- Author: Melissa G. Womack
In the rolling foothills of El Dorado County, Calif., a beautiful community garden thrives. Not just an ordinary garden plot, but a community space that cultivates life skills, self-confidence, and weaves a vibrant tapestry of community. The architects of this garden are the UC Master Gardeners of El Dorado County and their partners CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE (CFHL, UCCE) and the Mother Lode Rehabilitation Enterprises (MORE), a non-profit supporting adults with disabilities. Together, they've crafted a pathway to equal opportunities, inclusivity, and engaging experiences for the clients at MORE.
Recently, the team's extraordinary efforts were recognized statewide in the UC Master Gardener Program's Search for Excellence awards for their commitment to expanding the program's reach to a typically underserved audience. “I was moved after reading the El Dorado MORE volunteer project that focuses on teaching adults with disabilities about gardening and growing food. UC Master Gardeners' dedication to creating an inclusive and empowering environment where individuals of all abilities can learn and flourish is inspiring,” commented a Search for Excellence committee member.
Transitioning from childhood to adulthood can be challenging for many people with disabilities. The path to continued learning and independence often becomes foggy and winding. It's a journey that calls for customized support, guidance, and resources. At the heart of MORE's fully inclusive program is a commitment to improving the quality of lives and making dreams come true for the people they serve.
In late 2018, a seed of collaboration was planted as MORE, the UC Master Gardener Program and CFHL, UCCE initiated a partnership built on shared goals—cultivating an enriched life for adults with disabilities. The blossoming garden-based lessons led by UC Master Gardener volunteers perfectly intertwined with CFHL, UCCE's nutritional education and MORE's education and MORE's mission.
In 2020 and 2021, despite the many challenges of COVID-19 UC Master Gardeners continued to provide harvested fruits and vegetables and deliver projects to MORE, even when in-person meetings were on hold. Following the pandemic shutdown, the partnership thrived anew in 2022, breathing new life into their mission with revised plans, fresh goals, and an updated curriculum. The renewed goals of the collaboration were as multi-layered as a well-tended compost heap: providing practical garden and nutritional instruction, introducing sustainable practices, promoting healthy food choices, and fostering skills leading to increased independence.
UC ANR's “Teams with Intergenerational Support” or TWIGS program for gardening and healthy eating curriculum, complemented by CFHL, UCCE's "Harvest of the Month" curriculum, was a perfect fit. This hands-on, research-based approach provided the ideal way for MORE clients to delve into the fascinating realms of botany and nutrition. Traditional methods of assessment often miss the mark when catering to adults with various abilities. Hence, the team innovated, embedding assessments within instruction, using interactive and engaging tools like stickers, thumbs-up/down gestures, and verbal responses. This fluid, dynamic approach ensures each participant can connect with the concepts and apply them to their daily lives.
One rewarding highlight includes clients adopting fruit trees at the Sherwood Demonstration Garden orchard, learning about seasonal changes, and assisting with pest management. This sense of ownership and responsibility is a profound result of the program's influence. Clients are actively involved in the food cycle—harvesting crops, preparing healthy meals, and understanding the nutritional value of what they eat.
In a world often focused on individual achievement, the story of the UC Master Gardeners of El Dorado County, CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE, and Mother Lode Rehabilitation Enterprises serves as a reminder of the transformative power of community and collaboration. As their clients and garden continue to flourish, we are reminded that the journey to excellence is best undertaken together. This is a celebration of their award-winning work, a testament to the importance of community, and a heartwarming reminder of how we can all grow together!
- Author: Susie Kocher
The new El Dorado/Amador Prescribed Burn association, formed in August 2021, has conducted several burns with private landowners and received funding for a part-time coordinator.
A new group of local residents dedicated to helping private landowners conduct prescribed burns on their own properties has formed in El Dorado and Amador Counties. The group was convened by Susie Kocher, forestry advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in the Central Sierra.
“Prescribed Burn Associations, or PBAs, are groups of landowners helping each other to both learn how to use prescribed fire to manage their properties and to help each other carry it out. They have been common in other states in the Midwest and Southeast United States, but are relatively new to California,” said Kocher. The first PBA was formed in Humboldt County and now there are at least 20 in various stages of development throughout the state.
New El Dorado/Amador PBA holds first burns
To date, the local group has held workshops on prescribed burn use, planning and integration with targeted grazing for fuels reduction. The group held their first broadcast burn on May 15, 2022, at LBS Ranch in Placerville. Due to rain in April, the group was able to take advantage of the tail end of the spring burning window. The event served as an educational opportunity for members to get more live fire experience and discuss the planning and implementation process.
