From the UC Blogosphere...

Behold the Cabbage White!

Nothing but net? No, no net. We have a winner in the 40th annual Cabbage White Butterfly Competition, sponsored by...

Cabbage White Butterfly

CABBAGE WHITE BUTTERFLY--the first of 2011 in the three-county area of Yolo, Solano and Sacramento. Art Shapiro found this one today (Jan. 31) in Suisun City, Solano County. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Art Shapiro

NOTED BUTTERFLY EXPERT Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis, with the cabbage white butterfly perched on his finger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Chinese farmers take a bite out of the California cling-peach market

California cling-peach growers' market dominance is beginning to erode in the face of cheap cling-peach imports from China, according to an article in today's Fresno Bee.

Imports of lower-priced Chinese canned cling-peaches grew from 43,000 cases 10 years ago to more than 2.2 million last year, the article said. Chinese peaches now represent 12 percent of the 16 million cases consumed in the U.S.

To defend their turf, California growers are looking for ways to reduce their production costs. Bee reporter Robert Rodriguez spoke to UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Roger Duncan about his research with German-made equipment that would cut the cost of spring hand-thinning, a practice that ensures ripe fruit reaches the proper size.

"I am optimistic that growers will take a look at this," Duncan was quoted. "Because it is going to be difficult to compete against a country that can produce a product cheaper than we can.

Mechanical pre-thinning will not replace the hand thinning, but it can reduce the cost -- estimated at about $1,000 an acre -- by 25 to 30 percent.

"We've done lots of studies in California on mechanical and chemical fruit thinning or blossom thinning," Duncan said. "Generally what we see is the earlier you remove those fruit, the larger the remaining fruit are at harvest because there is less competition for nutrients from the mother tree."

In addition to finding efficiencies in their production practices, the cling-peach industry is asking Americans to buy the home-grown product.

"We need to educate consumers that they should be looking for peaches from the U.S.," Reedley farmer Harry Berberian told Rodriguez. "There are a lot of us who have been growing cling peaches for a long time. It's in our blood. And we are going to keep going as long as we can, but it is not going to be easy."

The online version of the Bee story generated many outraged comments from readers, including:

"We used to produce the best peaches in the world, how can we compete with these fellas from China? The folks from this country will work for a few cents a day, they don't complain about the job, and if they do, there's a heck of a lot of Chinese folks that will take their place."

"Who let that happen? We the people want our jobs back that the American government gave to China. It should be economic treason what Wall Street and the government have done!"

UC farm advisor Roger Duncan, center, with a group of California farmers.

Nature's Suspension Bridge

Nature's suspension bridge--that's what the spider builds.With the unseasonable warm weather and crafty spiders at work, can...

Nature's Suspension Bridge

INTRICATE PATTERN of a spider web on nectarine branches. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC educator is better known as the 'Carrot Lady'

Sometimes, it's all in the name. A garden variety story about nutrition education seems to have gotten lots of pickup in the media, perhaps because of the catchy moniker attached to the teacher - the Carrot Lady.

Sutter-Yuba UC Cooperative Extension youth nutrition educator Angela O'Rourke visits local schools and teaches children about healthy eating by guiding educational activities and offering samples of carrots and other vegetables, according to a story in the Appeal-Democrat.

"You can call her the 'Carrot Lady,'" wrote reporter Ryan McCarthy in the article's opening paragraph.

O'Rourke said she wears a bright green apron with a big carrot logo to schools and tells the children her memorable nickname to reinforce her reason for visiting.

"It reminds the kids that we're talking about something healthy today, about how to make healthy choices," O'Rourke said.

Schools are working to make sure what they serve in cafeterias is good for kids — and parents can assist by providing their children with healthy foods. The lure of processed foods, carefully marketed to be tasty, is strong.

"If you put chips next to carrots, what do you think they're going to eat?" O'Rourke was quoted in the story. She tells the children her own favorite snack is orange juice and toasted bread.

The story was also picked up in the Orland Press-Register, the Willows Journal and the Colusa County Sun Herald.

Angela O'Rourke is the Carrot Lady.

Not a Terrorist

Last summer we watched European wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum) dart in and out of the catmint and salvia in our bee...

Wool Carder Bees

WOOL CARDER BEE heads for salvia, occupied by another wool carder bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sip of Nectar

WOOL CARDER BEE sips nectar from catmint. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Salvia

WOOL CARDER BEE nectaring salvia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Mating Pair

MATING PAIR of wool carder bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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