Nutrition & Health

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Rosemary
HOrT COCO-UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa: Article

Help Identify this Plant... It's a Rosemary

February 18, 2019
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County Client's Request: Would you please help me to identify a plant which is a bush when fully grown, and blooms in small light-blue color flowers in fall and winter.
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Carpenter ant. [Photo courtesy of pestworld.org]
Community Pest News: Article

Ants Attack! Part 2

February 14, 2019
By Karey Windbiel-Rojas
As written in my blog post from 2 days ago, I found carpenter ants in my house recently and decided to call a pest control company to help manage them.
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A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on a spiked floral purple plant, Salvia indigo spires (Salvia farinacea x S. farinacea). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Bee My Valentine!

February 14, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Remember receiving valentine cards that read "Bee My Valentine?" Well, every day can be Valentine's Day when there are bees in your garden.
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The Cowtown Chili Boys of the Vaca Valley 4-H Club--from left, Xander Lovell, Matthew Agbayani, Ian Weber and Francis Agbayani--test the temperature of their chili at the Solano County 4-H Chili Cook-Off. They went on the win the competition. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
California 4-H Grown: Article

Solano County 4-H Grows Great Cooks!

February 13, 2019
By Suzanne Morikawa
The Solano County 4-H Skills Day is an opportunity for 4-H'ers to show what they've learned in their projects and demonstrate their showmanship skills.
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On a global scale, pests and pathogens are significantly reducing yields of rice (shown), wheat, maize, soybeans and potatoes.
Food Blog: Article

Pests and pathogens place global burden on major food crops

February 8, 2019
By Pamela S Kan-Rice
Farmers know they lose crops to pests and plant diseases, but scientists have found that on a global scale they are reducing crop yields for five major food crops by 10 percent to 40 percent, according to a report by a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientist and other members of the Internati...
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Celeste Harrison with her prize-winning chocoflan dessert. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Food Blog: Article

4-H member is a winner from curly haired cavies to chocoflan

February 7, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
From cavies to chili to chocoflan... Thirteen-year-old Celeste Harrison, a fourth-year member of the Sherwood Forest 4-H Club, Vallejo, shares her expertise about chili and cavies (guinea pigs), but she's also a pro in the kitchen and at making a dessert called Chocoflan. It's part cake, part flan.
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Notes in the Margins: Agronomy and Weed Science Musings: Article

Sixty Second Science Snippet: February 2019

February 7, 2019
February is Pesticide Safety Education Month The second annual National Pesticide Safety Education Month gets underway February 1st, to 1) reinforce core principles of safe handling and use and 2) to raise awareness/support land-grant university Pesticide Safety Education Programs (PSEPs).
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food faire room
Ventura County 4-H: Article

Dining Through the Decades at the 4-H Food Faire!

February 7, 2019
The 2019 Ventura County 4-H Food Faire was held on Saturday, February 2nd at Will Rogers Elementary School in Ventura. Nineteen members participated from three clubs: Conejo-Simi, Loma Vista, and Somis. There were three food categories to enter: main dish, appetizer, and dessert.
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grubphoto1
HOrT COCO-UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa: Article

Can I keep garden soil that once had grubs in it?

February 5, 2019
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County Client's Request: Can I keep and/or reuse garden soil that once had grubs in it? I've been picking them out of the soil when I find them and leaving for the birds to eat them.
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