Those who attended were landowners, volunteer fire department members, foresters and community members with varying degrees of experience. Together they reduced fuels and resprouting shrubs by burning an acre of forested land that had previously been thinned and masticated. Fire behavior and effects occurred as planned, with low flame lengths and good consumption of live and dead vegetation.
Funding received for part-time coordinator
In April, the University of California Cooperative Extension was awarded funding through a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity subaward from the Watershed Research and Training Center, by a grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation to hire a part-time PBA coordinator. A total of nine PBAs across the state received subawards to fund leadership, peer mentorship, training and travel. The El Dorado/Amador PBA was awarded funding for a half-time coordinator for the next two years. The new coordinator, Kestrel Grevatt, is based at UC Berkeley's Blodgett Forest Research Station and will be splitting her time between the PBA and her role as intern forester at Blodgett. She has a background in fire suppression, prescribed burning and implementing and overseeing fuels reduction work.
Looking forward, the group is planning a burn plan writing workshop for August. This workshop will be intended to help landowners understand the prescribed fire planning process, necessary burn plan components and help them walk away at the end of the day with a drafted burn plan. Attendees will have the opportunity to download and create maps, plan burn units, discuss permits needed and smoke considerations, and write a weather/fuels prescription, all with guidance from PBA leaders and agency representatives. Through the fall and winter, the group's priorities will be to implement burns and make local and regional training opportunities available to members.
“The overall goal of the group is to give community members the support to safely and effectively put good fire on the ground. By starting small, with a few acres at a time, members can learn how to use this tool and develop comfort with fire as a process. Over time, with many landowners' involvement, we can continue to increase the pace and scale of prescribed fire,” said Grevatt.
For more information, please contact Kestrel Grevatt kestrelgrevatt@berkeley.edu.
The work upon which this publication is based was funded in whole or in part through a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity subaward from the Watershed Research and Training Center, by a grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation. The El Dorado / Amador PBA is also supported by UC ANR.
- Author: Mike Hsu
Serving Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado and Tuolumne counties, UC Cooperative Extension advisor Lynn Wunderlich was formally assigned to focus on viticulture and integrated pest management in the region. But her innate curiosity – as well as her dedication to meeting the wide-ranging needs of local communities – led her to develop expertise in a remarkable array of topics.
“That was both the challenge and the opportunity of being a foothill farm advisor – lots of small farms, lots of diverse agriculture, so I got to do some cool things,” said Wunderlich, who is set to retire on July 1. “To serve the needs of the clientele up here was very gratifying and interesting.”
Wunderlich earned her bachelor's degree in bacteriology and plant pathology from University of Wisconsin-Madison and her master's in plant protection and pest management from UC Davis. After several years as a UCCE staff research associate in Ventura and Monterey counties, Wunderlich began as a UCCE farm advisor in 2000 for El Dorado and Amador counties.
Although initially tasked with supporting tree fruit and specialty crop growers in topics such as researching alternative methods for managing codling moths, Wunderlich soon found herself studying organizational dynamics and bylaws to help the Placerville Fruit Growers Association cooperative transition to become a Limited Liability Company.
“It was really different than anything I'd been trained in before,” Wunderlich said.
That early experience set the tone for the rest of her career, as she continued to seek out – and share – knowledge across the expansive breadth of her work. In 2007, Wunderlich took on the viticulture role in Amador and El Dorado counties, where grape growers sought counsel on controlling a newly discovered pest.
“Every farm advisor has some quintessential moments of their career, and Gill's mealybug was one of mine,” Wunderlich recalled. “It's really unique; it's not found in very many places in California and it had never been described as a pest on wine grapes.”
In addition to developing effective management tactics for Gill's mealybug, Wunderlich worked with growers and the late Doug Gubler, UCCE specialist emeritus, to set up seven powdery mildew stations and rain gauges across the foothills. The stations filled a great need in the region by providing accessible, applicable pest and disease forecasting and precipitation data.
Crediting her colleagues' tutelage, Wunderlich also deepened her understanding of the diverse soils in the foothills and the latest research on evapotranspiration on wine grapes – all in the name of delivering the most current and useful information to growers.
When Christmas tree growers in the foothills found their white firs decimated by a phytophthora pathogen, Wunderlich helped them switch to Nordmann and Turkish firs, which were naturally resistant. She became one of only a few experts in the UC system on these conifers, and, in one of her last accomplishments as farm advisor, organized the International Christmas Tree Research and Extension Conference in California earlier this month.
