By Bob Labozetta, UC Master Gardener, Mariposa While we shelter-in-place, gardening can be the perfect pick-me-up. The UCCE Master Gardeners of Mariposa County are available to help answer your gardening questions. Directly access the UCCE Master Gardeners of Mariposa County website at http://cemariposa.ucanr.edu/Master_Gardener to obtain information. You can see what we are doing, access our radio show, send a question ...

I told my puppy Fannie the Corgi all about a special place called Nelder Grove and how it wouldn’t be a long drive or hike. I tried to explain to her just how huge the Giant Sequoias were. I don’t think she totally grasped the concept but she said let’s do it!Where: Sierra National Forest, Nelder GroveDistance: 2.31 miles, but ...

Walking up historic wagon roads near my house on a cool day after a rain was a party for my senses, full of fresh smells of the forest and flowers. Dogwoods were blooming like crazy and those animal tracks were easy to spot while the gnats and skeeters slept in. Distance: 10.62 Miles (but you can go shorter or longer)Difficulty: ...

By Ron Allen, UC Master Gardener, Mariposa County MARIPOSA — With warm, dry months ahead, many folks around Mariposa County with oak trees by their house or on their landscape might be asking how best to ensure the health of those trees. The short and happy answer is that you do not need to do too much. But you should ...

Adventuring close to home, I walked the same dirt roads, followed different spur roads, giving me a looped walk along a historic stage route that carried Yosemite tourists to Wawona starting in the 1880s. Distance: About 11 Miles (but you can go shorter or longer)Difficulty: Easy to ModerateElevation Range: 3,418′ to 4,994′Date: May 13, 2020Maps: Ben Hur and Daulton Topographic ...

Same dirt road close to home but a different spur road off of it gave me a looped adventure back to O’Neals Meadow, searching for flowers and history. Men weren’t the only homesteaders in this neck of the wood. Cora Ives lived here, ranched here and was quite the adventurer. She also wrote articles for Fresno newspapers about wildflowers, Native ...

A little more mileage on my adventure took me up to the Lone Sequoia and it is called that for a reason. But it wasn’t alone. It was accompanied by snowplants, wildflowers and dogwoods getting ready to bloom. . . and gnats. Distance: 12.37 Miles (but you can go shorter or longer)Difficulty: Easy to ModerateElevation Range: 3,418′ to 4,619′Date: April ...

You might wonder what walking up a dirt road, an American Black Bear and Yogi Berra might have in common. Made perfect sense to me as I walked up a dirt road close to home to a high point to check out the views. Distance: About 8 Miles (but you can go shorter or longer)Difficulty: Moderate to StrenuousElevation Range: 3,418′ ...

By Bob Labozetta, UC Master Gardener, Mariposa MARIPOSA — So you’ve started your seeds in pots or trays and they have sprouted. Now what? When it’s too early to transplant seedlings out into the garden, but they’re too big to remain in their first containers (or your seedlings are crowding each other), you need to transplant them into bigger pots ...

I walked up the same dirt road, but a different spur road, to a beautiful meadow. Interesting history with hard working men who had a vision for this country but not all of these stories have a happy ending. Distance: 6.77 Miles (but you can go shorter or longer) Difficulty: Moderate Elevation Range: 3,418′ to 4,840′ Date: April 15, 2020 ...