- (Focus Area) Pest Management
- Author: Anne Schellman
Called or visited the Stanislaus County UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Help Line and gotten information on what to do about a pest or gardening problem.
Learned something new from a class at a Garden Club, local Stanislaus County Library, Workshop at the Ag Center, or one of our online classes from our YouTube Channel.
Attended an event such as the Stanislaus County Fair, A Wellness Fair for county employees, the Pollinator Garden Event, Earth Day, or a Farmers Market booth and spoken with a Master Gardener.
Read our newsletter, The Stanislaus Sprout and gained helpful gardening and pest management information.
Are a current Master Gardener and would like to give to support the program.
All funds go DIRECTLY to our program.
Prize Challenge Awards
Online gifts made between noon on May 19 and 11:59 a.m. on May 20 may help programs qualify for prize challenge awards! Donations can be made at http://donate.ucanr.edu/givingday.
Checks Accepted
If you prefer sending a check instead of donating online, please make checks payable to “UC Regents” and specify “Stanislaus County Master Gardener Program” in the check memo. Then mail or drop off to our office: UC Master Gardeners, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Ste A, Modesto, CA 95358.
Your Support
Donations directly benefit the program to help provide scholarships to volunteers that want to enroll in our training program and people who can't afford our workshops. They also help replace computers, create prize wheels for fairs, purchase seeds to give away at events, and pay for other materials needed for outreach and education. We thank you for your support!
Anne and the Classes of 2019, 2020, 2022, and soon-to-be 2024 UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Stanislaus County.
Anne Schellman has been the coordinator for the program since 2018.
/h3>/h3>/h3>- Author: Saoimanu Sope
Although training is required to become a University of California Master Gardener, the benefits of gardening can be experienced by anyone and everyone.
“As long as you're willing to get your hands dirty,” said Laurie Menosky, a UC Master Gardener volunteer in Orange County, “you can learn to grow all sorts of things.”
In early April, Menosky partnered with ETN Medical Infusion (a clinic in Orange County) and the Sustainability Program for Student Housing at UC Irvine to teach students how to grow tomatoes. Menosky welcomed all in attendance, including families with toddlers who seemed fascinated by the 60 tomato plants atop one of the tables in the room.
The UC Master Gardener Program is a part of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. During her presentation, Menosky taught participants how to choose varieties that fit their taste and growing environment, how to cultivate a thriving environment, and how to control pests and diseases using integrated pest management practices.
“We have 16,000 residents at UCI and sustainability is one of our values. One of the ways we engage students is through on-campus gardens,” said Rachel Harvey, sustainability program manager for UCI Student Housing and a UC Master Gardener volunteer in Orange County.
UC Irvine has one teaching garden reserved for undergraduate learning, and three gardens operated and maintained by graduate students. “I was on the waiting list for a garden plot for a while, but it was totally worth the wait,” said Johanna Rinaman, a fifth-year Ph.D. student studying physical chemistry.
While the highlight of the event for many people was the opportunity to take a tomato plant home, another important takeaway was how gardening can be a good activity for your mental health. Sarah Nghiem, family medicine specialist at ETN Medical Infusion, who worked closely with Menosky, was instrumental in developing the mental health content for the day, encouraging attendees to attempt gardening with a mental health perspective.
Nghiem and her team received funding from the Orange County Health Care Agency through the Mental Health Services Act to work with transitional aged students (15-24 years-old) on understanding the importance of mental health, which led to the collaboration between UC Irvine, her alma mater, and the UC Master Gardeners of Orange County.
“I didn't do any gardening during the winter, and I felt a lot more anxious and depressed during that time,” Rinaman said. “I know gardening improves mental health because I've immediately felt a difference whenever I spend time with plants.”
Rinaman, whose father taught her a lot of what she knows about gardening, said that having access to a 4 feet by 6 feet plot to grow her own food is one of the many things she loves about UC Irvine.
Like Rinaman, Menosky turns to gardening to decompress, especially during the long days of summer. Teaching others about the physical and mental benefits of gardening gives her an opportunity to share her experience and, hopefully, help others find new ways to manage stress.
“We often have attendees come back years later telling us how our information has helped them and how much more they are enjoying their time in their gardens,” she said.
To conclude her presentation, Menosky instructed participants to line up for their own tomato plant. Attendees took their plants outside to transfer them from a small pot to a grow bag – a type of container that helps root structure development.
Cassie Ekwego, a third-year transfer student studying civil engineering, couldn't hide her excitement after carefully lifting her plant. “I don't think I realized how attentive you need to be when working with plants,” said Ekwego, reflecting on what she learned from Menosky's presentation.
Now that she has her own plant to care for in her own home, Ekwego is eager to put her new knowledge to the test. “I love tomatoes, but this is going to be a huge responsibility for me,” she said.
Randy Musser, UC Master Gardener program coordinator for Orange County, said that while he enjoys talking to avid gardeners, bringing gardening to new people in the community is special to him. “This tomato workshop is particularly exciting for me because it is an opportunity for the UC Master Gardeners to grow our connection to UCI and young people just starting off on their gardening journey,” said Musser.
With a generous contribution from UC Master Gardener volunteer Sheila Peterson, Musser was able to purchase enough supplies to help attendees, like Ekwego, jumpstart their gardening experience.
