Central Valley strawberry stands are expected to open soon, and if the next few weeks remain dry, as expected, it looks to be an excellent production year, report UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors in Fresno, Merced and Sacramento counties. One stand in Fresno opened on April 9, and others will begin selling this weekend.

Valley strawberry production is small compared to Southern California and Coastal production areas. Nearly all the farms are just a few acres in size and the bulk of their produce is sold at roadside stands. UC farm advisors work closely with these producers to help them grow safe and wholesome fruit.

The farmers are mainly Mien and Hmong refugees from Laos, a Southeast Asian country that neighbors...

If life were a Disney movie, we would have no trouble identifying beneficial bugs in our garden. They would all have big puppy-dog eyes and sing sweet songs. They would not have names like assassin bugs, which, in fact, some of them do.

So when we see creepy critters crawling and flying around our freshly planted vegetable garden, we have to work a little harder to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. The good guys, by the way, are the ones who feed on what we consider the bad guys – insects like aphids that damage plants by clustering on young shoots, buds and leaves, sucking out the plant juices.

Ironically, in our bug-eat-bug world, your garden won’t attract the good guys without the so-called bad guys, so...

When we first moved to California our rental house came with a prolific lemon tree.  New to a climate where citrus could be grown, we thought this was the greatest thing ever -- lemons right outside our door during the rainy gloom of winter.  When dinner and party invitations started coming in, we started arriving with lemons as gifts.  But when our hosts invariably greeted our lemony bounty with clenched smiles and "Great!  Lemons!" we were perplexed.  Only later did we realize that practically everyone has lemons.

I recently told this story to someone at a party and they replied - "Of course, lemons are the zucchini of winter!  Everyone has more than they know what to do with."

So what do you do with an abundance of...

Beautiful gardens are brimming with color and life at the Veterans’ Home in Ventura. These gardens have been planned, planted and cared for by a group of Ventura County UCCE Master Gardeners and many people in the community.

Flowers and ornamental trees provide color and shade. Raised garden beds are filled with a wide assortment of vegetables to enhance nutrition and dinner salads of residents. An orchard of donated fruit trees has taken root on the west side of the building. Garden lectures provide enrichment for the mind.

An additional vegetable garden and succulent garden are planned.

Started shortly after the home opened, the gardens and the activity they generate...