Green Blog

Californians love their oak trees. During vineyard development, Central Coast grape growers often feel compelled to leave an old iconic oak standing, even if it ends up right in the middle of their vineyard.

Last May, a Turlock almond grower noticed nearly all the nuts on a row of trees in his orchard had fallen to the ground. It looked like we shook this row, he said. I was scared. I thought the whole orchard was going to go. He called UC Cooperative Extension.

California's 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive the state has ever seen.

Californians and California tourists love to get out of town to enjoy rural beauty and experience a taste of rural life. This often includes visiting California's many farms and ranches that offer farm tours, farm stays, workshops, festivals, dinners, fruit picking and even barn dances.

For millennia, fires periodically burned through California forests, thinning trees, reducing shrubbery and clearing out downed branches and debris. Without periodic fire, the forests became more dense, with spaces between large trees filling in with a thick carpet of duff, seedlings and shrubs.