- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Want to build more effective programs and projects? Join the UC ANR Program Planning and Evaluation team, UCCE evaluation specialist Vikram Koundinya, UC 4-H evaluation coordinator Roshan Nayak, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion for online interactive trainings. These trainings will highlight UCCE examples.
All UCCE academics, community educators and other program staff are invited to participate. New UCCE advisors, county directors and regional program supervisors are highly encouraged to attend. Taking the entire series can build one's overall program development competencies.
The 11-part series is offered a la carte so you may select individual sessions that interest you or take the complete series. The webinars will be held on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon on Aug. 6 through Oct. 15.
Aug. 6: Defining Clientele & Affirmative Action Planning
Aug. 13: Improving All Reasonable Effort & Engagement with Diverse Audiences
Aug. 20: Conducting a Needs Assessment
Aug. 27: Using Delphi Method for Needs Assessment
Sept. 3: Practical Methods to Measuring Outcomes
Sept. 10: Using Ripple Effects Mapping Method in Program Evaluation
Sept. 17: Best Practices for Developing Surveys & Basics of Sampling Methods
Sept. 24: Navigating Institutional Review Board
Oct. 1: Methods to Analyze Surveys: Continuous Quantitative Data
Oct. 8: Methods to Analyze Surveys: Qualitative Data
Oct. 15: Writing Strong Impact Statements
For details about each session, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/CEprogramevaluation/Trainings.
The presentations will be recorded and posted on UC ANR Program Evaluation.
For more information about registration and logistics, contact Maria Alvarez at ANR Program Support or call (530) 750-1361. For questions about the training, contact Katherine Webb-Martinez, director of Program Planning & Evaluation, at Katherine.Webb-Martinez@ucop.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Blister beetles (family Meloidae) are so named because they emit a poisonous chemical, cantharidin, that can blister your skin. Don't even think about touching them!
Blister beetles can infest alfalfa hay, and are toxic--even deadly--to livestock. See "Blister Beetles" published by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station.
But did you know that...
Blister beetles are pollinators!
We recently saw a blister beetle eating pollen on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. We've also seen this insect transferring pollen.
But we have yet to hear someone shout out "blister beetle" when a speaker asks the audience for a list of pollinators.
But they are pollinators...Just think of all the alliteration...bees, butterflies, beetles, birds and bats...and the double alliteration, "blister beetles."
![A blister beetle (family Meloidae) eating pollen from the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A blister beetle (family Meloidae) eating pollen from the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107760.jpg)
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
Figure 2 shows monitoring data since 2016 when I began trapping in the Delta. Data are expressed as moths caught per day, averaged across all nine Delta traps. Notice the large arrow indicating the 2024 trend line and how it compares to previous years. While this year appears to be a high-population year, I have noticed variability among the sites where we trap. At one of the three locations, the population peaked at only 9 moths per day, but at the other two locations, the populations peaked at over 40 moths per day. Therefore, it's important to get into the field and look for feeding damage before making a treatment decision.
We reached the peak moth flight last week. Our years of monitoring experience indicates that, if treatment thresholds are met, the optimum time to spray is between one to two weeks after the peak population. So, this would be the week to check your fields for feeding damage and treat as necessary. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about the IPM guidelines or would like to further discuss this work.
- Author: Lorie Hammond
In conjunction with Davis Farm to School, I have been developing a partnership, as a Master Gardener, withGanHaverim Preschool in Davis. It began with a teacher workshop in early June, at which we planned the preschool summer garden. Then teachers planted sunflowers with their preschool classes in pots to take home, and in large pots to enjoy at school. As a follow-up, on June 27, I worked with both preschool classes (ages 2-3 and 4-5) to discuss the life cycle of the sunflower and its relationship with pollinators. I used a large poster I drew of stages in the life cycle, bringing real sunflower seeds (black seeds sold as birdseed) to illustrate the importance of seed production. Then children participated in an art project to express what they had learned.
Sunflowers are such a wonderful and showy summer flower that they always captivate children's attention. I brought real sunflowers (from Trader Joe's- mine weren't ready yet) and placed them in a tall vase in the center of the table. Then I gave each child a piece of recycled cardboard (about 8” x 10”) as a background, and told them they could make a sunflower any way they liked. I also brought cut outs of green paper (long shapes for stems, and triangles for leaves), yellow triangles and diamonds for petals, real sunflower seeds, and white glue with brushes. Each group of two children shared a glue. Eight children at a time did the project, in about five rotations so that everyone could participate.
After children completed their collages, I asked them to tell the story of their sunflower. Either the teacher or I wrote it down on the cardboard. Finally, they were given a treat: a sticker of either a bee or a butterfly to place on their sunflower to “pollinate” it.
As a long-term school garden teacher, I have always found it powerful to combine science and art lessons. Children participate in a lesson, then express their understandings through art, and sometimes through statements about their art. We learn more about how children think if we do not force children to copy a model, but rather allow them to express themselves as they choose. Collage materials provide a nice opportunity for even young children to create realistic but varied images.
A partnership between Gan Haverim, Davis Farm to School and me as a UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener is developing through workshops with teachers and occasional activities with children. What could be more fun on a summer day than preschoolers making sunflowers?
- Author: Jennifer DeDora
The leaves of this unique-looking house plant really do look like the rind of a ripe watermelon. The stems are also reminiscent of the fruit-they are a rich red, just like the edible flesh of a ready-to-eat watermelon. I purchased this houseplant as a gift to myself, and I'm very happy I did. I was strolling through the houseplant section of a Davis store and just had to have it!
In my research on how to care for this plant, I discovered it is a bit like Goldilocks, and it likes everything “just right”. It thrives in soil that is not too wet nor too dry and needs sunlight that is abundant, but not too direct. The temperature of an air-conditioned house is ideal. Interestingly, it prefers to be a bit rootbound rather than in a container with abundant space, so pick a receptacle that is just the right size for the plant right now.
The cream-colored flowers that form during the summer months are simple, straight up and down, and pretty understated. The real attraction of this plant is its foliage. My Peperomia is thriving on my living room coffee table in a cute container I've been trying to fill with just the perfect plant for many years now. This Watermelon plant seems to be the one!
![photos by Jennifer DeDora photos by Jennifer DeDora](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107387.png)
![watermelon peperomia 2 watermelon peperomia 2](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107388.png)
![watermelon peperomia 3 watermelon peperomia 3](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107389.png)
![watermelon peperomia 4 watermelon peperomia 4](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107390.jpg)
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