To celebrate the day, the UC Cooperative Extension is getting the public involved in the Be A Scientist Day. Here is the link for more information about how you can participate:http://100.ucanr.edu/Day_of_Science_and_Service/.
- Author: Sharon L. Rico
Published on: May 7, 2014
The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, and so's
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only knows
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose
But were always a rose.
By Robert Frost 1927
photos by Sharon Rico
- Author: Trisha Rose
Published on: May 6, 2014
When I first saw Maytenus boaria at the south entrance to the Solano Community College I was on a walk around campus with our Plant ID Class. I thought to myself, "well! finally I can at least ID these trees!", they are smallish Weeping Willow trees -- Wrong!!, these trees are Maytens. The smallish specimens were lined up in the entrance road median leaning one way or another. The wind is brutal out there and the years of blowing have shaped these trees with a definite bend. The Maytens really look like a willow with a graceful veil of leafy green.
A few months later I included this tree as a patio specimen in a garden design I worked on for a client, she was very pleased with the choice.
Last week I volunteered as a docent for the Geranium City Garden Tour, I was assigned a beautiful home with a sloped garden. The owners had spent a lot of effort working that hill and the results are enchanting, but I have to say, the Maytenus stole the show. Many of the visitors asked about this tree and commented on the graceful look it gave to the garden.
Mayten tree. (photo by Trisha Rose)
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