- (Focus Area) Yard & Garden
- Author: Ricardo A. Vela
Me refiero a los voluntarios, hombres, mujeres, jóvenes y adultos que, en busca de la recompensa más gratificante, ayudar al prójimo, se involucran en las organizaciones que promueven los valores en los que creen.
De acuerdo con el reporte anual más reciente de la División de Agricultura y Recursos Naturales de la Universidad de California (UC ANR, por sus siglas en inglés). En el año 2022 los voluntarios donaron a UC ANR 1,170 mil 098 horas de trabajo, lo cual representa 41 millones 608 mil 685 dólares en donaciones monetarias.
De acuerdo con Gemma M. Miner, coordinadora de voluntarios UC ANR esta institución cuenta con más de 19 mil voluntarios quienes desempeñan una variedad de actividades dentro de los programas de 4-H, Maestros Jardineros, Maestros Conservadores de Alimentos, y California Naturalistas entre otros. Los voluntarios realizan una gran variedad de actividades como educar, asesorar y fungir como representantes de su programa y de UC ANR en eventos públicos.
Se calcula que estos voluntarios acumulan cerca de dos millones de contactos públicos anualmente (datos antes de COVID-19) en actividades donde promueven la información basada en las investigaciones de los expertos de UC ANR.
Uno de los objetivos de UC ANR desde el 2018 es que los académicos desarrollen y administren sistemas que permitan que los voluntarios lideren proyectos, y que de esta manera se fortalezca su compromiso con UC ANR y sus principios de comunidad.
Miner, asegura que la búsqueda de voluntarios es continua, sin embargo, debido a la diversidad de los programas estatales de UC ANR y las ubicaciones estratégicas de las Extensiones Cooperativas atraer a las personas indicadas no es una tarea difícil.
¿Quiénes son las personas indicadas para ser voluntarios en UC ANR?
De acuerdo con Miner, el candidato ideal es cualquier persona dispuesta a contribuir con su granito de arena para mejorar las vidas de los californianos. “Colaborar con UC ANR es muy divertido y gratificante, ya que se tiene la oportunidad de regresar a la comunidad lo que esta nos ha dado y en muchas ocasiones ayudar a las familias que necesitan desesperadamente que las apoyen,” dijo Miner.
Los Retos del Voluntariado
Conforme la población en California se desplaza de las zonas rurales a la mancha urbana, familias de escasos recursos y en situaciones de desventaja requieren más apoyo para salir adelante. Desafortunadamente como resultado de ello 5 millones de personas viven por debajo del nivel de pobreza, es decir 1 de cada 6 residentes en California. Los latinos son el grupo étnico más golpeado por este problema.
En California el 40% de la población es de origen latino, sin embargo, la disparidad económica y social es el pan de cada día para muchas de estas familias ya que los latinos son el 51.4% de la población que vive bajo el nivel de pobreza. Razón por la cual UC ANR mantiene como uno de sus objetivos principales ayudar a estas familias a través de los programas como CalFresh y el Programa Ampliado de Educación Alimentaria y Nutricional (EFNEP por sus siglas en inglés). De igual forma UC ANR se preocupa del futuro y cuenta con voluntarios para el programa 4-H y el desarrollo juvenil, para ello es vital contar con candidatos para voluntarios que sean bilingües y biculturales.
Juan Jiménez y su esposa Michele son dos de los miles de voluntarios que colaboran con UC ANR, ambos participan con el programa de desarrollo juvenil 4-H en el condado de Riverside y conocen la importancia de ser bilingües y la recompensa de ser voluntarios. “Ser voluntario me hace sentir humano y que estoy contribuyendo con la comunidad y con mi familia,” asegura Juan.
Mientras que, para Michele, servir a la comunidad en la que vive es algo natural. “Desde pequeña he sido voluntaria, mis padres me inculcaron el servicio a nuestra comunidad, a nuestra iglesia, para mi es algo muy normal y satisfactorio”.
En abril se celebra y reconoce la labor de los voluntarios, esas personas incansables que dedican su tiempo libre para el beneficio de otros.
Ante la gran labor que hacen en UC ANR les decimos humildemente a todos ellos
¡Muchas gracias!
The devastating Camp Fire of 2018, along with the numerous fires North State residents have experienced since then, have led many of us to focus on creating a defensible fire-resistant landscape around our homes. As noted in this column last Friday, the key to establishing defensible space is to utilize plants that are fire resistant and judiciously space them both horizontally and vertically.
Shrubs that are fire resistant include ceanothus, butterfly bush, spirea, rose of Sharon, Oregon grape, lilac, mock orange, potentilla, forsythia, cotoneaster, island bush poppy, currants, camellia, azalea, monkey flower and viburnum. Aloe and other succulents are generally considered fire-resistant but avoid succulents such as ice plant that produce mats of flammable dry material.
Choose deciduous trees such as maples, oaks, sweet gum (liquidambar), locust, redbud, dogwood, ash, toyon, and smoke tree. Citrus and deciduous fruit trees such as cherry, peach and plum are fire resistant. Although most conifers are highly flammable, redwoods are the exception to the rule and are a desirable tree in a firewise landscape.
Highly flammable plants often have an excess of fine dry or dead material and contain volatile waxes, terpenes, or oils. Their sap is gummy or resinous and aromatic. They may have loose, papery bark as well. Examples of flammable plants are sagebrush, conifers (cedar, pine, juniper, fir, Italian cypress), broom, rosemary, eucalyptus, palms, feather and fountain grasses and dry annual grasses. These plants should be avoided when planning a firewise landscape; if they already exist in a landscape, consideration should be given to removing them.
