Posts Tagged: contamination
Raspberry Tunnel Mangement Workshop
Stormwater and Sediment Management in Plasticulture Tunnels
13 June, Wednesday 8:30 AM-NOON
At UC Hansen Agricultural Center at Santa Paula
(from hwy 126 exit Briggs, the entrance gate is ~1000 ft on the left on Briggs road)
8:30 Registration, (interpretation into Spanish provided for the program).
9:00 Update on Agricultural Conditional Waiver and nutrient management requirements
9:20 Establishment of Best Management Practices (BMPs) in post rows in raspberry plasticulture tunnels
9:30 Effect of BMPs on nitrogen
9:50 Effect of BMPS on phosphorus, turbidity of runoff and sediment movement
10:10 Effect of BMPs on weeds
10:20 Costs of the tested BMPs
10:30 Look at treatments, demo of Polyacrylamide, questions and survey
11:00 Lunch
• VCAILG (Ventura County Ag Irrigated land) credits have been requested from RWQCB.
If you require special arrangements, translation into Spanish or have further questions, please contact Oleg Daugovish at UCCE –Ventura: (805) 645-1454 or odaugovish@ucdavis.edu
El Manejo de Aguas Pluviales y Sedimentos en los Túneles de Plasticultura
13 de Junio, Miércoles de 8:30 al Mediodía
En el UC Hansen Agricultural Center de Santa Paula
(de la 126 se toma la salida Briggs, la puerta de entrada queda a 1000 pies a la izquierda en la Briggs road)
8:30 Registración, (interpretación en español disponible) .
9:00 Actualización de la Exención Condicional Agrícola y los requisitos para el manejo de
nutrientes
9:20 Establecimiento de Mejores Prácticas de Gestión (BMP) en las filas con postes en los túneles de plasticultura de la frambuesa
9:30 Efecto de estas prácticas (BMP) sobre el nitrógeno
9:50 Efecto de estas prácticas (BMP) sobre el fósforo, turbidez de la escorrentía y
movimiento de los sedimentos.
10:10 El efecto de estas prácticas (BMP) sobre la maleza.
10:20 Costos de estas prácticas que ya se han experimentado
10:30 Vistazo a los tratamientos, demostración de la poliacrilamida, preguntas y encuesta
11:00 Lonche
• Se han solicitado créditos VCAILG al RWQCB.
Si usted requiere arreglos especiales, traducción al español o tiene otras preguntas, favor de comunicarse con Oleg Daugovish a UCCE –Ventura: (805) 645-1454 o odaugovish@ucdavis.edu
tunnel workshop
Bruce Hammock Lab, Zagazig University Collaborating on Food Quality Grant
The Bruce Hammock lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, in collaboration with...
The Bruce Hammock lab "frontier" is collaborating with Egyptian university, Zagazig, on a three-year $190,000 grant to screen for pesticide contamination in foods in Egypt. Pictured: Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor of entomology, with postdoctoral scientist Natalia Vasylieva, who leads the Hammock lab immunoassay group. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Raccoon Latrines and (Some) Veggie Gardens NOT
Help and Advice from the Contra Costa Master Gardeners' Help Desk
Client's Question:
CCMG's Help Desk Response:
Thank you for contacting the Master Gardener Help Desk. Raccoons can certainly be a big problem in our gardens and yards. I'm sure that getting them out of your yard was very difficult.
You are correct that raccoons carry a parasite that can infect people and pets. This roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) is quite resistant to many of the usual controls and will live for many years in your soil, so it's wise to consider their latrine areas as contaminated.
The good news is that plants cannot become "infected" by the parasite--the almost invisible eggs can't be absorbed or otherwise enter plants. They can only contaminate the parts of the plant in direct contact with the soil. Because of this, I would avoid planting any kind of root crops (carrots, radishes, potatoes, etc.) in that area, unless you do so in a raised bed filled with soil you bring from another area. I might also avoid leafy green vegetables, especially those eaten raw (lettuce) because they are so close to the soil. Other crops such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants (and the plum tree) would be fine to grow there, though.
