- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
One potato, two potato, three potato, four...
You never know what will pop up in a pollinator garden.
Meet Mr. Potato Capsid, Closterotomus norvegicus, often found on nettle, potato, clover and cannabis.
We spotted him (or her) in a Vacaville pollinator garden, where there is no nettle, potato, clover or cannabis. But it also feeds on chrysanthemum, carrots and members of the sunflower family, Asteraceae.
It popped up on a chrysanthemum blossom. The insect is green and probably a nymph as the color changes, when it's an adult, to reddish brown.
It belongs to the family Miridae. Entomologists point out that this family is the largest of true bugs belonging to the suborder Heteroptera.
At first we thought it was a lygus bug, which is also a myrid and a serious pest of cotton, strawberry and alfalfa.
But no, a potato capsid, an insect originating in the Mediterranean region. It prefers to feed on flowers, buds and unripe fruit.
Same family, though.
![Potato capsid, Closterotomus norvegicus, feeding on a chrysanthemum blossom. It also feeds on nettle, clover and cannabis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Potato capsid, Closterotomus norvegicus, feeding on a chrysanthemum blossom. It also feeds on nettle, clover and cannabis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107720.jpg)
- Author: Eve Solana Roxane Dowdell
- Editor: Suzanne Morikawa
During the first week of February, I flew a total of 10 hours to the Nation's capital, Washington D.C., to facilitate a meeting hosted by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The meeting was a public information gathering session for the Committee on Out of School Time Settings.
The Committee collected insights through a discussion between young people and staff from various out-of-school programs on the east coast. My role was to connect with the youth speakers, guide their insightful conversation, and make them feel at ease. The six youth speakers made my job smooth and pleasant. They shared their lived experiences participating in or supporting out-of-school programs. From the elementary schooler to the high school graduate, these young rockstars contributed their perspectives on program quality, barriers to access, and measuring success.
This amazing opportunity was above and beyond what I could have imagined. I learned about different out-of-school programs, interacted with their leaders, and met passionate, prudent people from the National Academies (See image below to see a few.) As a California 4-H alumna, former State Ambassador, and current California 4-H Communications Intern, my participation accentuated the positive impact that youth development organizations like 4-H have on youth.
Fulfilling My Spark
On my three-day trip, I strolled in Downtown Washington D.C., lunched at the Judiciary Park, and tasted yummy treats from allergy-friendly restaurants. PUH! (or "finally" in English) To top it off, I finally got the opportunity to visit the Starbucks Signing Store! This Starbucks store is staffed by a diverse team of employees who are all fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). As an avid ASL student, signer, and enthusiast, visiting the store has been a dream of mine since my first years of high school. I excitedly ordered myself a venti coffee, communicating fully in ASL. I am actively working to become an ASL interpreter—this visit not only solidified that goal but reinforced my desire.
Keep scrolling for some photos from my trip.
I am at a loss for words to describe the gratitude and giddiness I felt before, during, and now, after this trip. I continuously pinched myself in Washington D.C. because this adventure felt like a dream. Fortunately, it was indeed a dream come true.
Editor's note
Watch Eve in action! The website includes a video recording of the entire meeting, broken up into four parts. You can see the change in the youth presenters as Eve makes them more comfortable with speaking and sharing in front of a room of adults. You can hear similarities to how 4-H engages youth and encourages them to thrive. Eve shares about her 4-H experiences to fill in spaces when the youth are thinking about their answers.
Part 1
- 3:17 Eve is introduced to facilitate the youth discussion
- 30:25-31:22 Eve shares about her experience at Ag Day at the Capitol to spark discussion about the ways their afterschool program gave them experiences that impacted them.
Part 4
The youth panel and program staff answer Q&A. The discussions continue about why quality youth programs are needed and should be supported, and the impact they make on youth.
Eve's facilitation skills impressed the Committee on Out of School Time Settings and they invited her to continue as a facilitator for Part 2 on April 18th. That meeting included a 4-H Healthy Living Ambassador from Hopi 4-H in Arizona. The recording of that meeting will be posted on their website.
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- Author: Joy Humphrey
I have a thing for tiny vases. Not fairyland tiny, just, you know, small. Wandering around in any shop, I will home in on any vase that is under six inches and ignore the proper sized ones with the result being that anyone bringing me a bouquet of flowers will find me looking perplexed in my cupboards wondering what in blazes I'm supposed to put the huge thing in. It's not that I don't like big vases of flowers—they are abundant and glorious and make any tabletop pop. It's just that I'm drawn to the sweetness of a tiny bouquet sitting unexpectedly among the unopened mail on my crowded desk, or the little pop of color it provides on my white bathroom counter or the cheery floral faces sharing space with the napkins on my breakfast table.
I also find it less daunting to fill a small vase, and I'm more likely to cut the flowers in my garden knowing I won't be decimating an entire patch to fill a large vessel. One of my favorite flowers to snip is tickseed (Coreopsis). It blooms profusely, so there are always plenty for my vases as well as for the landscape. Another favorite is pincushion flower (Scabiosa). I find the pale purple-blue color goes with everything. Yarrow (Achillea) is wonderful and long-lasting, but since mine are newly planted this year and still small, I hesitate to cut the few blooms I have, although I couldn't resist the yellow of my ‘Little Moonshine.' I was surprised that impatiens and begonias make good choices for a tiny bouquet. When snipping off some leggy stems of each, I decided to put them in a vase and was pleased that they were long-lasting and had the added bonus of putting out roots--beautification and propagation at the same time.
