- Author: Cheryl Cozad
In the wild areas on our planet, trees, bushes, and grasses grow on ground that has continual additions of new layers of dead and dying plant matter. Leaves fall from trees and shrubs, grasses dry in the summer: these materials cover the soil and gradually decompose. No Till gardening takes its cue from this natural process. There's no double-digging. No bi-annual rototilling. No weed pulling.
Soil is inhabited by billions of microscopic organisms. It is this abundant life, attracted to the sugars put out by plant roots, that creates a mutually beneficial feeding relationship with plants. Breaking up the soil by tilling, digging, or weeding disrupts these vital organisms.
No Till aids the soil's ability to retain water. The roots of previous weeds and other pre-existing plants create pathways for water to penetrate and be stored in the soil.
When you avoid tilling you'll have fewer weeds in your garden, since tilling brings weed seeds to the surface where light signals them to grow.
A No Till garden requires less work on the part of the gardener. Ultimately, a No Till bed will need less weeding, less watering, and less digging.
There is no need to wait before planting in a No Till garden – you just plant on top of the decomposing plant life.
There are several different approaches to creating a No Till garden. The simplest method is described here.
Materials you will need:
- Cardboard (with tape & labels removed) or newspapers (newsprint only – no colored ads or glossy pages).
- Compost, well-aged manure, worm compost, or organic soil mix. Organic blends are a little more expensive but they will do a better job of supporting the growth of your subterranean microbes, which help your plants get the nutrients they need for optimal growth and resistance to pests and diseases.
- Plants and seeds.
- Mulch (wood chips, straw, grass clippings, or pine needles).
- Select a sunny site. Think small. Two 5 x 10 - foot beds can grow a lot of produce. Even No Till gardening can get overwhelming if you take on too much.
- Cut existing vegetation to the ground and water the area well. Avoid burying large clumps or a thick layer of fresh green vegetation under a compost layer. Anaerobic decomposition can be detrimental to root growth.
- Apply a 4-to-6- inch layer of a well-composted mix. Well-aged horse manure (often available free from stables), plus worm compost makes a terrific mix. The City of Chico Compost Facility on Cohasset highway (currently closed due to COVID-19) sells finished compost that can be mixed with an organic soil mix or worm castings as another option.
- Cover the compost layer with overlapping pieces of cardboard, or 5 to 10 thicknesses of newspaper (overlapping them by one-third). Dousing the sheets of newspaper in a bucket of water will help stabilize them.
- For large deep-rooted plants (like tomatoes, peppers & eggplants) cut a circle in the cardboard or newspaper. Scoop out soil, add 2 to 3 shovelfuls of compost mix, and plant. For shallow-rooted vegetables or flowers, cut an X to open the cardboard or newspaper and plant smaller plants.
- Water well.
- Cover the bed with 4 to 6 inches of mulch. This will weigh down the cardboard or newspaper, prevent soil from drying out, and keep light from activating weed seeds. It also looks attractive.
- Install a drip or micro-sprinkler system or make a hand-watering schedule. Plan to water your No Till bed daily for the first week. Gradually taper off to every 3 to 5 days.
- Repeat! When a crop is finished, cut it to the ground, add compost, tuck in new plants, and mulch heavily.
Plants love the even moisture and lower soil temperatures created by No Till and mulch. Give it a try. Your microbes and your back will thank you.
For inspiration, browse the California State University, Chico Regenerative Agriculture website. For specific vegetable planting times, see our Planting Guides for the Chico Valley Area and for the Foothills.
The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
- Author: Michelle Ramsey
Cutworms are moth larvae that hide in the soil during the day, and then come out at night to feed on plants. They get their name from their ability to "cut off" a seedling at ground level by chewing through the stem at or just below the soil level.
Cutworms are grouped into 3 general categories:
1) Surface cutworms: do considerable damage to leaves and stems.
2) Climbing cutworms: climb onto plants and eat buds, leaves, and fruit.
3) Subterranean cutworms: stay on or below ground and feed on the roots of plants.
Management and Control. Plant collars can be used to protect tender transplants, because cutworms need to completely encircle a stem in order to munch it off. Make a collar out of cardboard, plastic, or aluminum foil. Paper cups (with bottoms removed) or tin cans (with both ends removed), also make good collars to place over young plants. Place a collar around each stem extending it one to two inches into the soil and two to three inches above the soil.
- Control weeds, grasses and plant debris both in and around the garden to reduce habitat and food favored by young cutworms.
