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LinkedInPosts Tagged: orchard
Celebrate Earth Day with Gardening and Other Stay-at-Home Resources
This week marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. This year, consider celebrating the day with gardening and other stay-at-home resources curated by your local UCCE office.
History of Earth Day
Earth Day was launched in 1970. Many factors contributed to the call for a national day focusing on environmental stewardship, including the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring - serialized in the New Yorker - and the catastrophic oil spill that occurred off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969. The Santa Barbara oil spill galvanized U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin) to call for a national day of locally inspired and organized "teach-ins" on the environment - a national "Earth Day." The Earth Day model was inspired by the spirit of campus activism at the nation's colleges and universities. It wasn't top-down, but rather a grassroots effort that encouraged communities to develop educational and service events around issues and topics important to them.
Earth Day struck a chord; some estimates suggest that 1 in 10 Americans participated in the first events. Earth Day is widely credited with "sparking" the modern environmental movement. Landmark environmental legislation swiftly followed (including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act). The Environmental Protection agency was founded that same year. Twenty years after its launch, Earth Day became a global movement.
You can learn more from the Earth Day Network by linking to this website.
Home Garden Resources
There is a wave of renewed interest in gardening as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about "crisis" gardening - and a new "Victory Garden" movement - in this article from the New York Times.
Closer to home, we have a wealth of gardening resources for you.
One of our favorites is the California Garden Web, designed by our UC Master Gardeners. You'll find a wealth of gardening information and a helpful glossary.
Ventura County is blessed with a wonderful growing climate and many of us have backyard fruit trees. Learn more about cultivating and caring for your home orchard here.
Resources for the Home Classroom
Many of us are working with our children in home classrooms. The UC 4-H Youth Development Program has a range of resources available to engage young learners. In honor of Earth Day, take a look at our 4-H Vegetable Gardening Project sheet. We also recommend our 4-H Water Conservation Project sheet, which provides engaging, science-based activities the entire family can enjoy. 4-H is one of the oldest youth development programs in the nation and we'll be sharing other educational resources in upcoming posts. #Head #Heart #Hands #Health.
Be Kind to the Earth by Reducing Food Waste
Nearly 40 percent of the food produced in the U.S. is wasted and much of that waste ends up in landfills (definitely not good for our environment or the economy).
The National Resources Defense Council estimates that the average family of four throws out nearly 1,000 pounds of food each year, wasting roughly $1,500.
Consumers as a group waste more food than farms, grocery stores or restaurants. For tips on ways you can reduce #FoodWaste, click here.
History lesson: The image on the left is a poster that was used during World War I and World War II to promote food conservation. First printed in 1919, it contains tips that are helpful today.
This image is from a collection held by the Museum of County. Photographer: Aysen Tan.
Related reading: What a World War I Poster Can Teach Us About #FoodWaste.
Thank you, Volunteers!
This week is National Volunteer Week and we want to thank the hundreds of volunteers who are part of UCCE Ventura...and who make our work possible. Thanks to our 4-H, Master Gardener and HAREC volunteers. You are central to our mission and we value you. Youth, Families and Communities Education Program Manager Susana Bruzzone-Miller created this video to express our appreciation.
COVID-19 Resources
Our COVID-19 landing page provides links to important resources about the pandemic, including information for the agricultural community. In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) illness, our office is closed for face-to-face service through May 15th. While we regret the inconvenience, these are the precautions we are taking to support one other and comply with University, local, county and state government recommendations. Our staff is telecommuting and can be contacted via phone and email. We are here to serve you.
Stay safe.
Thank you UC HAREC Volunteers
Avocado Wild Animals
There is a wild world in those avocado orchards. A study was done locally of some of the carnivores besides humans that show up there.
Carnivore Use of Avocado Orchards Across and Agricultural-Wildland Gradient
Wide-ranging species cannot persist in reserves alone. Consequently, there is growing interest in the conservation value of agricultural lands that separate or buffer natural areas. The value of agricultural lands for wildlife habitat and connectivity varies as a function of the crop type and landscape context, and quantifying these differences will improve our ability to manage these lands more effectively for animals. In southern California, many species are present in avocado orchards, including mammalian carnivores. We examined occupancy of avocado orchards by mammalian carnivores across agricultural-wildland gradients in southern California with motion-activated cameras. More carnivore species were detected with cameras in orchards than in wildland sites, and for bobcats and gray foxes, orchards were associated with higher occupancy rates. Our results demonstrate that agricultural lands have potential to contribute to conservation by providing habitat or facilitating landscape connectivity.
Read on:
http://www.avocadosource.com/journals/plos_one/nogeiretheresa2013.pdf
mountain lion
Green Side Up, Brown Side Down. Continued
There's been a lot of avocado and citrus planting going on and this is a good time for a reminder about how to dig a hole. This is by our colleague Jim Downer in Ventura County, Horticulture Advisor and also past president of the International Society of Arboriculture, Western Chapter. In the text, where you see Fraxinus or some other tree name you don't recognize, just slip in avocado or citrus and keep reading. Also, check out the references.
