- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
"I'm a huge believer in garden therapy right now," famed chef Alice Waters told FastCompany.com reporter Aimee Rawlins. To find out how to dig in, Rawlins turned to the director of the UC Master Gardener Program Missy Gable.
"Start modestly and in a way that you can manage it,” Gable said. “If you've never done this before, don't transform a quarter acre.”
She recommends beginning by assessing space you have available for gardening - whether in the backyard, front yard or the corner of a balcony.
“Get...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension advisor Scott Oneto and retired insurance executive Staci O'Toole are researching conditions in a Placerville hazelnut orchard that best support the production of highly prized Perigord truffles, reported Becky Grunewald in the Sacramento Bee.
“Whether this will be the next big commodity in California? I would love to say yes, but that goes with a lot of hesitancy and uncertainty," Oneto said. "There's a ton of things we need to figure out to make this industry successful.”
O'Toole had asked Oneto for...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Coronavirus: Valley farmers offering roadside stands with fruits and vegetables
(ABC 30) Dale Yurong, March 31
…Heulong Siong has already opened his stand across from Clovis Community College. Consumers were urged to follow the recommended safety guidelines due to COVID-19.
UC Cooperative Extension Small Farm Advisor Ruth Dahlquist-Willard explained, "Things like keeping the minimum six-foot difference from customers, not touching any produce that you're not planning to buy, leaving as soon as you've made a purchase and washing the produce when you get home would be some good guidelines. Similar to what we're seeing at farmers markets...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Road side stands selling fresh strawberries and vegetables are opening up around the San Joaquin Valley, and are a excellent option for safe shopping, reported Dale Yurong on ABC 30 News in Fresno.
In keeping with social distancing guidelines, Yurong conducted remote interviews with UC Cooperative Extension advisor Ruth Dahlquist-Willard and agricultural assistant Michael Yang, who work closely with small-scale farmers in Fresno and Tulare counties.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Panic-buying groceries and hoarding food in homes is impacting the U.S. supply chain and putting a strain on low-income families who don't have the financial ability to spend hundreds of dollars on groceries at once, reported Ganda Suthivarakom in the New York Times.
“That is probably about half of us, especially during this time when many of us are not working or can't work, with limited incomes or no incomes coming in,” said Lorrene Ritchie, director of the UC Agriculture and Natural...