- Keep up with cultivation. Moths prefer to lay eggs in high grass and weeds. At the end of the season, till your garden and mow surrounding areas to destroy their over-wintering habitat.
- A few weeks before planting your garden, dig the soil down about two inches, and squash any caterpillar larvae and/or pupae you find manually (or drop them into a bucket of soapy water).
- Once larvae emerge from pupae, hand-picking at night with a flashlight is very effective. Clip and dispose of infested foliage and blossoms.
- Pesticides are not very effective and can harm beneficial insects, so they are not recommended.
Additional information on cutworm damage on fruits and vegetables can be found here on the UC IPM website.
The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
Gardeners looking for a drought-tolerant and highly disease-resistant native shrub might consider adding the blue elderberry (Sambucus cerulean also known as Sambucus Mexicana) to their landscape.
This elderberry's habitat ranges from desert to temperate rainforest, thriving in both full shade and full sun. In good growing conditions in the wild it can reach up to 30 feet high. Its growing habit creates a wide bramble that puts on a spectacular show of flowers and berries in season, but becomes a bit ratty as the summer heat wears on.
The elderberry can be identified through its flowers in late spring, and bunches of blueish berries in mid to late-summer. Typically, hundreds of tiny flowers comprise what appears to be one light cream-colored flower in skyward-facing bunches. A waxy coating on the purple berries gives them their blueish finish. Another distinctive characteristic is that the elderberry is among the first shrubs to show green shoots, sometimes in late fall after the first rains and even well before the California buckeye, another early blooming native.
According to UC Cooperative Extension advisor Rachael Long, the elderberry is one of several natives that provide nectar and pollen for native bees, honey bees, and other insects. “I see a lot of green lace wings (predators of aphids, spider mites and other pests) in elderberry” she notes. The berries are edible for humans if properly prepared. They contain a mild toxin which can easily be cooked out.
The berries and other parts of the elderberry have been valued for their medicinal properties for thousands of years. Modern medical research has established a scientific basis for some medicinal uses that warrant further research. Early Europeans made food and medicine from the berries, and musical instruments from the hollow elderberry branches. In the western hemisphere, Native peoples were using many parts of the plant, well before each culture was aware of the others' existence.
Elderberry references make cultural appearances spanning space and time. In Greek mythology, the Titan Prometheus presented the gift of fire to man in a hollow elderberry branch. In our own time, it is the elder wand, fashioned in part from elderberry wood, which delivers a decisive blow for good over evil in the final chapter of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
Blue elderberry grows extensively throughout Butte County, favoring streamside locations. For example, in Chico it can easily be found along Big and Little Chico Creeks and Lindo channel. In places along these waterways, there are nearly unbroken stretches of elderberry thickets. The elderberry's tenacity can be seen in the burn-scar area of Butte Creek canyon, where vigorous elderberry canes are re-emerging in profusion.
If you have space in your yard for a hardy native shrub that will provide food for beneficial insects and pollinators, consider the elderberry. It's best to enjoy this multi-use shrub in a section of your yard where it will not be disturbed, and where it can grow to its full size (30 feet) without needing to be trimmed or moved.
The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
- Author: Kim Schwind
Butte County has had its share of disaster and turmoil. Now we face a virus that may not go away completely. Shopping for food has become a challenge. The stores are not always stocked the way they used to be. Times are challenging.
This kind of garden can be as small as some microgreens growing on a windowsill, or, if you have a deck or patio, you can fill containers with nutrient-dense vegetables. Out in the yard, you can tuck some vegetable plants into spaces around your existing landscape plants. If you have room, you can build or buy raised beds; these can be made of used lumber or even a repurposed old galvanized stock tank.
We live in a moderate climate that is great for planning and planting a food garden. Many nutrient-dense cool season vegetables can be planted now. They have a quick turnaround time, so in about thirty days you can go from planted seed to food on your plate. Leafy greens like kale and chard grow quickly. Lettuces, onions, broccoli, and beets do well in our area until it gets too warm.
Find something to grow that will work in your yard. If you plant the right plant in the right place at the right time you should be successful. If your yard is partly shaded, lettuces, leafy greens and spinach should work for you. Perhaps you can plant your vegetables and herbs in containers that are small enough to move around to sunny spots. Think creatively: if your vegetable-growing neighbor has a sunny yard, perhaps you can trade your leafy greens for their tomatoes and squash. Work together and plan your gardens so you can share food. If you have lots of room, plant an extra row so you will have extras to give away to someone in need.