Green side up! Oh, and do not sink the rootball below grade!
I have always been amazed at how the simplest of procedures or practices can go so wrong. For the green industry, the best example of this is planting. The act of putting green in the ground is our business. We do this. The problem is, we often do it wrong, carelessly, or without regard for the outcome—dead trees! A consultant friend often expressed how deep planting and covering the root ball with native fill are the most common mistakes he sees. I have to agree--landscape plants die at the hand of man more than from all the diseases and insects combined. There are various incorrect ways to plant a tree, such as adding too much organic matter to the backfill, installing a dry root ball and then not irrigating after planting, or adding too much fertilizer to the backfill. The practice I want to cover in this article is planting too deeply. The problem continues despite research about planting that recommends correct planting depths.
Planting depth is often ignored when plants are installed in landscapes.
Deep planting can result in death of woody and non-woody or herbaceous plants either because they rot (in moisture-saturated soils) or because they dry out. In either case, the symptoms are similar: wilting, sunscald or burnt leaves (necrotic tissues in the middle of the leaf), lack of growth, leaf drop, and eventually, necrosis of leaves, shoots and branches (all above ground parts). Irrigation usually does not improve symptoms because by the time they are noticed the plant has already been harmed beyond repair.
Root balls placed below grade cause several problems during establishment. Since native soil surrounds the root ball, there is an immediate problem with an interface between the two soil textures. Most container media are “light” to promote drainage characteristics necessary for container culture. When these soil-free media are planted in soil which is of a much finer texture, the resulting interface does not allow water to enter the root ball. Water must completely saturate the surrounding soil before it will cross the interface (Harris et al., 1999). As the plant draws down its container media moisture, the root ball desiccates beyond the permanent wilting point and the plant dies. This process is extreme in plants that are grown in peat-based media because the peat moss can become quite hydrophobic as it dries and then the interface issues are exacerbated. Special care should be taken with citrus and avocados to plant them at or above grade so the media itself is exposed to irrigations.
Acid plants are however, no exception to the above suggestion. Installing the plant at or above grade (if only ½-1 inch) will prevent excessive drying of the root ball due to interface smothering. It is however, very important that the root ball itself is irrigated in the first month of establishment not just the surrounding soil. Newly planted nursery stock does not absorb water from landscape soil, only from its own rootball. Until roots grow into the native soil, the plant must be irrigated to keep its rootball moist. The surface of the rootball can be protected with a coarse wood chip mulch.
Not all installers get planting depths wrong at the start. When the plants are first installed, everything looks good. The problem is sometimes related to the amount of digging used to make the planting hole. If the hole is dug too deep, and soil added back to bring the final grade to level, the plant can slump as water settles it. Digging destroys soil structure, so backfill under the rootball always settles - the plant sinks.Soil will wash in from the sides covering the root ball and sealing it from future irrigations.
Deeply planted woody plants are subject to diseases. The area where the roots of a plant join its main stem is the root collar. This area is very metabolically active and requires oxygen. In some cases, the stem above the root collar is green and photosynthesizes. Acer japonicum the Japanese maple has a clearly demarcated root collar region. Soil goes on the brown part and the green part should remain above ground. When the main stem is buried, the plant is predisposed to attack from canker forming fungi or other plant pathogens that can girdle the stem, killing it and all that grows above it.
It is quite clear from the literature that there is a strong species effect to the tolerance (or lack of tolerance) to deep planting. In a study of red maple and Yoshino cherry, only 50% of cherries survived deep planting, while there were no significant losses of maple to deep planting practices (Wells, et al., 2006). Arnold and others, 2007, found that green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) was more tolerant to below-grade installation than golden rain tree (Koelreuteria bipinnata). In the same paper by Arnold et al., they showed that mulching can make deep planting worse. When trees planted below grade were mulched, mortality levels increased.
If plants survive deep planting, there can be other consequences. Wells and others 2006, showed that red maple (Acer rubrum) had increased numbers of girdling roots the deeper they were planted. When planted 6 inches below grade trees had 48% of their trunk encircled by girdling roots, when planted 12 inches below grade 71% of the trunk was affected.
Not all researchers found that soil over the root ball is detrimental. Gilman and Grabosky, 2004, found that if irrigation is plentiful (over an inch of applied water), trees survived and were less stressed three months later. Although planting depth did not impact growth of Southern live oaks, the study was relatively short term (7 months). I have also found in my own study of landscape shrubs that deep planting of five different genera of shrubs were not affected by planting depths of up to 4 inches below grade. The limitation of these studies is that they are short term. Over longer periods, disease and greater periods of hypoxia during high rainfall seasons may have cumulative detrimental effects not seen in the establishment phase of growth. When studied for three years, Arnold and others (2007), found that planting slightly above grade (3 in) improved growth of oleander and sycamore, while planting slightly below grade (3in) was harmful to all tested plants.