Another late-career highlight for Wunderlich was developing training materials on the proper calibration and use of air blast sprayers. Alongside Franz Niederholzer, UCCE farm advisor for Sutter, Yuba and Colusa counties, and UC IPM colleagues Lisa Blecker, Petr Kosina and Cheryl Reynolds, Wunderlich developed, delivered and evaluated a curriculum that included both in-person classes and online components. Their efforts were recognized with an IPM Achievement Award from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, and the online course continues to be used today.
“It's nice to be able to leave something like that behind; its principles are still valid, no matter what type of sprayer you're using,” said Wunderlich, citing it as one of her enduring legacies.
In retirement, Wunderlich plans to continue her lifelong learning and also spend more time with friends and family – especially on camping trips on the east side of the Sierra.
And, as for growers such as Chuck Mansfield, they hope Wunderlich will stay connected.
“While we are all very happy for Lynn, her presence will be sorely missed,” Mansfield said. “We hope Lynn remains a regular fixture and friend in our community.”
- Author: Sue McDavid
On Saturday visitors will have the opportunity to tour all 16 themed garden, including: All Stars, Bog, Butterfly, Children's, Cottage, Japanese, Mediterranean, Orchard, Ornamental Grasses, Native, Perennial, Rock, Rose, Shade, Succulent and Vegetable.
UCCE Master Gardener volunteers will be onsite and available in each garden to answer questions and explain how and why a particular garden was planted, what kind of irrigation is used in each, facts about specific plants chosen, pest management practices, and more. A very limited quantity of plants will be available for sale (no credit cards; cash or checks only) and there will be treasure hunt prizes. Free refreshments will also be available.
Do you have a garden or event you would like featured on the statewide UC Master Gardener Program blog? E-mail: mgwomack@ucanr.edu
- Author: Scott Oneto
A recent find in El Dorado County has weed scientists, land managers, foresters, botanists, and plant conservationists throughout Northern California very excited over a tiny mite.
The broom gall mite has recently been observed attacking the invasive plant Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) in California's natural landscapes. Scotch broom, desired for its bright yellow flowers and rapid growth, was first introduced into North America as an ornamental and for erosion control. However, its ability to outcompete native plants and form dense stands has also made it one of California's worst wildland weeds (Figure 1).
The mites cause galls, small abnormal growths on the plant's buds, to form during feeding, greatly reducing Scotch broom's ability to grow and reproduce (Figure 2). This mite is considered to be an ideal biological control agent due to its specialized feeding habits and the debilitating damage it can cause to invasive weeds. In some areas, the gall mite has already killed large stands of broom (Figure 3).
The Scotch broom gall mite, more closely related to spiders and ticks than insects, is a type of eriophyid mite that is nearly invisible to the naked eye, measuring roughly the width of a human hair (Figure 4). Although the mite is tiny, the galls formed by plants in response to the mite's feeding are quite noticeable. The small fuzzy masses occur along the length of the stem and can be quite numerous.
Native to Europe, the mite was first found on Scotch broom in the Tacoma, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, regions in 2005. Since that time the mite has become established throughout western Washington and Oregon and even into parts of British Columbia. Up until 2013, the mite had only been found as far south as Ashland, Oregon, with no occurrences in California.
However in March 2014, a landowner in El Dorado County brought a sickly
Since the first detection in El Dorado County, USFS, UCCE, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture have been on the lookout for other occurrences of the gall mite on Scotch broom. Surprisingly, the mite has since been found in many areas throughout El Dorado, Placer, and Nevada counties; but how it got there is a mystery. Mites are known to travel long distances using wind currents and by hitching rides on animals, humans and equipment. It is likely that many more finds will be forthcoming.
Since the mite is a beneficial biological control agent and not a pest, do not apply pesticides to kill it! The broom gall mite can help greatly in the fight to control Scotch broom plants that have invaded wildlands throughout California. If you or your neighbors see evidence of Scotch broom gall mites, please report it on the University of California Cooperative Extension website: ucanr.edu/broomgallmite.
Alternatives to Scotch broom
Although some retail nurseries still sell a variety of broom species, homeowners should avoid planting them. Depending on your climate, a number of alternate plant species with similar attributes that are are not invasive weeds may be available. See the PlantRight article from our April 2015 Retail IPM Newsletter about alternative plants to recommend to your customers or contact your county UC Master Gardener program or UC Cooperative Extension office for a list of local recommendations.
Scotch broom currently infests millions of acres throughout California, causing loss of native plant biodiversity and an increased fire risk. The USFS and other agencies spend a considerable amount of time and taxpayer money each year treating Scotch broom plants either by applying herbicides or prying them up by the root. With the mites' help, we'll make much greater progress toward reducing Scotch broom infestations.
For more information about Scotch broom and other brooms, read UC IPM's Pest Note: Brooms. For plant alternatives, see PlantRight's list.
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