Garden Articles
Little Things in the Garden
By Nancy Bliss
This time of year, spring is teasing me! Too early to plant seeds for summer gardens, the weather is back and forth with rain, frost, and clouds. It’s a time of waiting, anticipation, and impatience!
Time to wander the gardens and yard looking for little things, little promises, taking the time to peek, breathe and notice. Gardening is like that. You plant seeds in a windowsill and watch daily for little green sprouts (even though the seed packet tells you how long before germination, you check anyway), knowing that this tiny seed will bring so much joy later on— summer tomatoes or flowers. I wander outside looking for the shoots of bulbs I planted in the fall, or those that return year after year.
Daniel Boone Cap and Woolly Caterpillars
By Julie Silva
Long ago when humans hunted and gathered, we knew the signs provided by Mother Nature. Squirrels and woolly caterpillars predicted that winter would be neck deep in snow or that spring was on its way. Being in harmony with woolly caterpillars could save your life.
There is still a clear picture of the timing of spring. If you lost your place on the calendar or lost your cell phone, Mother Nature provides a meteorologist view of coming weather changes How? We can find the clear trail of spring by looking around.
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Master Gardeners Again Collect Polystyrene
by Rebecca Miller-Cripps
Mark your calendars; for one day only, master gardeners will again collect #6 polystyrene foam on Saturday, March 23 from 9 am to 4 pm. Drop off your clean, label-and-tape-removed polystyrene on Microtronics Way next to the Waste Management, Inc. site just off Camage Avenue in the Tuolumne Road industrial park. Take Tuolumne Road and follow the signs.
As in prior collections, the recycler will accept only CLEAN FOOD CONTAINERS which we ask you to put into CLEAR plastic bags. Packing grade polystyrene (used for shipping and wrapping items such as electronics) may be put into colored plastic bags. All you have to do is load the material in your car or truck, drive on by, and Master Gardeners will help you unload.
How can you participate?
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Propagating Grapes
by Jim Bliss
Winter is the time to prune vineyards and prepare grapes for the upcoming growing season. With just a little preparation, the canes you prune off are also the source of future goodness and new vines.
The vineyard we planted in the central valley started on a cold winter day in a friend’s vineyard after the pruning was done and before the canes were rototilled to decompose. (Make sure you have permission to make your cuttings; the owner may have other plans. I found out later my friend usually leased that particular vineyard to a nearby nursery to make commercial cuttings, a friend indeed!)
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