References
Broschatt, T. 1995. Planting depth affects survival, root growth, nutrient content of transplanted pygmy date palms. HortScience 30:1031-1032.
Arnold, M.A., G.V. McDonald, and D. Bryan. 2005. Planting depth and mulch thickness affect establishment of green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica and Bougainvillea goldenraintree (Koelreuteria bipinnata). J. Arboric. and Urban Forestry 31:163-170.
Arnold, M.A. G.V. McDonald, D.L. Bryan, G.C. Denny, W.T. Watson and L. Lombardini. 2007. Below-grade planting adversely affects survival and growth of tree species from five different families. J. Arboric. and Urban Forestry 33:64-69
Gillman, E. and J. Grabosky. 2004. Mulch and planting depth affect live oak (Quercus virginiana Mill.) establishment. J. Arboric. and Urban Forestry 30:311-317
Harris, R.W., J.R. Clark, and N.P. Matheny. 1999. Arboriculture: Integrated Management of Landscape Trees, Shrubs, and Vines. 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
MacDonald, J.D., L.R. Costello, J.M. Lichter, and D. Quickert. 2004. Fill soil effects on soil aeration and tree growth. J. Arboriculture 30:19-27.
Wells C., K. Townsend, J. Caldwell, D. Ham, E.T. Smiley and M. Sherwood. 2006. Effects of planting depth on landscape tree survival and girdling root formation. J. Arboriculture and Urban Forestry 32:305-311.
upside down tree
Cold Nights in Ventura
By way of Ventura grower Sandy Hedrick. This is a compilation of nights of "firing" done by Farm Advisor Bob Brendler from 1923 to 1988 that was collected by Terry Schaeffer of The Fruit Frost Service. Can you imagine over 70 nights of freezing temperatures when the smudge pots had to be lit? Now we don't normally "fire" the pots, but use water and wind more commonly. And it's only for a few nights at the most during the winter. In the "old" you couldn't plant avocado or lemon east of Sycamore Rd, just east of Santa Paula. Now there are avocados planted in Fillmore. And apple bloom erratically out there for lack of chill hours. And in summer it's getting too hot to grow strawberries even on the coast because with temperatures above 80 deg there is poor pollination.
Brendler loved weather information and irrigation issues. He was the first person in the Ventura office to use a computer and he was the oldest Advisor in the office at the time. The weather data chart was the first type of chart that could be done on a computer.
Do you think something has changed? By the way Terry is still running a private weather service for growers in Ventura.
Click on the link: Temp Chart002
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Temp Chart003
Check Out Topics in Subtropics newsletter
Articles in the November-December, 2013 issue include:
Rehabilitating Frost Damaged Citrus and Avocado - Although we live in sunny southern California the area has been subject to winter freezes. This article by UCCE Ventura advisor Dr. Ben Faber gives advice on ways to mitigate the damage caused by frost.
Advances in mitigation of alternate bearing of olive: vegetative growth response to plant growth regulators - UCCE Tulare advisor Dr. Elizabeth Fichtner and UC Riverside professor Carol Lovatt contributed this article on the results of their studies on the relationship between fruit load and vegetative growth on 'Manzanillo' olives.
Fertigation - Measuring Uniformity - Dr. Larry Schwankl, a UC Davis irrigation specialist, discusses steps to uniformly apply fertilizers. Fertigation is the injection of fertilizers through the irrigation system.
Olive Fly Update - UC Davis professor, Dr. Frank Zalom and UC Berkeley professor Dr. Bob VanSteenwyk provides a article on olive fly monitoring and treatment.
Read the full articles from this newsletter or check out other issues of Topics in Subtropics here.
Articles in the Winter 2014 drought issue include:
The Spanish Avocado Industry - Dr. Ben Faber, UCCE Ventura advisor, reports on the avocado production and issues in Spain which has similar amounts of acreage devoted to avocado as California. He discusses his observations on varieties, productions and diseases and pests that affect these trees.
Strategizing for Water Cutbacks - Avocado and Citrus - Dr. Faber also contributed this article for saving water, important in these drought stricken times.
California Agricultural Production Statistics - A short summary of statistics on the top California agricultural commodities for 2012 and other pertininent data including additional resources are presented here.
Maintaining the Citrus Orchard with a Reduced Irrigation Allotment - UCCE Kern County advisor, Craig Kallsen, also contributed more information on reducing water usage and still maintain an orchard.
The 2014 Drought in California - This article by UCCE Riverside County Director and advisor Etaferahu Takele summarizes some of the federal, state and UC resources for dealing with drought.
Read the full articles from this newsletter or check out other issues of Topics in Subtropics here.
