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Article

Tips for Watering in Hot Weather

June 23, 2025

By Help Desk Team

We just passed the Summer Solstice, and with the longest day comes warmer weather. As things heat up, here are some tips for supporting your plants during the summer heat waves, while saving water.Mulch, mulch, mulch. Whether you use bark, shredded leaves, or wood chips, a thick layer of mulch will help the…

Article

Proposed Major Amendments to the California Dry Bean Research and Marketing Program

June 23, 2025

By Michelle M Leinfelder-Miles

Grower and handler votes are requested by July 2 for proposed amendments to the CA Dry Bean Research and Marketing Program.

Tumbleweeds piled up against the front of a home.

Article

Tumbleweeds Invading?

June 23, 2025

By Belinda Messenger-Sikes

Tumbleweeds rolling across the landscape may make you think of classic old Western movies, but tumbleweeds, or Russian thistle, is more common today than you might think. This invasive plant can grow anywhere the soil is disturbed and once it matures, it breaks off its stem and the dried plant blows across…

Article

‘Don Santos’ leaves legacy of healthy habits in Contra Costa County

June 23, 2025

By Pamela S Kan-Rice

UC EFNEP educator Santos Lopez has helped people improve their eating and physical activity habits by delivering bilingual nutrition lessons to families in Contra Costa County. He is retiring after serving the community for 17 years.

Article

Table Olive Yields Benefit from a New Approach to the Age-old Practice of Pruning

June 23, 2025

By Elizabeth J Fichtner

Table Olive Yields Benefit from a New Approach to the Age-old Practice of PruningElizabeth Fichtner, UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare and Kings Counties, and Carol J. Lovatt, Professor of Plant Physiology, Emeritus, Dept. of Botany and Plant Sciences, UC RiversidePruning is essential for sustaining orchard…

Olive Nitrogen Blog Pic

Article

UC Davis updates nitrogen removal coefficients for table olive

June 23, 2025

By Elizabeth J Fichtner, Daniel J Geisseler

UC Davis updates nitrogen removal coefficients for table oliveElizabeth Fichtner, Farm Advisor, UCCE Tulare County and Daniel Geisseler, CE Specialist, UC Davis UC Davis researchers have partnered with local UCCE…

Article

Wilson Flock of Cluckers-Keeping Chickens Cool During Summer Heat

June 23, 2025

Blog by Peter WilsonJuly of 2013, at a family reunion on Kawaii Island of Hawaii, I fell in love with the Momma Hen and her 13-baby chicks. It didn’t take long for me to decide to get chicks after returning home to Vallejo. It was early August; I ordered a few chicks to the Wilson Villa and Garden. That…

Crucial academic research could sunset. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Academic Research in Jeopardy

June 20, 2025

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you're concerned about the loss of academic research in our universities--why it matters and what you can do--you'll want to register for this UC Davis-based webinar. Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman, a Distinguished Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Molecular and Cell Biology--and…

Article

Variety and neighboring crops are predictors of leaffooted bug risk in almond

June 20, 2025

By Elizabeth J Fichtner, David R Haviland

Variety and neighboring crops are predictors of leaffooted bug risk in almondElizabeth Fichtner, UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County and David Haviland, UCCE Entomology Advisor, Kern CountyLeaffooted bug is a sporadic pest in almond, but damage can be significant in years when pest pressure is high. The pest…

Article

Totally Tomatoes, a Seed Saving Workshop on July 26, 2025

June 20, 2025

If you've ever wanted to learn how to save seeds, this class is for you! Discover the secrets of saving tomato seeds, including the difference between hybrids and heirlooms and which are best to save. We'll walk you through the seed-saving process step by step. During the hands-on portion, you'll…

Volunteers at the goldspotted oak borer blitz gather around an oak tree.

Article

Invasive beetles are killing oak trees; UC ANR community scientists are fighting back

June 20, 2025

By Caroline D Champlin

The invasive goldspotted oak borer first struck San Diego County woodlands over a decade ago, and the damage over successive years left “boneyards” behind. That’s how Jan Gonzales describes the dead trees removed after suffering an infestation of the tiny beetles — just piles of chopped wood…

Article

Moon Meadow

June 19, 2025

Moonscape, moon flower, moon gate, moon garden. All of these I have seen, but moon meadow? New to me! A moon meadow is a green space filled with plants that receive moonlight exposure and attract night-time pollinators like moths, bats and nocturnal bees. (Did you know there are bees that work at night…

A monarch flutters over Mexican sunflowers, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatle Garvey)

Article

Where Are All the Monarchs?

June 18, 2025

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Where are all the monarchs?Last year at this time, we recorded monarchs arriving here in Vacaville, Solano County, to lay their eggs on our milkweed. So far this year: zero, zip, zilch. Let's throw in a little nada, too, for good measure. Zero, zip, zilch, nada.Earlier this year, the…

Article

Sad news about Ken Tate

June 18, 2025

Vice President Glenda Humiston informs the UC ANR community that longtime colleague Ken Tate, a professor and Cooperative Extension specialist in rangeland science in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, has passed away unexpectedly.

Variety of fruits, vegetables and grains displayed on a table

Article

Nutrition in the News

June 18, 2025

By Kitty Oppliger

Measles and Vitamin ANews headlines have followed the alarming rise in cases of the highly contagious Measles virus across the US. Measles was nearly eradicated in the US in the early 1990s thanks to the childhood Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine, but surges in 2014, 2019 and now 2025 indicate a…

Bee flying towards tree blossoms

Article

Growing More Food with Pollinator Power: A National Pollinator Week Special

June 18, 2025

By Barbra Braaten, Lauren L Snowden

As food prices continue to rise, many of us are turning to our backyards or patios to grow fresh vegetables. But did you know that planting vegetables alone might not be enough? To get the most from your garden, you need pollinators – those busy bees, butterflies, and other creatures that help your plants…

Bakanae field

Article

Bakanae still showing up after bleach treatment

June 18, 2025

By Luis A Espino

In the past few years there has been a steady increase in the incidence of bakanae in the field. Fortunately, the levels of infection we have seen have not resulted in yield reductions. However, talking to those that worked on developing the bleach treatment after bakanae was identified in California, there…

Morrison’s Bumble bee in a Chico garden. Michelle Graydon

Article

National Pollinator Week

June 17, 2025

In 2007, the United States Senate unanimously approved a resolution designating a week in June as "National Pollinator Week" (this year it is June 23-29, 2025). In response to the alarm raised by an annual increase in commercial honey bee deaths in the US, the government and researchers began addressing the…

[PODCAST] Palm Trees

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[PODCAST] Palm Trees

June 17, 2025

How can you determine that a movie is set in Southern California? Just look at all the signature Southern California trees – the (mostly) NON-CALIFORNIA NATIVE Palms! This week on In the Garden with UC Master Gardeners, UC Master Gardener Kris Bonner talks to Don Hodel, environmental horticulturist …

Article

Gardening for Mental Health

June 17, 2025

Blog by Melinda NestlerodeWe are living in challenging times. Our nation is polarized politically, civil discourse appears to be a quaint memory, the Middle East is embroiled in multiple catastrophic battles, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is ongoing, anonymous people on the Internet spew unverified vitriol,…

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