Tangy Apricot Walnut Chicken

Spicy brown mustard and apricot preserves make this dish tasty and easy to prepare. Slightly undercook zucchini, as it will continue to cook a bit after you remove it from the heat.

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbl Butter

4 Chicken breasts (small), boneless and skinless

1 Onion (small) quartered and sliced

1/3 cup Apricot preserves

¼ cup Lemon juice

1 ½ Tbl Spicy brown mustard

½ tsp Garlic salt

2 Zucchini (small), sliced

½ cup California walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Fresh Rosemary, chopped

Freshly ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Add chicken and onion. Cook until chicken is lightly browned and onions are softened.

Add preserves, lemon juice, mustard, garlic salt and zucchini.

Cook over medium heat for 5 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are still crisp but tender.

Sprinkle with walunts and rosemary. Season with pepper and serve.

Serves 4

Recipe from the California Walnut Board, www.walnuts.org

 

This is a 7 part series on saving water in your garden and landscape. Here is part 1.

1. Create drought resistant soils

1. By incorporating 2-4 inches of compost into the soil you will increase the water holding capacity of the soil
2. Topdressing compost around plants will reduce water needs but not up to the plant base.       Space @ the base.
3. Mulch all exposed soil to reduce evaporation with bark, leaf litter or rocks

Benefit:

• Reduced water usage

 

These simple steps can save a lot of water, beautify your landscape and improve plant health!

 

Watch for our next installment on Monday March 16, 2015.

 

 

Tree watering

What is the best way to water a mature tree? How do I water the tree? How deep do I water my tree?

Roots naturally want to stay in the top 2-3 feet of the soil. It's in their nature to be “shallow”. Why don't the roots grow to infinity and beyond? More nutrients are available to the tree in the top 2-3 feet of soil. Also anaerobic conditions exist in deeper soil and the roots cannot survive there.

So how do we water the tree so that the roots are deep enough for optimal growth and not stick out of the ground?

The University of California has developed a system to easily irrigate trees, it's called Tree Ring Irrigation Contraption (TRIC). Basically you circle the tree at 1 foot intervals with a drip line.

 

Here is a link to the TRIC information http://ccuh.ucdavis.edu/public/drought/tree-ring-irrigation-contraption-tric-1/tree-ring-irrigation-contraption-tric

Tree photo from Symphony of the Soil.

This article is mainly from the UC Master Gardeners of Butte County's blog, The Real Dirt. I've shortened it.

Ladybugs (Ladybeetles) are beneficial insects that play a major role in keeping down populations of insects that feed on plants. Perhaps most importantly, ladybugs are predators with an insatiable appetite for aphids. A ladybug can eat up to 5,000 aphids over its lifetime. They can also help to rid your garden of other soft-bodied insects such as mites, mealybugs and leafhoppers, along with insect eggs and even ants.

450 ladybug species are native to North America, with 175 of those species found here in California.

Adults mate in early spring (when temperatures reach above 65 degrees) and again in June if the aphid population is abundant. When aphid populations decline, ladybugs migrate to higher elevations.

Ladybugs undergo a complete metamorphosis during their life cycle, moving through the four stages:

Eggs>Larvae>Pupae>Adult. This is important because all 4 stages will be found in your garden. The eggs are yellow, oblong and laid in clusters in an aphid colony so the larvae will have a food source as they emerge from their eggs. The larvae look like tiny alligators, and are about ¼ of an inch long and blackish with orange stripes. Once it emerges from the pupal state an adult ladybug will live for about one year.

Interestingly, ladybugs beat their wings 85 times per second in order to fly. When threatened, a ladybug can draw its head into its pronotum, like a turtle does, to protect itself.

Ladybugs hibernate in the winter months and will not fly when temperatures fall below 55 degrees. They feed on pollen and nectar and live on stored fat through the winter. Ladybugs are not preyed upon by birds or other vertebrates because they exude a very distasteful fluid from joints in their legs; their distinctive colors are a reminder to would be predators they taste “bad”. When threatened, ladybugs will play dead.

How can I attract ladybugs to my garden?

Ladybugs will only hang out in the garden if there is something for them to eat and they eat aphids! If you are going to buy ladybugs make sure you have a ready supply of aphids available. For successful handling and release of ladybugs purchased at a store, keep them refrigerated until time for release. They may be dehydrated when purchased, so mist them with water from a squirt bottle before putting them in the refrigerator. Do not release them into your garden during the daytime or they will fly away immediately. Instead release them at dusk or early morning. Be prepared for ladybugs to fly away in a few days as they typically don't lay eggs on the plants they have been released on. “The key here is to get your neighbors to purchase ladybugs.” Haha, anyway…..

When you see ladybugs, remember that they are considered lucky in many cultures, for various reasons. Enjoy them in your garden until they fly away, fly away home (or to your neighbors' garden).