The Real Dirt

Dirt is made up of four things: minerals (from decomposed rock), air, water, and organic matter. The organic material originates from living organisms (or stuff that was once alive), and a single teaspoon of soil may contain as many as 4 billion bacteria, 1 million fungi, 20 million actinomycetes and 300,000…

Vegetables and herbs are relatively easy to understand, but flowers and foliage and shade versus sun — it can seem overwhelming!  Let’s start from the beginning.  What does full sun really mean?  A plant requiring full sun needs at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day in order to thrive.  If a plant…

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the selection of plants at the nursery? Or bought a plant that looked great at the nursery, but did poorly (or died) in your yard? Spring is here and it’s tempting to rush out and buy new plants for the garden.  But don’t be too hasty!  Choosing the right plant for a…

A visit to the Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden at this time of year is a bit like a scavenger hunt: a little bit of searching may be required. For example, try to find two plants in bloom; identify some plants that are still completely dormant as winter marches on; look for any signs that spring is…

The winter months bring us a special opportunity: it is to look up, with wonder, at all the trees that have shed last year’s leaves. This is perhaps especially true in Chico, an official City of Trees. Chico shares that distinction with a number of other cities in California that are known for the quantity…