Students, whose stress levels can skyrocket throughout the school year, value opportunities to be outdoors, try something new and be in community. “The garden is a different type of classroom. It's a place where students can learn and experiment, hopefully in a way that reduces stress,” said Harvey of UCI Student Housing.
Ekwego, who tried gardening for the first time while volunteering at UC Irvine's teaching garden, is just one of the many students inspired by their experiences. “Gardening reminds me that it's OK to get my hands dirty,” Ekwego said.
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
There are many types of “good bugs” commonly found in the garden or landscape. In integrated pest management (IPM) we refer to “good bugs” as “natural enemies” or “beneficial organisms”. Natural enemies can include insects, but also mites, pathogens, and vertebrates like birds and lizards. They can kill or reduce pest populations by feeding directly on the pest, parasitizing the pest, or infecting the pest with a pathogen, reducing the need for pesticides.
Keep an eye out for the common natural enemies listed below and learn to recognize their egg and immature stages too!
- Lady beetles (ladybugs). There are about 200 different species of lady beetles in California. Many species feed on soft-bodied pest insects like aphids, soft scales, mealybugs, whiteflies, mites, and psyllids. They will also eat pest insect eggs and larvae.
- Soldier beetles (leatherwings) adults feed on aphids and other soft-bodied insects. Their larvae live in the ground and feed on pest eggs, larvae, and pupae in the soil.
- Lacewings feed on mites, aphids, caterpillars, leafhoppers, mealybugs, psyllids, scales, and thrips! While some adult lacewings can be predacious, their larvae are most useful in pest control.
- Syrphid flies, also called hover flies or flower flies, resemble bees and are pollinators. Their larvae feed on aphids, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied insects.
- Assassin bugs can feed on caterpillars and other larvae, as well as adults and nymphs of beetles. They are known to attack just about any insect, but can bite people if provoked.
- Spiders. While many people fear spiders, they can actually help control many pests in and around the home and garden. Flower spiders, jumping spiders, and wolf spiders are examples of common beneficial garden spiders.
To learn more about natural enemies, see these resources:
- Pest Notes: Biological Control and Natural Enemies of Invertebrates (fact sheet)
- Natural Enemies Gallery
- Natural Enemies and Beneficial Insects: What Are They? (webinar)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
In the human world, we recognize Mother's Day as a special day to celebrate all mothers. It's a day that Anna Jarvis of Grafton, West Va., established on May 10, 1909 with a worship service at St. Andrew's Methodist Church, Grafton.
Lady beetles, aka ladybugs, are mothers, too. The female lays a batch of eggs, from 10 to 50, at one time, and can lay about 1000 eggs in her lifetime, scientists say.
Beneficial insects! Yes, but in their larval form they eat even more.
Mature lady beetles will feed on 20 to 25 aphids per day, but their late-stage larvae will consume 10 times that number, making them far more effective predators, according to Whitney Cranshaw, a professor and Extension entomologist with Colorado State University (now emeritus), in a July 2018 article in Phys.Org.
A salute to lady beetles and their larvae on Mother's Day!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Being bothered by mosquitoes and troubled about the risk of diseases?
Mosquitoes are not just annoying. They can be deadly.
The seminar, titled "Natural Mosquito Control," is part of the California Farm Academy Speaker Series, and will take place from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at CLBL, located at 40140 Best Ranch Road, Woodland. The event begins with pizza and mingling, “until about 5:30, and then the presentation,” said spokesperson Julia Hobbs Thomas. Reservations can be made on Eventbrite.com at this link.
The event is billed as "a discussion about both native and invasive species, what diseases they can spread, and how healthy ecosystems can create habitats that keep them in check. Agriculture can play a big role, because pesticide use can damage populations of beneficial insects like dragonflies. You'll also pick up a few tips to avoid being bitten!"
Wood-fired pizza and beverages will served beneath the canopy of a century-old valley oak, she added. Attendees can also bring food or beverages to enjoy or share.
Said Attardo: “I will be focusing on educating people about the most imminent risks of mosquito-borne diseases in California coming from West Nile Virus—due to native Culex mosquitoes predominantly—and Aedes aegypti vectored diseases such as dengue, Zika, Chikungunya, and yellow fever. I'll discuss places these mosquitoes breed in suburban and urban habitats, as well as ways people can eliminate and prevent creation of breeding sites.“
Attardo specializes in medical entomology, reproductive physiology, molecular biology and genetics. He recently hosted a UC Davis symposium, sponsored by the Deaprtment of Entomology and Nematology and the Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, on “Tule and Cattail: A Tale of the Marsh Economy and Its Role in Human Health and Wellbeing” that aimed "to advance the land management aims of local tribal communities and provide a platform to educate about the importance of maintaining wetland biology for climate change, ecological and human health, and vector control." Attardo addressed the symposium with collaborator Diana Almendariz, a traditional ecological knowledge specialist and a cultural practitioner of Maidu/Wintun, Hupa/Yurok traditions, heritage, and experiences.
A global expert on vectorborne diseases, and renowned for his groundbreaking work on tsetse flies, Attardo received the Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology Award in 2022 from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America. (See news story)
He joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology in 2017 from the Yale School of Public Health, where he served as a research scientist studying the reproductive biology of tsetse flies. Attardo holds a doctorate in genetics (2004) from Michigan State University, studying with Alexander Raikhel.
For more information on the May 15 seminar, contact Thomas at julia@landbasedlearning.org or 415-271-0090.