Safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving
Orange County 4-H members make biofuel
The Orange County Register posted a video yesterday of local 4-H students making biofuel as part of the program's National Science Experiment, the 2009 Biofuel Blast.Ten Trabuco Trailblazers experimented with baking soda and rubbing alcohol, yeast, brown sugar, corn syrup and dried leaves to fill green 4-H balloons with ethanol. The youth are part of Orange County's largest 4-H club, which is 160 members strong, according to the Register.
The national science experiment is conducted each year during 4-H week to generate 4-H youth's interest in pursuing an education and career in science. In the Register's one-minute, 42-second video, bright and earnest 4-H members, like hundreds of thousands of others across the nation, learned about alternatives to fossil fuels by creating it themselves.
"Today, people use about 2 percent more energy than they did the year before," said one 4-H member leading the experiment. "How can we conserve our natural resources?"
biofuelblast
4-H kids learn about bio-fuel
Around the country and around California 4-H youth learned about bio-fuel by conducting a national science experiment yesterday. The 4-H members learned how cellulose and sugars in plants such as switchgrass, sorghum corn and algae can be converted into fuel. Oct. 7 was 4-H Youth Science Day, but some California 4-H clubs and groups will conduct the experiment at their next meeting, according to the ANR news release.
The National 4-H organization used the science experiment announcement to also share information from a recent Tufts University study on the impact of 4-H involvement on youth.
The study determined that, compared to other youth, young people involved in 4-H are:- Nearly two times more likely to get better grades in school;
- Nearly two times more likely to plan to go to college;
- 41 percent less likely to engage in risky behaviors; and
- 25 percent more likely to positively contribute to their families and communities.
Overall, the study found that the advantages of 4-H participation include higher educational achievement and higher motivation for future education, the news release said. In addition, youth in 4-H are more civically active and make more community and civic contributions than youth in other out-of-school activities.
4-H stands for head, heart, hands and health.
UC academics raise Asian citrus psyllid awareness
Be prepared with a plan, warns UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Craig Kallsen, for the very real possibility of an Asian Citrus Psyllid quarantine area in Kern County, according to an article he authored that was published in Western Farm Press yesterday.If the pest appears in the San Joaquin Valley's southernmost county, farmers will face a distinct challenge. Most of the citrus fruit harvested in Kern County is shipped to other counties for packing. If the county were to be quarantined, farmers would have to make sure the fruit has been processed and cleaned well enough to eliminate all plant parts - including leaves, stems and debris - and all life stages of the Asian citrus psyllid before shipping to packing houses.
"(The fact) that much of Kern County’s fruit is packed outside the county may make compliance with quarantine regulations potentially more difficult for many growers and packers that produce fruit in Kern County," Kallsen wrote.
Meanwhile, an article by freelance writer Dan Bryant, published earlier this week in Western Farm Press, outlined how the citrus industry is gearing up for Huanglongbing, the devastating citrus disease that can be spread by Asian citrus psyllid (to date, the disease has not appeared in California.)
The story included advice from UC Riverside citrus entomologist Beth Grafton-Cardwell. She told the reporter the telltale, early signs of Huanglongbing are yellowing of newly-flushed citrus foliage.
If Huanglongbing arrives in California, it could be distributed rapidly by the Asian citrus psyllid through backyard plants before moving on to commercial citrus. In that case, nurseries will have to place nursery stock in screen houses to keep it from the Asian citrus psyllid. Some, she said, have already prepared structures.
Immature Asian citrus psyllids.
Ain't that tuff enuff?
How can California residents reduce the use of water, pesticides and fertilizers in their landscapes? By growing plants that are tough enough. Identifying those plants is the goal of a joint effort by the UC Davis Arboretum, UC Cooperative Extension and the California Center for Urban Agriculture.A recent article in the Redding Record-Searchlight said the program is an offshoot the UC Davis Arboretum All-stars program, in which standout plants at the arboretum are promoted to home gardeners. Five years ago, arboretum officials decided to extend their program across California.
"Our hope is that all California gardens slowly transition to more eco-friendly gardens using less water and fewer chemicals - if any chemicals at all," the article quoted Karrie Reid, UC Davis Arboretum trials manager.
To see how the plants do in California's diversity of climates, Reid called in the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners, who provide garden education programs in 52 California counties. Arboretum All-Stars are now being field tests in 13 trial gardens from Redding in the north to San Diego in the south.
Master Gardeners apply no pesticides or fertilizers, and monitor and rate the plants on a scale from one to five each month. Eventually, those that are deemed tough enough will be marketed with the "Arboretum All-Stars" label.
Blossoming ceanothus and fremontodendron at the UC Davis Arboretum.
Bay Area newspaper features giant watermelons
The San Francisco Chronicle devoted space in the Sunday paper for a story about gigantic watermelons cultivated by a Santa Clara County UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener.Master Gardener Mike Kent sent away for giant watermelon seeds and tended a patch at the program's two-acre research garden, "Nine Palms Ranch." The result was five supersized watermelons including a 103.2-pound behemoth that was carved up and shared at a September tasting and open house.
According to the story, written for the Chron by Master Gardener Laramie Treviño, UCCE farm advisor Aziz Baameur was on hand for the watermelon tasting. He said the monstrous melon was surprisingly sweet, and while it is a curiosity, the size isn't practical for most consumers. In fact, watermelon breeding programs are focused on smaller, rather than larger, fruit.
"Most people don't want 40-50-pound watermelons - they'll hurt their backs trying to put them in their cars," Baameur was quoted. "If you have a small yard, that is all you're going to grow."
The newest trend is seedless "personal" watermelons, about the size of a cantaloupe. They are easy to carry and fit comfortably in the refrigerator. Many varieties of personal watermelons have been found by UCCE advisors to have very thin rind and bright red, crispy and intensely sweet flesh.
Small-sized watermelons are more popular than monstrosities.