From the UC Blogosphere...

Long Beach garden continues to flourish

A seven-acre community-supported garden in the Carmelitos Housing Development produces food in the middle of an urban North Long Beach neighborhood, said an article in Gazettes, a local community newspaper. The farm was started as a joint effort between the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles and the University of California Cooperative Extension.

Called "The Growing Experience," the garden supports a Community Supported Agriculture program, which supplies weekly boxes of fresh produce to families who pay a subscription fee.

“The box of food contains seasonal produce,” said garden coordinator Jimmy Ng. “Right now, we have a lot of collard greens, summer and winter squash, apples, herbs, basil, beets, turnips and we also have eggs.”

The Growing Experience also sells food to gourmet restaurants.

Deadly oak scourge threatens Burlingame Hills trees
Michele Ellson, San Francisco Examiner

Burlingame Hills homeowner Steve Epstein is on a quest to eradicate the Sudden Oak Death in this densely forested canyon enclave of 426 homes west of Hillsborough.

Butterflies Are Good Learners

Butterflies are good learners--just ask Martha Weiss. Weiss, associate professor of biology at Georgetown University,...

Biologist Martha Weiss of Georgetown University studies Lepidopteran learning and memory.

Biologist Martha Weiss of Georgetown University studies Lepidopteran learning and memory.

A Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) lands on a Mexican sunflower, aka Tithonia, in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) lands on a Mexican sunflower, aka Tithonia, in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Culture' change for ag in Plumas and Sierra counties under way

A new working group has been formed in Plumas and Sierra counties to find ways to enhance and strengthen the ag sector of the region's local economy, according to the Plumas County News.

The group's planning meeting last week was facilitated UC food systems analyst Gail Feenstra and UC Cooperative Extension community development specialist David Campbell, who led a discussion about local resources — natural, human, governmental and physical — for which products and markets could be created or strengthened.

Weather and a short growing season hamper farmers and ranchers in Sierra and Plumas counties. Most arable land is in livestock or livestock feed production. In order to enhance the ag "culture," the working group discussed:

• Community supported agriculture
• A local composting facility
• A cooperative meat producers’ facility
• Farmer training to develop high-elevation growing, marketing and business skills.
• A cidery that takes advantage of the area’s heirloom apple trees and remnant orchards
• Value-added ag products such as jams and jellies made from local berries
• A year-round farmers market
• Promotion of the local fall color season in connection with harvest festivals and farm tours

One of the challenges of mountain agriculture is limited crop diversity.

For the Love of Bugs

"Where is the love for bugs?" science writer Rachel Nuwer asked in a recent article published in the New York Times.Well,...

Madagascar hissing cockroach crawls up the arm of Mick Dunning, 6, of Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Madagascar hissing cockroach crawls up the arm of Mick Dunning, 6, of Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ralph Washington, who has a bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis, talks about the hissers to Mick, Emme and Molly Dunning (right). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ralph Washington, who has a bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis, talks about the hissers to Mick, Emme and Molly Dunning (right). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Emme Dunning, 8, of Davis, and a hisser. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Emme Dunning, 8, of Davis, and a hisser. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Organic training farm gets funds

The College of Marin received a $233,000 grant from the California Community College Chancellor's Office, which will help the school support its organic farm until it becomes self sustaining, according to an article in the Marin Independent Journal.

The college launched the farm in 2009 as a kind of laboratory to help Marin residents and others learn the essentials of organic farming from experts like the University of California Cooperative Extension's Steve Quirt and Wendy Johnson of Green Gulch Farm, the story said.

State inspectors have been cracking down on the use of unpaid labor on California farms — ending an informal tradition of agricultural apprenticeship. The College of Marin program has emerged as an option for those who want hands-on organic farming experience.

Feared Eastern pest found in California
Growing Produce

Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys Stål, was recently found in San Luis Obispo County in an incoming shipment of household items from Pennsylvania, where it is considered a serious pest. The ag commissioner’s office took immediate action to eradicate this intruder by physical removal and chemical treatments. For more information, the Growing Produce website referred readers to a post by UC Cooperative Extension strawberry and vegetable crops advisor Surendra Dara in his Pest News Blog.

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