When it comes to arranging, sometimes I like to feature one type of flower and keep it simple. Three roses in a small vase shine very nicely on their own. But most of the time, I'm filling in with cuttings from my herb garden: tall sprigs of rosemary, mint that needs to be cut back anyway, lemon balm. Bolting parsley makes a lovely delicate arch, and sprigs of lavender never go amiss.
I know it's popular to go big, but I think I'll continue to go small, making tiny bouquets for every room, and happily losing track of time while experimenting with different floral and herb combinations. (I do need to buy some bigger vases, though.)
![Martha Washington geranium 'Elegance Imperial' Martha Washington geranium 'Elegance Imperial'](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107711.jpg)
!['Burst of Joy' roses with pincushion flowers and herbs 'Burst of Joy' roses with pincushion flowers and herbs](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107718.jpg)
![Begonia Begonia](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107719.jpg)
- Author: Danny Beltramo
This year, did you decide that you were going to start a garden in your backyard and start growing your own vegetables rather than buying them from the store? You thought you would get something like this:
But instead, you ended up with something like this:
Well, maybe it wasn't that bad, but you know what I am getting at. You bought all the all the things that you thought you would need. You dug out all the grass and old plants. You rototilled the ground well, removing rocks and old roots and breaking up any large clumps of soil. The ground looks great and ready to plant! You consulted with the experts at the store, selected the best quality seeds, and carefully chose the best starter plants. You made sure to add the right amount of fertilizer and water as needed. And you put in a lot of hard work. So, what happened?
Did you ever stop to think about the soil in which you planted those seeds and starter plants? You took the time to think about the living plants you wanted to raise in your garden, but did you consider that soil is not a lifeless growing medium but is home to billions of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes? These organisms can have a beneficial partnership with the plants in your garden. Their existence, or lack thereof, can add or detract from your garden's productivity.
Although we may often tend to think of microorganism as nasty little bugs that we can't see and need to get rid of, we are currently discovering more and more about the important role that they play in not only the soil but in our bodies as well. Your garden soil consists of a complex network of interactions and relationships between various organisms that live in it. We often refer to this network as the “Soil Food Web.” The diagram below shows the interconnected food chains and energy flow within the soil ecosystem.
The soil food web is made up of five trophic levels that indicates an organism's position in the food chain, its energy source, and role in transferring energy within the ecosystem. Each trophic level differs in how it transfers energy and cycles nutrients. The soil food web begins with the energy from the sun, which triggers photosynthesis in plants. ?The process of photosynthesis takes carbon dioxide and converts it to carbon and organic compounds. ?The first trophic level consists of plants and their organic material. ? Simple soil organisms that decompose plant material, including bacteria and fungi are found in the second trophic level. Larger soil organisms are found in the third trophic level. It includes organisms such as protozoa, nematodes, and arthropods that feed on the second-level organisms. ?Finally, the fourth and fifth trophic levels consist of higher-level predators feeding smaller soil organisms. ?
In many ways, the soil food web plays a crucial role in the health of the soil in your garden.
The bacteria, fungi, and other microbes found in the second trophic level of the soil food web form symbiotic relationships with plants and other organisms. Soil microbes have been shown to reduce the incidence of plant diseases through competing with pathogens for resources, producing antimicrobial compounds, or inducing systemic resistance in plants. The activities of microbes in the soil can assist in the formation of soil aggregates that improves soil structure and enhancing water retention, aeration, and the root penetration necessary for healthy plant growth. Finally, microbes provide essential decomposition of organic materials releasing nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium available for plants through the process of nutrient cycling.
Soil microbes play an important role in the soil food web, soil health, and the creation of a productive garden. They form symbiotic relationships with plants, break down organic matter to release nutrients into the soil to be used by plants, and much more. In future articles for this blog, I will further explore ways that you can better understand and manage the microbes in your garden, rather than seeking to eliminate them. Stay tuned and enjoy your garden.
Reference:
Clutter, C., (2021, May 13). Unearthing the Soil Microbiome, Climate Change, Carbon Storage Nexus.
American Society for Microbiology. https://asm.org/articles/2021/may/unearthing-the-soil-microbiome,-climate-change,-ca
Learn about Soil Types. (n.d.). National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/learn-about-soil-types#
Rash, W., (2022, April 21). Boosting Soil Health in Your Garden. USDA – NRCS California
National Resources Conservation Service. (n.d.). USDA-NRCS Official Soil Series Description View by list. https://soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/#
Natural Resources Conservation Service. (2024, May 21). Natural Resources Conservation
Service. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/natural-resource-concerns/soils/soil-health
Sundermeier, A., Shedekar, V., & The Ohio State University. (n.d.). HEALTHY SOIL HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT. Soil Biology Primer. https://soilhealth.osu.edu/sites/soilhealth/files/imce/WhitePapers/The%20Soil%20Food%20Web.pdf
USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension. (2024, January 26). Building soils for better crops - SARE. SARE. https://www.sare.org/resources/building-soils-for-better-crops/
Walsh, S., (2004, Winter). The Basis for a Healthy Garden. University of California, Agriculture and
Natural Resources. https://ucanr.edu/sites/mgslo/newsletters/Soil_-_The_Basis_for_a_Healthy_Garden28260.htm#
White, C. (n.d.). Managing soil Health: Concepts and Practices. https://extension.psu.edu/managing-soil-health-
concepts-and-practices
- Author: Loren Nelson
Compost happens – but why? And how? Find out now by learning the right balance of greens, browns, air and water, and how soon you can expect your first batch!
Click the image to learn more and visit our Classes and Events Calendar page.
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