The European honey bee came to North America with the first settlers. These bees are native to Europe and Turkey. Currently they are suffering from a disease called “colony collapse,” which causes whole hives to die off.
Scientists are still studying this phenomenon. However, long before the settlers arrived, our native bees, known as solitary bees, were fertilizing native plants.
These bees and plants evolved together. The bees do not produce honey, so they have not been domesticated. But they still visit our gardens and, with some help, they can work for us.
In an effort to help solitary bees, I leave areas of my garden bare, with no mulch or other covering. Nor do I turn this soil. The area is full of holes. Many solitary bees and bumblebees use the ground for nests. Most of them nest alone, providing food and a safe nest for the next generation.
Bumblebees are a little different. They also nest in the ground but usually with a queen. On one occasion, I was able to watch a bee making her nest. She drilled into the soil and kept flying back and forth with nectar or insects. Then one morning the nest disappeared. She had covered it up and let nature take its course until the following spring.
About the same time I heard about nesting blocks of wood for the mason bees that also pollinate our gardens. I had several 4 x 6 pieces. I had them cut to about 12 inches and drilled holes in them. I put them on hangers and left them near fruit trees and blooming flowers.
Some bees did make nests in these holes. They put food for their eggs into the cells. The food varies with the species: some use insects, some use cut leaves and others pollen. They then lay their eggs and put more food between each egg. When the eggs hatch, there is food for them immediately. Once they mature, they emerge from the cell as new bees that will then pollinate this year's crops. They seem to emerge when the fruit trees bloom, typically in March or April.
In my wood pile, I found an interesting piece of wood that I took out and saved. The holes drilled into this piece are of varying size—some 3/8 inch, some 5/8 inch. I had a small roof attached just for aesthetics and it is now attached to my garden fence. This spring I saw a beautiful small bee making a nest in one of the holes. Each hole is sealed with mud. When I counted just a few days ago, there were 52 cells, 39 of them are sealed with mud. This is the best usage I have ever seen.
I have many varieties of flowers for these bees, including lavender and salvia. Bumblebees love both. Not long ago I saw a bumblebee so covered in pollen he could hardly take off. Eventually he made it home.
Paper wasps have lived here many years. I leave them alone because they collect insects for their paper cells and help control bad bugs. They probably get some good ones, too, but that is nature. A few summers ago, I was watching a paper wasp nest on my front porch and decided that the six bees sitting there were done with it and maybe I should remove it. Just then, a much larger wasp flew in and fed each of the other wasps, just as birds do with their young. I was so impressed that I did not touch that nest.
You, too, can help our native bees and wasps. Plant lots of blooming plants, avoid using pesticides in your yard, and leave some soil uncovered. Be aware that all the creatures that fly by your nose are not harmful. Be curious, watch nature and follow her lead.
If you are interested in learning more about native bees, take a look at Field Guide to the Common Bees of California by Gretchen LeBuhn and Noel Badges. Websites can also provide lots of information on building mason bee nests.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a workshop on “Cool Season Veggies” on Sunday, August 17, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville. Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a workshop on “Cool Season Veggies” on Saturday, August 23, at U.C. Cooperative Extension, 1710 Soscol, Napa. Grow your own vegetables even when days are short and nights are cold. Learn which vegetables thrive in cooler temperatures, how to protect them from heat when they are getting started, and how to time planting to ensure months of harvest. To register for the Napa workshop: Online registration (credit card only) Mail in registration (cash or check only).
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to visit their demonstration garden at Connolly Ranch on Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. until noon, except the last Thursday of the month. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road at Thompson Avenue in Napa. Enter on Thompson Avenue.
If you have ever noticed that your zucchini plants start to form little squash, only to have the fruit wither and fall off, the culprit could be that some of your garden partners aren't doing their job. Squash and their relatives in the cucurbitaceae family, cucumbers and melons, require a pollinator such as bees to set fruit.