For more information on creating fire resistant landscapes, see the Firewise Landscaping section of our website. For more information on creating fire resistant landscapes, attend our Firewise Gardening workshop on May 2, 2024, part of the Master Gardeners' current Spring Workshop Series. For information about all the workshops, and to register, visit our website. All workshops are free, but registration is required. There is plenty to choose from workshop-wise this month and next: In addition to Firewise Gardening, topics covered include composting, native bees, pest management, weed identification, and California native plants.
UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu or leave a phone message on our Hotline at 530-552-5812. To speak to a Master Gardener about a gardening issue, or to drop by the MG office during Hotline hours, see the most current information on our Ask Us section of our website.
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
While preparing your garden for planting this spring, you may have found white grubs in the soil. While uncovering these sometimes large, white grubs can be alarming, they usually won't cause significant plant damage.
Grubs are the soil-dwelling larvae of several beetles in the Scarabaeidae family. They are generally C-shaped with whitish bodies and 6 legs. The larvae of smaller species may be less than 0.5 inch long, while larger species may be over 1 inch. Some grubs feed on living plant material while others do not.
In most cases, the presence of grubs does not require pesticide treatment and populations of 6 or less per square foot won't cause significant damage. If you notice them in your garden beds, they can be hand-picked and killed. Some may choose to feed them to their backyard chickens or leave them out for wild birds. Beneficial nematodes can be applied to control grub infestations.
To learn more about common white grubs, visit https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=56797
- Author: Trina Kleist
- Posted by: Gale Perez
Hanson: “Some weeds you can only eat once”
Our weed doctors will be available to identify weeds and give people advice during the UC Davis Picnic Day this year, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, in the Plant & Environmental Sciences (PES) Building courtyard. Research staff have collected seasonal weeds for their “weed petting zoo” to help you identify what's in your lawn, flower bed or horse pasture.
People often ask for low-cost, easy and chemical-free solutions to eradicate weeds, said scientist Brad Hanson. “I usually tell them, ‘Weeds are weeds for a reason,' and they might be more successful if they pick two of those three specifications.” In the case of stubborn perennial pests, the weed doctors can recommend an effective herbicide.
Weeds are a huge problem in our natural lands, too. “Besides affecting landscapes and agricultural fields, weeds are driving ecosystem changes and altering fire regimes in California,” said weed and restoration specialist Justin Valliere. “In many cases, ecological restoration is primarily related to managing and preventing weed invasions.”
Careful what you eat!
Also at this year's "Ask the Weed Doctor" booth will be Jens Beets, the new research ecologist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. Based at UC Davis, Beets is an expert in aquatic plant management.
Information also will be available about aquatic weeds.
Visitors can take home information sheets describing pests and guides from the University of California's Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. Weed doctors also can point visitors to helpful books, local resources such as a UC Master Gardeners group, and online resources, Hanson added.
Faculty with the Weed Research and Information Center enjoy meeting people and hearing about their weeds. A memorable conversation, Hanson recalled, went like this: “Hey, this one shouldn't be called a weed! If you pick it when it's tender, you can eat it in a salad.” To that, the weed doctor responded, “You can eat any weed, but some of them you only eat once!”
Check out all the information available at the UC Weed Research and Information Center.
Original source: UCD Plant Sciences website • NEWS April 11, 2024
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Remember when San Francisco 49'ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk credited his spectacular 51-yard catch in the 2024 NFC championship game with the Detroit Lions to a ladybug (note that entomologists correctly call it a "lady beetle") landing on his shoe before the game?
Well, those attending the 110th annual UC Davis Picnic Day activities on Saturday, April 20 at Briggs Hall--home of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology--can also net some luck.
Children are encouraged to take home a couple of the beetles at the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) booth in the courtyard of Briggs. (Adults can do so, too. Maybe they'll name their beetles "Brandon" and "Aiyuk.")
The ladybug is actually a beetle (Coleoptera), not a bug (Hemiptera). It's associated with good luck because it eats the aphids that try to destroy our crops. It can eat as many as 5000 aphids in its lifetime, scientists estimate.
"These beetles have become a cultural icon of sorts because of their appearance and their beneficial habits," writes UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, former director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, in her insect fact sheet on lady beetles. "Both adults and larvae feed on aphids and other small, soft-bodied insects...They are ferocious predators on small insects." (See what the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program says about lady beetles.)
Ever seen a close-up shot of a lady beetle eating an aphid? The predator and the prey...
Ever seen a cellar spider snaring and eating a lady beetle? The predator and the predator...one becomes prey.
Ordinarily, the lady beetle's bright red coloration serves as a "warning" to predators. Plus, lady beetles are known to ooze a foul-tasting chemical that tastes so bad that predators leave them alone. This lady beetle engaged in "reflex bleeding," exuding an alkaloid toxin (which did not deter the predator).
Lady beetles will be just a few of the bugs at Briggs Hall during UC Davis Picnic Day. You'll also see cockroach races, maggot art, and displays featuring ants, bees, walking sticks, mosquitoes, nematodes, butterflies, spiders, whip scorpions, and more. Check out "bug" activities at Briggs Hall here. UC Davis Picnic Day is free and family friendly.