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Posts Tagged: gardens
Dig it, Grow it, Eat it: School gardens support learning and healthier food choices
The success of a garden is normally identified by plentiful crops of tomatoes and squash or the beautiful display of vibrant thriving flowers, shrubs or trees. However, a school garden's true success is dependent on the rich experiences and education students receive.
Taking the classroom into the garden
School gardens can play a big part in supporting a child's education outside of the traditional classroom environment; offering hands-on learning experiences in a variety of core curricula. Social sciences, language arts, nutrition and math are just a few of the many subjects that can be easily integrated into the school garden curriculum.
When paired with nutrition education, school gardens can transform food attitudes and habits.
“Gardens containing fruits and vegetables can change attitudes about particular foods; there is a direct link between growing and eating more fruits and vegetables,” said Missy Gable, statewide director for the UC Master Gardener Program. “Programs statewide connect people to local community gardens, or provide school administrators and staff the information needed to get started with their own school, community or home garden.”
“Dig it, Grow it, Eat it”
The UC Master Gardener Program of Marin County hosts an award-winning school gardening program that emphasizes engaging students with the many learning opportunities in nature. The program is a portable field trip for school-age youth called “Dig it, Grow it, Eat it.”
“Dig it, Grow it, Eat it” starts with University-trained UC Master Gardener volunteers training school educators. Once trained, educators use the curriculum to teach students how to grow edible plants from seed to harvest. UC Master Gardener volunteers help deliver the curriculum and provide additional resources. Students learn how plants grow, and receive nutrition lessons to give them a better understanding of the human body's need for healthy food.
The half-day workshop rotates groups of students through six stations providing them with garden enhanced nutrition education, linking health with growing and harvesting foods they like to eat and are good for them. These include:
- Edible Plant Parts
- How Plants Grow
- Plant Seed Science
- Propagation
- Soil Science
The “Dig it, Grow it, Eat it” curriculum is centered on the theme “We love the earth because we care for it. We care for the earth because we love it.” For many children, getting their hands dirty in the garden and discovering the science of growing their own food brings a sense of joy and pride they can carry with them for years to come.
Connect with us
The UC Master Gardener Program extends to the public free UC research-based information about home horticulture and pest management. In exchange for the training and materials received from the University of California, UC Master Gardeners perform volunteer services in a myriad of venues. If you are interested in becoming a certified UC Master Gardener contact your local UC Cooperative Extension office or visit mg.ucanr.edu.
Kate Frey: Gardening for Bees, Beauty and Diversity
Many mothers will receive a stunning bouquet of flowers on Sunday, Mother's Day. Others will learn how to design and plant a stunning pollinator...
The Frey Gardens at the home of Ben and Kate Frey in Hopland, are inviting.
Kate Frey designed the gardens at the Lynmar Estate Winery, located in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Admiring the Red Admiral
So, you're taking a winter walk through the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden, part of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Gardens. You're looking for the...
Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, basking on a daphne sign in the Storer Garden, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Gardens, on Jan. 28. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the Red Admiral. It's looking a little tattered but it's the dead of winter, Jan. 28. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Side view of the Red Admiral. Shortly after this photo was taken, it fluttered away. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Top 10 pests in gardens and landscapes and how to control them
Download the free booklet at the bottom of the page!
1. Ants
Most people deal with ants around their home at some point. Because most ants live outdoors, focus efforts on keeping ants from entering buildings by caulking entryways. Follow good sanitation practices to make your home less attractive to ants. Spraying ants inside the home will not prevent more ants from entering. Use baits to control the ant colony. Pesticide baits work by attracting worker ants who then take the poison back to the nest where the entire colony, including queens, can be killed. In the landscape, ants protect honeydew-producing pest insects from predators, so use sticky barriers or insecticide baits to keep ants out of trees and shrubs.
- Find out more at http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/antscard.html
2. Aphids
Aphids can curl leaves and produce sticky honeydew, but they rarely kill plants and you usually can wash them off with water. When aphid numbers get high, natural enemies such as lady beetles (lady bugs), lacewings, syrphid fly larvae, soldier beetles and others frequently feed on them, eliminating the need for pesticides. Protect these good bugs by avoiding the use of insecticides that can be toxic to a broad variety of insects. Ants protect aphids from these natural enemies, so keep ants away from your garden as well. When pesticides are necessary, use less toxic products such as insecticidal soaps and oils.
- Learn more about controlling aphids here: http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/aphidscard.html
3. Asian citrus psyllid and Huanglongbing disease
The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) and the deadly bacterial disease it spreads, Huanglongbing (HLB), threaten citrus trees in backyards and on farms. There is no cure or effective control method for HLB disease. All types of citrus—including oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and mandarins—are affected as well as a few closely related ornamentals. ACP and HLB have already devastated the Florida citrus industry, and now that it is in the Western U.S. it is threatening the California citrus industry as well.
