Test PB Collection: FTE

When Master Gardener Barbara Vartan learned a historical two-story home on Carmen Street in Fresno was part of the 2024 Spring Garden Tour, she knew where she wanted to volunteer. The 102-year-old home in the heart of the Wilson Historical Tract was the backdrop for her idyllic post-war childhood.

Last week, I had a chance to visit research cooperators in Chile and tour some of their processing tomato fields with serious infestations of the parasitic weed, branched broomrape and it was really eye opening for me.

Troubled by puny plants, low yields and persistent mite problems, third-generation Southern California strawberry grower Glen Hasegawa was ready to give up on his transition from conventional to organic 12 years ago.

A couple summers ago, some of my tomatoes produced little or nothing. At the end of the season, I discovered evidence of root-knot nematodes (RKN): galls on the roots that impair the plant's ability to take up water and nutrients.

By Robin Moore If you havent heard, the Great Tomato Plant Sale will have sales in all three county areas for the first time since the COVID-19 lockdown! East County is ready to rock and roll in 2024 after a total garden redo! What does this mean to you?

By Liz Rottger When did UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa hold its first tomato sale? That depends on how you define first. In 2010, CoCoMGs took over a small, neglected vegetable garden next to the Contra Costa Times building on Shadelands in Walnut Creek.

Article & Photos By Terri Takusagawa, Continuing Education Project Lead Spring is in the air, and its a great time to work on Continuing Education requirements for the fiscal year.

By Laura Brainin-Rodriguez We have an exciting Ask a Master Gardener season coming up! AAMG is unique in that we reach Contra Costa County residents as they go about their lives at Farmers Markets, Our Garden, and single-day events throughout the county. Our usual season runs from April to October.

By Jan Manns The Family Garden Bed at Our Garden Walnut Creek was initiated six years ago when UC Master Gardeners Monika Witte and Janet Miller proposed dedicating one of the 30 garden plots as a tangible example of what a family can accomplish in their own backyard. The idea mushroomed.

By Sara Hoyer The Help Desk recently received the following questions from a local gardener about mystery mushrooms in their gardens.