- Author: Chris M. Webb
The national Cooperative Extension System has an incredibly informative and interesting website. From their site:
“eXtension is an interactive learning environment delivering the best, most researched knowledge from the smartest land-grant university minds across America. eXtension connects knowledge consumers with knowledge providers – experts who know their subject matter inside out.”
Current resource areas are broken down in the following way:
- Alerts
- Community -- including planning, zoning, geospatial technology
- Disaster Issues -- including agrisecurity, floods, wildfire
- Energy -- including farm, home and wood energy
- Family -- including food safety, parenting, personal finance
- Farm -- including bee healthy, dairy, organic agriculture
- Pest management -- including pest management in and around structures, wildlife damage management
- Youth – science, engineering and technology for youth
In addition to a wide assortment of articles, an Ask the Experts section is also available for people to ask questions. Some of the resources are also available in Spanish.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
On September 1 from 7:30 am – 12:30 pm, Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor Oleg Daugovish will hold the 9th annual strawberry production meeting in Ventura County.
The meeting will be presented in English with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish. There is no cost to attend. Scheduled topics include:
- Strawberry varieties and production
- Plant collapse
- Biology and management
- Results from 2009-2010 field trials
- Strawberry establishment with drip irrigation
- Regulatory update
- Weed control
- Fungicide evaluations
- Lygus bug, vinegar fly and mite control
Lunch will be provided. Details can be found here. To register, request special arrangements, or to ask questions please contact Oleg by email or by phone at (805) 645-1454 by August 20.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Aquatic gardening can provide additional beauty and tranquility to outdoor space. Many beautiful plants are readily available to add to backyard ponds. It is important, however, to avoid planting invasive species.
If invasive aquatic plants escape or are dumped into local waterways, including storm drains, serious ecological and economic harm may be caused. Without containment, they may travel for many miles and have a significant impact on waterways by:
- Growing in dense stands along the shore or thick mats in open water
- Crowding out native plants
- Reducing light and oxygen levels underwater, killing fish and other aquatic life
- Clogging intake valves of irrigation systems and power plants
- Reducing access to waterways for recreational and commercial boats
- Using more water than native plants, reducing water available for other uses.
To find out which plants to avoid and other important information, please see UC’s Aquatic Gardens, Not Aquatic Pests: How to Practice Responsible Water Gardening. This information is available in Spanish and Chinese.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
As mentioned on a recent post, the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) division has been working to better serve the people of California -- with fewer resources.
The purpose of UC ANR is to create, develop and apply knowledge in agricultural, natural and human resources. Recent efforts have focused on improving electronic sources of information sharing.
The UC ANR website has been split, separating our internal information from public outreach messages. This makes the public site much easier to navigate and more enjoyable to read.
In addition to general information and contact information for offices throughout the state, site visitors will also find:
- featured articles about UC ANR work
- calendar of upcoming UC ANR events state-wide
- UC ANR research headlines
- featured UC ANR web site
- UC ANR Servicio de información en Español
- and more.
To visit this great resource, please follow this link.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
UC ANR has a free publication titled, The Healthy Brown Bag: 15 Lunches for School-Aged Children. Plus it includes some after-school or weekend snacks that kids can make for themselves. This resource is also available in Spanish.
The lunches are designed to provide good nutrition without excess calories. There is a nice assortment of ideas to encourage consumption of a variety of foods. While aimed at children, the suggestions could be easily used by adults.
![iStock 000009501674Medium iStock 000009501674Medium](http://ucanr.org/blogs/venturacountyucce/blogfiles/3833.jpg)