By Brian David —  California’s Mediterranean climate of short, wet winters and long, dry summers sustains more diverse foliage than any other of the 49 states. For California’s commercial agriculture and home gardening, however, capturing water is crucial. We channel surface runoff from watersheds, diverting water into reservoirs and dams and direct the flow and delivery of water through aqueducts ...

MARIPOSA — The Mariposa County Master Gardeners recently held their annual Awards Banquet to recognize significant community contributions from various Master Gardeners. Prior to awarding the deserving recipients, Mariposa Master Gardeners President Ingrid Angelini held a general meeting for in-house business and discussed future community-purposed events. Heads up, these free and open to the public upcoming events include: ● 1/19/19 Fruit ...

MARIPOSA — Prune it, or lose it? Prune it correctly, or lose it? Heck, why should the backyard orchardist worry about pruning anyway? Pruning a tree is the art and science of removing specific branches or stems to benefit the whole tree. A goal of pruning is to remove dead, damaged and diseased branches to help prevent insect & decay ...

By Brian David —  This new year welcomes us into its vibrancy. Air, water; sand, clay and silt pulse with wiggling earthworms, dancing bacteria and exercising fungi. From the soil’s fertile womb our earth births seeds into plants and covers her modest bare ground with carpets green and brown. Three fourths of all plant roots interact in mutually beneficial relationships ...

By Brian Moore — MOUNTAIN AREA — Hugelkultur builds garden mounds using tree trunks, limbs, branches, leaves, decaying organic matter (compost) and soil as a planting base. Hugelkultur mimics a forest floor’s process of decomposition and regeneration. Hugelkultur can improve soil vibrancy, water holding ability and soil heating. But what is with the name? In the late 1970’s two German ...

MARIPOSA — As the gardening season winds down, gardeners always think about the future. What can we do to improve our soil? Enhance our landscape? Ease the workload? What plants have caught our eye? Master gardeners are thinking about the future in a different way. Master Gardeners go through training to help you with gardening challenges. We write, answer questions, ...

MARIPOSA – The Mariposa County Resource Conservation District will be holding their annual native plant and wildflower seed sales over two  Saturdays in two locations. On Oct. 27, from 8 a.m. to noon, the sale will be held at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds Ag Building – 5009 Fairgrounds Road in Mariposa. The sale will continue on Saturday, Nov. 3, from ...

By Brian David —  Guided by sonar, night vision and the earth’s magnetic field, the Pallid, Mexican, and California Myotis bats – flying near fifty miles an hour – eat nocturnal insects mid-air. A dining night out delivers over half a bat’s body weight in nutritious insects. Central California crops including beets, citrus, corn, cotton, pecans, peppers, rice, strawberries and ...

I’ve always had a love of the outdoors. Mom got me into garden club when we lived in Bermuda when I was nine. I got my garden badge when I was a Girl Scout. My dad was also a fisherman so I fished with him all the time. Even deep sea fishing. My dad was also a big hiker. We started ...

By Brian David —  We know that wildfire smoke affects people’s health. Particles of burned plants and trees land on dust particles and are breathed into the lungs. However, this year’s Ferguson Fire not only affected you, it affected your plants. This summer’s Sierra foothill smoke has limited gardening, in part by imposing health restrictions on gardeners. In areas that ...