The Real Dirt

Imagine a mountainous and remote rainforest along the ocean coast. Whisps of fog drift through the trees as cascades of colorful flowers sweep down from plants perched high on the tree limbs.

If you have peach or nectarine trees, winter is the time to spray them to prevent peach leaf curl. Peach leaf curl is a fungal disease that attacks peaches and nectarines. It appears in spring, causing new leaves to become reddish, puckered and severely distorted.

For many of us in the North State, Autumn is our favorite time of year. The heat of summer is past, and deciduous trees put on a spectacular show of deep reds, yellows, and oranges. The intensity of this show, however, is not consistently the same each year.

At this time of year bulbs are appearing at nurseries and big retail stores as well as in the garden catalogs that arrive in your mailbox. Many bulbs (like tulips) need to be chilled for 8-10 weeks in your refrigerator before replanting for blooms the following spring.

Many school children in Butte County may soon be using their school gardens as living laboratories, engaging in science while planting, growing, and harvesting vegetables, thanks to the Butte County Master Gardener Living Lab Program.