- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
After another record year for California wildfire, concern is now turning to the soil impacted by firestorms, reported Sarah Klearman in the Napa Valley Register.
High-temperature flames can incinerate vegetation and destroy plant root systems, said Toby O'Geen, UC Cooperative Extension soil specialist at UC Davis. The loss of vegetation destabilizes the landscape, making it vulnerable to serious erosion or flooding.
"The most important way to battle erosion is to have surface cover - living...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Before digging in to spring planting, pay attention to building the soil, advises an article in the Los Angeles Times by Jeanette Marantos.
Marantos visited the Pasadena backyard garden of Yvonne Savio, the retired coordinator of the UC Master Gardener Program in Los Angeles County. Savio is the creator of the Gardening in LA blog, with new stories appearing "every other week or so."
“The old saying is, ‘Feed the soil, not the plant,'" Savio said. “When you...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
California Gov. Jerry Brown has included $7.5 million in the 2017-18 budget to launch the Healthy Soils Initiative, reported Bob Gore in a commentary on Techwire.net.
The story said CDFA secretary Karen Ross announced the development at a recent meeting, saying "We're starting from the ground up."
Carlos Suarez of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service was also quoted in Gore's story. Suarez said the funding puts "soils back into the forefront of agriculture. Feeding the people is the real issue. We have to take care of our soils."
Jenny Lester Moffitt, CDFA deputy secretary and walnut...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Improved soil promises to help farmers use less water and reduce carbon in the atmosphere, reported Ezra David Romero on Valley Edition, a one-hour weekly program that airs on KVPR-FM.
The five-minute story, which begins at the 30:30 mark, focuses on CDFA's new Healthy Soils Initiative. The program is expected to allocate $7.5 million for farmer incentives to use practices that will improve soil health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These are practices that are already in place on some innovative valley farmers, including two that are active...