- See where the outbreaks are in California with our helpful Asian citrus psyllid website: http://ucanr.edu/sites/ACP/Distribution_of_ACP_in_California/
- Contact your agricultural commissioner's office, or call the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Exotic Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899 to confirm a find. Learn more about ACP here: http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/asiancitruscard.html
4. Gophers
Gophers are small burrowing rodents that feed on roots of many types of plants. A single gopher can ruin a garden in a short time, and gopher gnawing can damage irrigation lines and sprinkler systems. In lawns, their mounds are unsightly and interfere with mowing. Early detection is critical to prevent damage. Use both traps and underground fencing to manage gopher problems. Toxic baits are available but can pose threats to wildlife, pets, and children, especially in backyard situations.
- Learn more about protecting your garden and landscape from gophers here: http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/gopherscard.html
5. Leaf-feeding caterpillars
Caterpillars, which are the larvae of butterflies and moths, damage plants by chewing on leaves, flowers, shoots, and fruit. Caterpillars in fruit or wood can be difficult to manage because they are hidden most of their life and can cause serious damage even when numbers are low. However, many plants, especially perennials, can tolerate substantial leaf damage, so a few leaf-feeding caterpillars often aren't a concern. Handpicking and beneficial predators and parasites often provide sufficient control. Look for feeding holes, excrement, webbed or rolled leaves, caterpillars, eggs, and good bugs.
- Learn more here:http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/lfcaterpillarscard.html
6. Peach leaf curl
Peach leaf curl is a fungal disease that affects only peach and nectarine trees. Distorted, reddened foliage in the spring is a distinctive symptom. New leaves and shoots thicken and pucker and later may die and fall off. An infection that continues untreated for several years can lead to a tree's decline. To prevent peach leaf curl, treat peach and nectarine trees with a copper fungicide every year after leaves fall. After symptoms appear in the spring, any treatment will not be effective. When planting new trees, consider buying peach tree varieties that are resistant to the disease.
- To learn more about preventing peach leaf curl click here: http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/peachleafcurlcard.html
7. Rats
Rats eat and contaminate food, garden produce, and fruit, and transmit diseases to humans and pets. Manage rats by removing food and shelter, eliminating entryways into buildings, and trapping. Snap traps are the safest, most effective, and most economical way to trap rats. For Norway rats, place traps close to walls, behind objects, in dark corners, and in places where you have found rat droppings. For roof rats, place traps in off-the-ground locations such as ledges, shelves, branches, fences, pipes, or overhead beams. Ensure traps are out of reach of children and pets.
- Learn more about preventing and controlling rats here: http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/ratscard.html
8. Scales
Scale insects suck plant juices and are pests of many trees and shrubs. Infestations can cause yellowing or premature dropping of leaves, sticky honeydew, and blackish sooty mold. Plant parts can distort or die back, depending on the species and abundance of scales. Most plants tolerate low to moderate numbers of scales. Provide plants with proper cultural care, especially irrigation. Encourage scale predators such as lady beetles or lacewings and look for parasite emergence holes in scale covers. Use sticky barriers or insecticide baits to selectively control scale-tending ants. Consider replacing problem-prone plants because most scales are highly specific to certain plants.
- Learn more about controlling scale populations here: http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/scalescard.html
9. Snails and slugs
These slimy mollusks emerge from hiding at night and chew holes in leaves and flowers of many succulent garden plants and fruit. Management requires a vigilant and integrated approach that includes eliminating moisture and hiding spots, trapping, setting up barriers, and handpicking. Regularly remove snails from shelters you can't eliminate such as low ledges on fences, undersides of decks, and meter boxes. Place traps in your garden and dispose of trapped snails and slugs daily. Reduce moist surfaces by switching to drip irrigation or watering in the morning rather than later in the day. Consider snail-proof plants such as impatiens, geraniums, begonias, lantana, nasturtiums, and many plants with stiff leaves and highly scented foliage such as sage, rosemary, and lavender.
- Learn more about controlling snails and slugs with and without pesticides in your garden here: http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/snailsslugscard.html
10. Weeds in landscapes
Prevent weed invasions in new beds with good site preparation. Keep weeds out with an integrated program that includes competitive plants, mulches, and hand removal. Be particularly vigilant about removing aggressive perennial weeds. You rarely should need herbicides in established landscape plantings. Mulches prevent weed seed germination by blocking sunlight. Remove small weeds by hand before they flower and set seed. Use shallow cultivation or hoeing to remove annual weeds from ornamental plantings. Only use herbicides for special-problem situations before establishing new plantings or for difficult-to-control perennial weeds.
- Learn more about controlling weeds in your landscape here: http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/landscapeweedscard.html
To see all of the University of California's Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program's information on home, garden, and landscape pests, visit http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/menu.homegarden.html
For other short pest “Quick Tips” like the ten above, see http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/
To read even more in-depth, peer-reviewed information on many other common home and landscape pests in California, see the Pest Notes series at http://www.ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/index.html
Download your free UC IPM Quick Tips Booklet of the Top Ten Pests in Gardens and Landscapes and How to Control Them with the link below!
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Honey bees were all over the Japanese anemone (Anemone hupehensis) on Monday, Oct. 19 at the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens, Santa...
Two honey bees compete for floral resources as they forage on a Japanese anemone in the Luther Burbank gardens, Santa Rosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This flower is mine. No, it's mine! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
After one honey bee leaves, another returns. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ah, alone at last! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
