Backyard Orchard News
Unhappy Ending
Bee swarms don't always have happy endings. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis...
Honey bees ready to swarm at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bee swarm in a tree at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bees in a 2008 swarm feed each other on the hand of Eric Mussen, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Earth Day Festival April 14, 2012
Crowds of people, young and old, were waiting eagerly at the entry gate well before the start time of 10 a.m. Teamed with our fellow UCCE/Los Angeles County Master Gardeners—and located between the booths of Engineers Without Borders, OrangUtan Republik Foundation, and across from Friends of the Los Angeles River, we shared a table and white canopied booth and stayed busy, non-stop till 2pm, talking to people about their gardens and the art of food preservation. In all nearly 2200 people came through the Earth Day Festival and at least 500 of them stopped at our booth.
We also showed off jars of waterbath processed jams and marmalades, and pressure canned chicken and squash, which gave us a chance to explain how many methods of food preservation are available to the home preserver, along with tips for food safety practices.
More than one person said "My mom or my grandma used to can everything but I never learned how to do it." We explained that our role as MFPs was to offer our services as volunteer instructors to teach them how to do it themselves. We asked them to bring word back to their organizations and let them know to call us if they wanted free lessons.
Attached to the veggie packets we stapled MFP cards so that people would connect the idea of growing, harvesting then preserving their veggies and herbs knowing they could contact us for the know-how.
Families were out in force and many of the little ones were carrying around small plant pots that they had decorated at a special booth. Each pot contained a seed...some were given watermelon seeds, some had sunflowers, and of course we reminded them that these plants would need a lot more room than the cute pots they carried and should be transplanted as soon as they’re big enough.
Different kinds of saplings were distributed by various agencies, and people were carrying them around the festival grounds, looking just a little bit like Johnny Appleseed carting his apple trees across the country.
By the time the day ended, our seed supply had nearly been cleaned out, we'd talked to many hundreds of people about food preservation, and we felt we’d had a very successful day.
California Red Scale Flight in Full Swing
In Tulare County, the first flight of male red scales began the week of March 19, so we are using that as the biofix for the San Joaquin Valley. As our degree day page shows http://ucanr.org/sites/KACCitrusEntomology/Home/California_Red_Scale/Degree_Days_885/
the scales have accumulated 117-171 degree days so far, depending on location. This is well below the 30 year average of closer to 300 degree days by the middle of April. The warming trend this week should speed things up. We expect the first generation of scale crawlers to emerge at 550 degree days. Please log onto my web pages to follow the degree day accumulations as the season progresses.
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Oh, Those Pestiferous Aphids!
By now, you're probably seen enough aphids to last you for the entire year. That's why we're...
Pea aphids on a rose leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pea aphids claim a rose stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tango Mandarin Research at Lindcove
The photo shows an 8-year-old Tango mandarin tree at Lindcove that is being harvested. Dr. Mikeal...
Tango harvest