News & Information Outreach

Agriculture officials have expanded the areas quarantined for citrus greening disease (known as huanglongbing or HLB) in California. The quarantined area in the Corona area of Riverside County was expanded by 37 square miles. The San Juan Capistrano quarantined area of Orange County was expanded by 18 square…

Blog by Brenda Altman  When the temperature drops, you have to protect your temperature-sensitive plants. For myself, it’s my 4-year-old avocado tree.  To date, it has not flowered. I want it to survive another winter. Previously, I just put a plastic bag over it when the temperature was near…

 "Biologists have always been fascinated by strife and conflict, but cooperative exchanges, involving all species and networking large numbers of them into complex communities, are ubiquitous in the natural world. This talk will describe our current understanding of mutualism as well as the questions…

The Spring 2026 Series of Master Gardener Workshops begins Tuesday, February 3 with a timely session on starting summer vegetable plants from seed and concludes in mid-May with a workshop on creating a bird-friendly garden of native plants. In all, this Spring 2026 Series totals 17 workshops, including seven…

Blog and photos by Nanelle Jones-SullivanI live on a clay slope and rely heavily on containers for my edible gardening. Shallots are cool-season vegetables and meet my criteria for being easier/cheaper/ or more interesting to grow than buy. Shallots share with their allium cousins a preference for…

 Want to help with migratory monarch research? Entomologist David James, an associate professor at Washington State University (my alma mater), has launched an "E-tag" funding project to determine where monarchs from Idaho migrate--do they head for the California coast to overwinter or to Mexico?…

The University of California Office of the President invites comments on a proposed Presidential Policy on Anatomical Donation Programs and Anatomical Materials. The policy is proposed to be revised and includes the following key issues: Specifying California State Universities and Community Colleges in…

Blog by Patti Brantley  A new year in gardening doesn’t start with perfect soil or full beds; it starts with curiosity. Maybe you’re imagining your first harvest (even if it’s just one tomato or zucchini), wondering if this is finally the year you remember to water regularly, or flipping through…

Happy New Year all!Be sure to save the date for our Annual UCCE Strawberry Production Research meeting to be held at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville.  As always, just a super line up of speakers on a range of topics sure to interest anyone involved in the strawberry endeavor in…

 The 2026 "Beer-for-a-Butterfly" contest, aka "Suds for a Bug," is still underway. No one has come forth.UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Art Shapiro, who has sponsored the contest since 1972, will trade your live cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, for a pitcher of beer, or its equivalent…

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC)'s January 7, 2026 notice builds on its December 22, 2025 Covered List update for foreign-made drones and “critical components,” but it creates two temporary exemptions through December 31, 2026. Drones and components on the DCMA Blue UAS list and those meeting the…

2026 Rice Winter Grower Meetings CE Credits: 2 DPR (0.5 L&R, 0.5 Aerial, 1 Other) & CCA Pending Wednesday, Jan 21Richvale: 8:00 AM @ Evangelical Church (5219 Church St)Willows: 1:00 PM @ Willows Memorial Hall (525 W Sycamore St)Thursday, Jan 22Colusa: 8:00 AM @ CIP Conference…

Don’t miss the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists Annual Conference, February 5–6 in Modesto, CA. Join IPM professionals, researchers, and pest control advisors for two days of engaging presentations and discussions focused on today’s most pressing pest management challenges. The program features…

Blog by Loralei Dewe To refresh you on the subject, here are some of the important points I found:1) Plant trees of the same species. In other words, citrus with other citrus, stone fruit with other stone fruit, etc. 2) If you are doing a backyard orchard and not a commercial orchard, you don't…

You might be surprised to learn that a few of your favorite ornamental plants are invasive to California and can “escape” your yard causing big problems in the wild. When plants escape landscape and garden boundaries, it is often due to seed distribution or aggressive roots. An invasive plant species can…

Ante los desafíos que han enfrentado los sistemas alimentarios en los últimos años, especialistas de la Universidad de California están desarrollando herramientas innovadoras para fortalecer la salud animal y proteger la seguridad de los alimentos. El jueves 15 de enero, el Centro Regional de Negocios…

By Cindy Watter, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.Last year I was fired up with the urge to clean out my junk shed and turn it into my tool shed. I marched to the southwest corner of my yard and promptly fell, thigh deep, into a hole that opened beneath me. It didn’t take me long to realize what had…