Napa Master Gardener Column

By Cindy Watter, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.Last year I was fired up with the urge to clean out my junk shed and turn it into my tool shed. I marched to the southwest corner of my yard and promptly fell, thigh deep, into a hole that opened beneath me. It didn’t take me long to realize what had…

By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County . Have you ever heard of African keyhole gardening? The practice started in the 1990s in Lesotho, a small country surrounded by South Africa. With a keyhole garden, you can grow a lot of produce in a small space. They’re called keyhole gardens because the…

By Aileen Carroll, UC Master Gardener of Napa County. Planning ahead comes more naturally to some of us than others. I personally am perfectly happy to fly by the seat of my pants, while many of the people around me stiffen the moment plans change without warning.  Fortunately, when it comes to…

By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.  My fellow Master Gardener Gayle Nelson is having a love affair with her new cloner.  A tray of 20 gardenia cuttings produced roots in 4 weeks.  A cloner is a machine that uses hydroponic methods to encourage cuttings to produce roots. …

By Janice Mathews, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.Healthy soil is not just dirt under our feet.  It is a living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals and humans.Healthy soil has four components.  About 25 percent is air, allowing soil organisms to return essential nutrients to the soil while…