- Author: Chris M. Webb
One of the most common walk-in questions we receive in the UCCE office is weed identification. Did you know that our website has a fantastic page for weed and invasive plant id? It can be found here.
Part of what makes this such a great resource is the variety of ways to search. You can search by plant names in alphabetical order – both by scientific name and common name. In addition you can flip through photos and find the name of the plant. The flip through section is separated into broad leaf varieties and grasses, sedges, and alliums varieties.
Regardless of how you find them, the photos show several shots of each plant. As often as possible, pictures at different life stages are provided.
After identifying your weed, further information is available with a click of the mouse!
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- Author: Chris M. Webb
Ventura County UCCE Staff Research Associate Maren Mochizuki shares with us more information about yellow nutsedge, and what is being done to help minimize the problems it causes to local growers.
Managing yellow nutsedge costs local growers many thousands of dollars per year (see previous blog posting on yellow nutsedge for more information). Nutsedge is sharp enough to poke through plastic mulch installed on strawberry and vegetable beds. Once a shoot germinates through plastic, it can produce underground storage structures for reproduction (tubers) so that even if the shoot is removed, many tubers remain to sprout into new plants.
Nutsedge through plastic
To block shoot germination and prevent the production of more tubers, we (Oleg Daugovish, Ventura County UCCE Farm Advisor and Maren Mochizuki, Ventura County UCCE Staff Research Associate, in collaboration with Reiter Affiliated Companies) installed mechanical barriers underneath the plastic mulch of strawberry beds, including Tyvek homewrap, landscape weed barrier mat, and a layer of recycled paper roll between two layers of plastic.
All of these barriers prevented germination of yellow nutsedge in commercial strawberry fields compared to control beds with no barriers, but the plastic/paper/plastic treatment has the lowest cost per acre. Minimizing production of yellow nutsedge tubers reduces weed-crop competition and costly hand-weeding, improving the grower’s bottom line.
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- Author: Chris M. Webb
Today our Staff Research Associate, Maren Mochizuki, will share with us a glimpse inside a recent day as our office works to better understand the growth patterns of the yellow nutsedge.
Yellow nutsedge is a difficult weed to control because the plant produces new shoots via underground stems called tubers (similar to a potato); a few plants can turn quickly into an infestation! Costly and labor-intensive hand weeding has been the only means of management because current herbicides are not effective.
Strawberry bed with yellow nutsedge
To understand the underground growth of this weed, we (Oleg Daugovish, Ventura County UCCE Farm Advisor; Emmanuel Gonzalez, Ventura County UCCE Lab Assistant; and Maren Mochizuki, Ventura County UCCE Staff Research Associate) sliced a cross section of an infested strawberry bed. We were hoping to answer the following questions: How deep are the tubers? About how many tubers are produced from each shoot?
After cutting the cross section and pushing it onto a bed of nails to hold it, we were able to lift it onto the truck tailgate and drive it to a water source to wash a few cubic feet of soil from the nutsedge underground stem/root system. We were surprised to find that the tubers were not as deep as we expected (no deeper than 8 inches) and we counted several hundred tubers from our cross section, or about 3 per plant.
Yellow nutsedge tubers
The research team has another multi-year study using mechanical barriers such as layering plastic mulch, then paper, and another layer of plastic prevents germination of yellow nutsedge in strawberry beds as they continue to develop ways to handle this problematic weed. The mechanical barrier study will be featured in tomorrow’s blog posting.
/span>- Author: Chris M. Webb
The Pollinator Partnership, which includes the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, the National Gardening Association and the USDA has put together a great online curriculum titled Nature’s Partners: Pollinators, Plants, and You. The curriculum can be found at http://www.pollinator.org/curriculum/index.php.
The education materials are designed for children in grades 3-6; however, I imagine most of us can learn a great deal from the website. The background information contained in each module is written for educators. Adults interested in learning about pollinators themselves will find a wealth of knowledge for the taking!
In addition to the great educational information, the site has fabulous photos, instructions for a wide variety of activities, ideas for community service projects, links for further information, and much more.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Agritourism has been gaining momentum as a way to increase revenue on farms and ranches. It is anticipated that agritourism will continue to grow as people continue to search for ways to connect with nature and learn more about our food systems.
The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Division (UC ANR) has some great resources to help navigate the process – and two of the three are free!
Read below for a description of the free publications:
Agritourism can be a great boon to the California grower, but you have to be aware of your legal responsibilities, get your permits, and follow the rules regarding land use, zoning, public health, and other areas. This gives you a brief overview. (8 pages)
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/FreePublications/8333.aspx
This publication gives you a game plan for navigating the maze of permits, plans, and approvals you will need to get in order before you launch a potentially profitable agritourism enterprise on your California farm or ranch. (6 pages)
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/FreePublications/8334.aspx
If after reviewing the free publications you are interested in finding out more, UC ANR has a priced publication, Agritourism and Nature Tourism in California, which provides more in depth information.
The chapters include:
- Evaluating Your Resources: Is Tourism for You?
- Creating Your Business Plan
- Navigating Legal Constraints
- Developing Your Risk-Management Plan
- Forming Your Marketing Strategy
- Resources for Success
- Planning Farm Visits for Children
To find out more about the book, please visit http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/SmallFarms/3484.aspx. By clicking on the “search in this book link”, provided by Google, you can get a feel if the publication is right for you and your operation before purchasing. The book can also be viewed and studied for free at your local University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) office. To be safe, call first and make sure it is available before driving to the office.
If you decide to purchase this great resource, purchase online and save 10%. Use promotion code PRVEN56 at check out to receive the discount. In addition to saving you money, a portion of the proceeds will benefit local programs!