The main prerequisite for growing vegetables is to find a spot where there is sunlight and water. Watch your yard for a full day to map where the sunlight hits. The area that gets the most sun is perfect for growing summer (warm season) vegetables. If this happens to be on a patio or a deck, remember that you can use containers filled with a container soil mix to grow almost any vegetable.
Cool weather crops grow best in air temperatures of 50 to75 degrees and soil temperatures of 50 to 65 degrees.
For a specific seed starting chart for your area, consult either the UC Master Gardeners of Butte County vegetable planting guide for the Chico valley area, or for the foothills.
Choose nutrient-dense vegetables like potatoes, cow peas, okra, shelling beans, and peppers. Tomatoes are not considered nutrient dense, but they are delicious.
Consider growing dry beans like pinto or black beans. These can be eaten fresh or allowed to dry on the vine. Once dried, they're picked and shelled. They can be stored for a long time in your pantry.
There are a few vegetables like okra and cow peas that work well together and are also drought resistant. You might consider incorporating an old Native American tradition called the “three sisters.” To do this, start by planting corn. When the corn is about five inches tall, plant pole beans around the corn stalks. The beans will use the corn as a trellis. Then plant squash or pumpkins around the beans. This method uses less water because the squash or pumpkin leaves shade the ground and help the soil retain water.
Growing popping corn is another way to prolong your food harvest. Once the corn is ready to pick, dry it and then remove the kernels from the cob. Store in an airtight container to be popped later.
Diversity in your food garden is a way to help it be more resilient. Adding some culinary herbs and pollinator-friendly flowers will invite beneficial insects to pollinate your vegetables and may help minimize undesirable bugs.
The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
- Author: Kim Schwind
If beekeeping is one of those things you have always wanted to do, but never had time to pursue, our current period of self-isolation may provide you with the time you need to learn about this exciting hobby.
The amount of time you spend taking care of bees depends on the season of the year and the number of hives you maintain. Beekeepers experience a flurry of activity in spring, maintenance jobs to perform in summer, and harvesting honey and preparing for winter in the fall. When you are new to keeping bees, there is of course a learning curve in the initial seasons.
Understanding the Background
If you are going to raise bees to harvest and sell honey or other consumable products you need to review the Butte County Cottage Food Operators rules to learn about the policies and permits required.
Learning about bee biology and understanding the bee life cycle, nutrition, water requirements, behaviors, and pests and diseases will help you better manage your hives.
Learning from a mentor or taking classes is a good idea. The E.L. Niño Bee Lab at UC Davis offers classes on ‘Planning Ahead for Your First Hive' and ‘Working Your Colonies', among other topics.
Getting Started
You will want to monitor the hive regularly through the summer months to make sure the queen is laying eggs, and you will need to inspect the hive and be able to spot diseases, pests (including Varroa mites) or other problems that could impact the bees' health. In the fall you may be able to harvest honey and then prepare the hive for winter.
Siting the Beehive
Choose a location that has a wind break and is not overly shaded. Dappled sunlight is best. The hive entrance should face southeast to take advantage of the early morning sunlight.
Place the hive in an area that is level and stable. You want to set the hive off the ground on a stand to avoid moisture accumulating in the hive. If you are in an area that has a lot of wildlife, consider installing a wire fence or kennel with a roof to protect the bees from predators like raccoons and skunks. In areas where there are bears you might want to invest in an electric fence.
The standard and most commonly-used hives are Langstroth 10 Frame Hove Boxes. These come in a variety of depths. Keep in mind that you will have to move the boxes around. A deep hive box that's full of comb, bees, and honey can be heavy, weighing over 90 pounds. Medium depth boxes are lighter. These standard hives have interchangeable parts and accessories that are widely available. Also available are top bar hives, usually called Kenyon Top Bar Hives. These hive boxes mimic the cavity of a tree and have individual bars that can be removed for inspection. You will need to research the hive system that is right for you.
In the state of California, you must register your bees with the County Agricultural Commissioner if you have ten or more hives, in accord with Food and Agricultural code 29044. If you have nine hives or less, you are encouraged, but not required, to register your bees to help map the hives. This is critical to the health of both the bees and the state's agricultural sector. The registration fee is just $10.00 a year (go to www.buttecounty.net/agriculturalcommissioner/ or call them at 530-552-4100). You can register online and also enter the location of your bee yard or apiary on the BeeWhere webpage. This pins your bee's location to a map so that if there is a problem with disease or new pests affecting bees, the Agricultural Commissioner can contact you to let you know.
These steps may sound overwhelming. But once you take them and become a beekeeper, you will be fascinated by these beautiful insects. They are simply amazing to watch and learn from!