All soil, even areas away from a raccoon latrine, could potentially be contaminated with a variety of parasites and microorganisms, so you should always wash garden produce before you eat it, and wash your hands with soap and water after working in a garden, even if you wear gloves. This advice is especially true for young children.
Here is a link to information about raccoons in the garden from the University of California: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74116.html.
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/discond/Documents/RaccoonRoundworms.pdf
Please let us know if you have additional questions. Happy gardening…. Hopefully without raccoons!
Contra Costa Master Gardeners' Help Desk
Note: The Contra Costa Master Gardener Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/
/span>/div>How to Test Compost for Herbicide Contamination
To all the lovely people,
If you are one of the gardeners that buy your compost from outside sources this article from Organic Gardening will be of interest. If you are buying your compost ask for an analysis report.
Please write with any gardening (how to, worms and vermi culture, compost) questions. Yes, we have compost tea (ACT) for sale.
Paul
How to Test Compost for
Herbicide Contamination
Many communities provide free yard-waste compost to gardeners. Other gardeners make their own compost from manure and straw. But the use on lawns and pastures of persistent herbicides—weed killers that remain active even after going through a composting process—means the compost could contain chemicals harmful to plants.
That's what happened in the garden of Jeana Myers, Ph.D., and Will Hooker. Myers noticed a problem in summer 2012 after unknowingly using compost that was contaminated with weed-killer residue.
"I am not sure what herbicide was in our compost, but it was likely in the pyridine carboxylic acid group, which includes picloram, clopyralid, and aminopyralid as three of the more persistent compounds," says Myers. "We don't know if it came in on the bales of straw we purchased, on the horse manure, or both."
The herbicide residue affected plants in different ways. Pole-bean plants (shown at right) stayed small and bushy and failed to fruit. Tomatoes grew long and leggy with leaves that were cupped, twisted, and thickened. "Once you are familiar with the distorted look of the leaves, you can pick it out anywhere," Myers says.
Herbicides applied to lawns to control broadleaf weeds can be a source of contamination if the grass clippings are added to a compost pile or used as mulch. Even the composted manure of animals pastured on grasses treated with certain classes of persistent herbicides can harm plants. To avoid the contamination risk from compost of unknown composition, Myers suggests a simple bioassay test devised by Washington State University that can be done at home before adding the compost to your garden.
1. Fill three 3-inch pots with potting soil. Fill three more pots with a mixture of two parts compost and one part potting soil. Mark the pots.
2. Plant three pea or bean seeds per pot and keep them watered. Capture any water that drains from the pots so it doesn't contaminate soil in other pots.
3. Put the pots in a sunny, warm place. Once the seedlings have three sets of leaves, compare the plants growing in the compost mix with the control group in potting soil. Unusual cupping, thickening, or distortion of leaves signals the possibility of herbicide contamination in the compost.
"The levels damaging to plants only need to be parts per billion," Myers says. "The bioassay is a good idea even when you are buying a professional mix."
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compost
Latinos, Asians more concerned about the environment than whites
California's Latino and Asian voters are significantly more concerned about core environmental issues, including global warming, air pollution and contamination of soil and water, than white voters, according to a Los Angeles Times/USC poll.
About 69 percent of Latino voters and 49 percent of Asian voters polled said they personally worry a great deal about having enough water to meet future needs, compared with 40 percent of white voters, the poll found.
Jason Padilla, 26, of Riverside said he was certain that minorities would become increasingly engaged in environmental issues.
"We're stepping up and saying, 'Hey, we live, hike, camp, fish and play here too," Padilla said. "We're getting involved to help make changes that are morally and ethically right and benefit everybody."
Latinos make up 37 percent of the state's population, Asians are 12.5 percent, whites are 41.5 percent and African Americans are 5.8 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
California has one of the nation's largest concentrations of minorities living near hazardous chemical wastes and air pollution produced by refineries, port operations, freeway traffic and railroads. An analysis of census data by researchers at four universities showed that 1.2 million people in the greater Los Angeles area, 91 percent of them minorities, live less than two miles from facilities handling hazardous materials such as chrome-plating businesses and battery recycling centers.
Source: Los Angeles Times/USC, “Latinos, Asians more worried about environment than whites, poll finds”, November 20, 2010.