Look closely at the blossoms and you will notice that there are two kinds on these plants. Male or staminate blossoms have simple, straight stems, while female or pistillate flowers have a small, fruit-like receptacle at the base of the flower. To set fruit, pollen from male flowers must be transferred to the female flowers. If your local bees or other insects have not visited your zucchini plant, no squash will form.
You can compensate for this lack by doing the pollinating yourself. Using your finger or a brush, gather some pollen from the male flowers and put it gently onto the female flowers. It's best to do this in the morning when blossoms first open, as they are only viable for the first 24 hours. To encourage bees, avoid using insecticides of all types and consider planting bee-friendly flowering plants near or among your vegetable crops.
I plant my tomatoes together so I can set up a watering system that meets their specific needs: regular deep watering about once a week. So why do all of the plants look healthy and strong except for one, which is wilting?
By poking around into the soil at the base of the plant, I find that the watering system has not failed, but that the roots have been disturbed by gopher activity, drying the plant roots by exposing them to air. Shoving moist soil and compost into the tunnels can usually rescue plants that have been disturbed in this way, especially if they were mature plants with large root systems.
Do your cucumbers taste bitter? Researchers have found that bitterness in cucumbers is due to a chemical compound called cucurbitacin. Production of this compound is controlled mostly by genetics, and appears to vary from year to year and from location to location.
The first line of defense is to plant cucumbers that don't produce the chemical compound. I think one reason lemon cucumbers are a popular heirloom variety is that they are seldom bitter. If you do have a cucumber variety that tastes bitter, note that the cucurbitacin is likely to concentrate in the stem end of the cucumber as well as in and just under the skin. You can cut off those parts and still enjoy the fruit.
If you are growing lettuce in the summer, it too can become bitter as it ages. Lettuce is a cool-season vegetable and prefers temperatures below 80 degrees. When the weather gets warm, lettuce will start to produce a flowering stalk, and at that point the leaves will taste bitter.
Since you can't leave lettuce in the summer garden for long, plant small amounts a few weeks apart and harvest the plants regularly before they get too old. Planting lettuce where it will be shaded in the afternoons can help keep it from bolting too soon. Also, if you like crisp lettuce for your salads, pick and refrigerate your lettuce in the morning. If you wait to pick in the afternoon, the leaves will be somewhat limp.
If you planted melons, the big question is, are they ripe yet? Many types of melons, such as cantaloupe, signal their ripeness by “slipping." A slight crack completely circles the stem where it is attached to the fruit. If the fruit comes off easily, leaving a smooth cavity, the fruit is ready to eat.
Some types of melons, such as Crenshaw, casaba, and honeydew, do not slip. Watch fruit for a change in color, usually to yellow, and feel the blossom end to see if it is softening. Some melons give off a wonderful aroma when ripe.
Watermelons are a different genus from other melons, and assessing ripeness is different. Rapping the side of the fruit with your knuckles is a tried and true technique. A light or metallic sound indicates that the fruit is still green. A dull, hollow sound indicates ripeness. Watermelons also will have a white or yellow spot where the fruit rested on the ground, and tendrils close to the fruit will darken and dry up.
Napa County Master Gardeners are ready to answer these and all your garden questions, all summer long. Enjoy your summer produce.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a workshop on “Cool Season Veggies” on Sunday, August 17, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville. Grow your own vegetables even when days are short and nights are cold. Learn which vegetables thrive in cooler temperatures, how to protect them from heat when they are getting started, and how to time planting to ensure months of harvest. To register, call the Parks & Recreation Department at 707-944-8712 or visit their web site. Workshop fee is $10 for Yountville residents, $12 for others.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to visit their demonstration garden at Connolly Ranch on Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. until noon, except the last Thursday of the month. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road at Thompson Avenue in Napa. Enter on Thompson Avenue.
When we finally have some rainy days, take the opportunity to do some garden “bookkeeping.” Set up a garden calendar or journal. Have a page for seed-starting dates, fertilizer dates, watering schedules, first harvest, and a space for notes on what did and did not work. Include a page for daily temperatures and rainfall.
