Topics in Subtropics

Imagine going to the supermarket to stock up on groceries but coming home empty-handed because you just couldn't figure out how to work the shopping cart or figure out how to get to the ice cream tubs in the freezer aisle. Welcome to the life of a bumblebee.

Recent advances in understanding the history of olive domestication Elizabeth Fichtner, Farm Advisor, UCCE Tulare and Kings Counties Olives are thought to have first been domesticated in the northeastern Levant, an area near the border of present-day Turkey and Syria. Map captured from Google Maps.

Two more trees infected with huanglongbing (HLB) disease were identified and destroyed in the days before UC Cooperative Extension and the Citrus Research Board kicked off their spring Citrus Growers Education Seminar in Exeter June 27.

Puncturevine (Tribulus terrestris) kept a low profile during the drought years but seems to have exploded following this year's rains. (It is still lying low', so to speak, but there is a lot more of it.) Puncturevine leaves, flowers, and seeds.

There is money out there to help with irrigation improvements. Along with USDA funding through The Natural Resources Conservation Service and many local Resource Conservation Districts, there are often funds from the state.