- Author: Loren Nelson
Roses bring beauty, fragrance, and romance into our lives. Whether you are new to roses or experienced, Master Gardeners of Orange County will inform and inspire you about the selection, planting, pruning, care and feeding of roses. You'll learn how easy it is to bring the beauty of roses to your garden.
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/h2>- Author: Loren Nelson
Good soil is the starting place for a great garden. Learn what comprises healthy soil, about soil texture and structure, and how to protect, improve, and nurture soil. You'll also learn take-away lessons that will help you to evaluate your soil, and the steps you can take to enrich your soil to produce a bountiful, sustainable landscape and garden.
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/h2>- Author: Loren Nelson
Representatives of the Master Gardeners of Orange County will be on hand to discuss this week's topic, "California Native Plants - Supporting Native Wildlife,“ to answer gardening questions and explain the benefits of native plants in your local garden.
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/h2>- Author: Loren Nelson
An English garden in sunny Southern California? Oh, no! Let's go native and get the same effect. Master Gardeners of Orange County will show you how to have a garden featuring California Native plants that will rival any other location in color, variety and beauty.
Click the image to learn more and visit our Classes and Events Calendar page.
/h2>- Author: Kendra T Rose
Dear Colleagues,
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is soliciting proposals for new soil conservation management practices to be considered for future inclusion in their Healthy Soils Program.
The goal of the Healthy Soils Program (HSP) is to promote the development of healthy soils on California's farmlands and ranchlands. HSP funds on-farm management practices that include but are not limited to cover cropping, no-till, reduced-till, mulching, compost application, and conservation plantings, via 3 grant programs:
- The HSP Incentive Grants: provides financial incentives directly to growers and ranchers to implement HSP practices
- The HSP Demonstration Grants: funds on-farm demonstration projects that collect data, promote and showcase conservation management practices, and assess the potential of innovative practices in California
- The HSP Block Grant Pilot: funds on-farm implementation projects by growers and ranchers through regional block grant administrators, while building their technical assistance capacity
CDFA currently covers 27 eligible conservation management practices under the 3 grant programs of HSP (For a complete list of management practices covered by HSP, please see this link: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/docs/CDFAHealthySoilsPractices.pdf). Through this request for proposals, CDFA is soliciting proposals to include new conservation management practices in its 3 HSP grant programs. The proposals must demonstrate that the proposed new practice, if implemented, will 1) Improve soil health and 2) Provide GHG benefits, by referencing peer reviewed/ public research literature.
Proposals will be reviewed and recommended by a technical sub-committee, and will be submitted to Secretary of Food and Agriculture along with public comments and recommendations made by Environmental Farming Act – Science Advisory Panel (EFA-SAP). The secretary will subsequently finalize the decision on which new practices will be included as eligible conservation management practices in future HSP grant program funding solicitations.
Interested applicants should submit a proposal using the provided template via E-mail to cdfa.HSP_tech@cdfa.ca.gov by the due date outlined below.
Proposals Due: August 2, 2024 5PM PT
Proposal Template: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/docs/2024HSPNewPracticesProposalTemplate.docx
Visit the program web page at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/for more information.
Thank you.
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)