I have an inexpensive indoor/outdoor thermometer inside on my counter, with an additional sensor outside. I can check inside and outside temperatures from the kitchen by just pushing a button. Rain gauges come in a range of styles and prices, so check your local nursery or home-improvement store. Depending on your organizational style, a computer-based gardening program might work for you. Or perhaps you would prefer a spiral-bound notebook in a waterproof case that you can take into the garden.
If we finally get ample rain and the soil becomes saturated, cover sections of the garden to get a head start on spring crops. Use clear plastic tenting to exclude excess rain and raise the soil temperature. Remove the plastic between rains (I'm obviously an optimist) to evaporate excess moisture.
It might seem early to be thinking about planting, but fruit trees, shrubs, vegetables and flowers can all go in the ground this month. If the soil is not too wet, you can dig up and divide overcrowded clumps of perennials.
Valentine's Day is imminent. Potted red camellias, cerise azaleas or white gardenias make lovely romantic gifts that can transition to long lives in the garden. Even if you're not buying for a Valentine, February is a great month to visit nurseries to view color options on blooming camellias and other winter-flowering shrubs and plants.
Bare-root asparagus and rhubarb are still available, but not for long. Both are long-lived crops that will produce for years in an area they like.
Potatoes are also in nurseries now and can be planted along with carrots, peas, onions, radishes, lettuce, spinach, parsley and chard. To these familiar vegetables, consider adding Asian greens, cresses, arugula and kales.
If you grow warm-season vegetables from seed, it is time to pull out your warming mat and set up your lights or find your sunniest window. Early in the month, start seeds for cabbage, cauliflower, onions, parsley and lettuce. Later in the month, sow seeds for your favorite tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and basil.
If you have raised beds in your garden or hills with ample compost, winter squash and pumpkin seeds can go directly in the ground now. I began popping in a few pumpkin seeds this early after noting that volunteer squash seedlings always came up much sooner than I felt safe planting them. They ripened and were ready to harvest sooner, too.
If you are craving color, shop now for penstemon, dianthus, coreopsis and sages. Or trade with gardening friends who have an excess.
Shop for dahlias now. These Escher-like flowers, geometrically complex and available in a huge range of sizes and colors, make fanciful additions to the garden and can create whimsical memories for little people. If you buy dahlia tubers, select those with several “eyes” on each stem and plant late in March. Until then, keep them in moist wood shavings so they don't dry out. Prepare their bed according to the planting directions that come with them.
If you see evidence of snails or slugs (slimy trails are one clue), try setting out inverted flower pots, propped up a tad on one side so the pests have a way in to the “snail hotel.” Collect your victims in the morning and throw them away or feed to your chickens. Thisnon-toxic approach keeps chemicals out of your garden and away from pets and children.
Spray peach and nectarine trees to prevent peach-leaf curl just when the buds begin to bulge and show color. Alternatively, you can pick off the crinkled leaves as they appear, put them in a bag and dispose of them. Eventually the tree will replace them with healthy leaves.
Weeds begin to appear now. Tackle them with pre-emergent herbicides, hula hoes or your favorite implement. Try to catch weeds early, before they go to seed. If they have set seed, toss them in the yard-waste bin. Weed seeds often survive home composting.
Drought alert: Yes, you should be watering your plants since nature is not. Water any plants that still have leaves. Many California native plants need water now and should be your top priority, followed by newly planted trees, fruit trees,other large trees and any plants pushing buds. Dormant plants that leaf out early should be watered before those that leaf out later. Make small plants a lower priority as they cost less to replace than trees and large shrubs. Fruit trees that get irregular or insufficient water may drop fruit or produce undersized or malformed fruit.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will host a workshop on “Fruit Tree Pruning” on Saturday, February 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (indoor lecture) and from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (outdoor hands-on workshop). Lecture location is the University of California Cooperative Extension, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. Outdoor location to be determined.
