Ongoing research

When I was in the 6th grade, we were given an assignment to read books from several different topics (i.e. history, famous people, a classic) and write a book report on each. Being a voracious reader since pre-school, I quickly went through all the assigned topics but one. . .science.

By Cindy Watter, UC Master Gardener of Napa County For me, the great question at the plant nursery these days is whether to buy the little plant or the big one. The small Hot Lips' salvias I bought two years ago are fat and fluffy and covered with flowers today.

A feature story spotlighting former UC Davis entomology senior, Rebecca Jean "RJ" Millena, received the gold award or first place, in an international writing competition sponsored by the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE).

Talk about a quail of a time.... When the ootheca of a praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, hatched April 9 on a clothespin clamped to our clothesline in our yard, all the nymphs scattered. Some crawled up a metallic quail sculpture, the highest structure on the clothesline.

Jared Ali, an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University, will speak on "Chemical Ecology of Plant Defense and Multi-Trophic Interactions: Bad Bugs, Pungent Parasites and Toxic Travelers" at the next seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology an Nematology.

There's a map on the back of your seed packet. Colored zones of the contiguous forty-eight states are highlighted. On the side the colors are identified as when to plant your seeds. Climate change has disrupted that map. Areas that were cooler in the spring are now getting warmer.

By Yvonne Rasmussen, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Did you know you can grow lettuce year-round? Generally, lettuce is considered a cool-season crop but some varieties are adapted to warmer weather. With a few tricks, you can keep them cool for year-round harvesting.

Dear members of the Monterey County 4-H Leaders Council, On Tuesday, April 19th the 4-H Leaders Council will hold its monthly meeting at 7pm. The meeting will be held at 1432 Abbott St, Salinas. All 4-H families are invited to attend and take part in the councils discussion and planning.

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources recently held a nutrition Facebook Live webinar on how to find healthy food options that fit your lifestyle.

Below are the answers to our 2022 virtual Easter Egg hunt! How did you do? Brown widow spiders, a relative of black widow spiders, have egg sacs which are cream colored and spikey, compared to western black widow egg cases which are smooth.