Now is the best time to prune your fruit trees. Learn techniques to keep them healthy and productive. Please dress for outdoor weather. Online registration (credit card only) Mail in registration (cash or check only)
Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to visit their demonstration garden at Connolly Ranch on Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. until noon, except the last Thursday of the month. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road at Thompson Avenue in Napa. Enter on Thompson Avenue.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
I remember ending last month’s to-do list with a promise that December’s garden to-do list would be shorter. What was I thinking?
There is actually a lot to do in the garden in December. If you planned ahead and were industrious in late summer, you are probably harvesting Brussels sprouts, cabbages, broccoli, kohlrabi and kales. Harvest individual Brussels sprouts from the bottom, or cut off the entire stalk and store somewhere cold while you use them. We have two upright, full stalks of bright green Brussels sprouts resting in our cool pantry, and I pop off a potful of sprouts as needed.
Beets, carrots, scallions, radishes and lettuces of all varieties are easy to grow in fall and winter. Micro-greens and Asian greens also thrive in cool and even cold weather. It is easy to fill your salad bowl from the garden at this time of year.
When the weather gets really cold and my lettuce freezes, I have found that if I do not touch the leaves until they thaw, they will often be fine. Touching them damages fragile cells, which causes the leaves to deteriorate when they thaw in the morning sun.
Carrots and radishes can be sown now, as can English peas, sugar peas, sweet peas and spinach. Perhaps you are harvesting some of these crops now if you planted them in late summer. Pomegranates seemed to ripen a little early this year, but you might have a few of those left to pick, too. Complete your olive harvest if you haven’t already. University of California Extension has instructions for curing olives in several ways.
You can plant fava beans now. They are a popular cover crop in Napa Valley, preventing erosion during the winter rains. Plowed into the soil in spring, they contribute nitrogen and biomass, replenishing fertility.
However, if you grow fava beans for the table, wait to harvest them until the beans swell inside the fuzzy green pods. After shelling them, you can eat the beans raw or cooked, peeled or unpeeled. Italians enjoy young fava beans peeled and raw, with olive oil and salt for dipping, crusty bread and a glass of red wine. You can also let the pods mature on the plant and harvest the dry beans to use for soup.
If you plant radishes right now, you may have some fast-growing varieties ready by Christmas or New Year’s. Consider crisp red ‘Cherry Belles’ or long white daikon types. Smooth- or curly-leaf spinach varieties, chard, parsley, and sets of shallots and garlic can still go in.
Because a gardener’s work is never done, you will already find transplants at the nursery for spring harvests of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce and arugula. Shop for rhubarb and artichokes early; nurseries offer them on a first-come, first-served basis. When the supply runs out, you won’t see them again for a year.
Nurseries may still have a few bulbs for spring bloom. Their blossoms are lovely in the garden, but consider forcing bulbs for indoor color, too. Many bulbs are sold with directions for forcing. Some instructions may recommend chilling bulbs before planting outdoors. Follow the directions and enjoy the results.
Get out your floating row covers to extend the harvest of some crops as the temperature drops. You can also use this material to keep aphids and other insect pests off broccoli and cauliflower. If you have done your winter garden cleanup and eliminated piles of debris, lumber, pots and other hiding places for snails and slugs, you won’t find many pests. If you are still finding a lot of slugs, you might need to tidy up the garden a bit more.
December brings more gray days, but it is still possible to have lots of garden color in protected spots and in pots and baskets. If blue or purple flowers cheer you, then head for the pansies and violas. Violas in yellows and oranges make a wonderful contrast in sunny baskets.
Remember to stay off your garden soil when it is wet to avoid compacting it. If you expect to plant bare-root roses, fruit trees or vines this winter, try to get the planting holes dug before heavy rains begin. Lay plastic sheeting over the planting holes to prevent them from getting too wet to work.
Begin pruning your deciduous fruit, nut and shade trees now. Do not prune evergreen shrubs, roses or vines. Pruning evergreens stimulates new growth that could be vulnerable to a cold snap. Cover your compost pile when it rains so you do not drown your hard-working microbes. Bundle up and enjoy our Napa Valley winter. January’s to-do list will surely be shorter.
Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to visit their demonstration garden at Connolly Ranch on Thursday mornings, from 10:30 a.m. until noon, except the last Thursday of the month. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road at Thompson Avenue in Napa. Enter on Thompson Avenue.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
You can plant garlic anytime between October 15 and February 15, but the earlier you plant, the better. The bulbs will have longer to grow and will be larger.
Consider how much garlic you use in a month, then estimate how much you would like to grow. Garlic doesn’t take up much space in the garden and, when properly stored, keeps for months. So it is possible to grow an entire year’s supply.
There are two types of garlic. Softneck garlic is well-adapted to our mild winters, stores well, and is the type of garlic used for garlic braids. Hardneck garlic, also called “rocambole,” forms flower stems in the spring. Both types are interchangeable for cooking, although varieties differ in flavor, ease of peeling, and perishability.
It’s best to get garlic from a nursery that sells certified, disease-free bulbs. Garlic from the grocery store may have been treated to retard sprouting. Nurseries have the best selection beginning in August; by now, your choices will be more limited as the nurseries begin to sell out.
Prepare your garlic bed with two to four inches of well-aged compost or manure. Add a balanced fertilizer that contains phosphorus and potassium. Some of the organic granular fertilizers available in garden shops would do well. A day before planting, soak the bed so that it is thoroughly moist at least six inches deep. You won’t water again until the sprouts emerge.
Separate the heads of your seed garlic into individual cloves, setting aside the smaller cloves. Do not peel them. Plant the larger cloves blunt end down, about an inch below the soil surface and four to six inches apart in all directions. Each of these cloves will provide a head of mature garlic next year.
Once shoots emerge, water regularly until winter rains start. If we have a dry winter, as we did last year, you will need to continue watering if you want to harvest large bulbs. Do not keep the bed soggy, however. Panting garlic in a raised bed will help prevent the plants from rotting if we have a wet winter.
When plants begin growing rapidly in late winter and early spring, add a nitrogen-rich fertilizer. An easy way to fertilize is with a liquid preparation such as worm compost tea or fish emulsion.
Between May and late June, the tips of the garlic leaves will start to yellow. That’s your sign to stop watering. The softneck varieties will fall over. The garlic is ready to harvest when the leaves are more than half brown. Allow the ground to dry thoroughly before harvesting.
It is better to dig up the plants rather than pull them. Cure the whole plants for a couple of weeks in a warm, dry place away from direct sunlight. Then you can discard the leaves and store the roots in a cool, dry, airy place.
If gophers are a problem in your garden, be forewarned: they like garlic as much as everything else. If your beds are not lined with gopher-proof wire, you can plant garlic in wire baskets set into the ground or grow your garlic in pots. Excluding these pests is the most effective way of protecting your garlic crop.
Aphids can also be a problem, especially if you are growing onions, nasturtiums or artichokes nearby. Inspect plants regularly, and if you find aphids, spray them off daily with water or use an insecticidal soap spray twice a week.
If your garlic rots before it matures, you might be overwatering. Some fungal diseases also affect garlic, although I have not seen them in my east Napa garden. Dig out diseased bulbs and consider bringing them in for assessment to the Master Gardener Help Desk.
You have a long wait until next summer’s garlic harvest, but you can still enjoy home-grown garlic in the interim. Remember those small cloves that you set aside? Plant them close together in a separate area of the garden to harvest as green garlic throughout the winter. You can harvest the shoots anytime and use them like a mild, garlicky green onion. The leaves are high in vitamins A and C, and they will add a fresh, mild garlic taste to your meals all winter long.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will hold a workshop called “Design Your Own Edible Landscape” on Saturday, October 19, from 10 a.m. to noon, at Napa City-County Library, 580 Coombs Street, Napa. Learn how to integrate edible plants into your ornamental garden. Bring a detailed plan of your garden to work on with guidance from Master Gardeners. This is a free workshop but registration is required. Register here.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.