Santa Cruz

We first saw her at 10 a.m. on Oct. 27, 2017. She was eating. That's what monarch caterpillars do best. They eat. A lot. "Where have you been?" I asked. "Where have you been hiding? Your siblings have long gone.

Migrating monarchs are fluttering daily into our yard in Vacaville, Calif., one by one, two by two, three by three, and four by four, for a little flight fuel. They're sipping nectar from the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, and tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.

Diseases, disorders and other plant problems are critical concerns for the wholesale nursery.

"Biomedical science was not always the hypercompetitive rat race that is has become in recent years. Consider the story of Charles Darwin, as he developed his theory of evolution through natural selection. That discovery became the organizing principle of biology.

Migratory monarch alert! They're on their way. Camera ready? Check. Notebook ready? Check! Entomologist David James of Washington State University, Pullman, Wash., who studies the migration routes and overwintering sites of the Pacific Northwest monarch population, told us last Friday, Aug.

Soil and agriculture courses are being taught again at Ventura College. This was a commitment of outgoing President, Greg Gillespie. There are only a handful California community (junior) colleges that still teach soils.

Many growers don't hear about the amount of research and extension activity that is going on surrounding the Shot Hole Borers and Fusarium Dieback. This pest/disease complex affects not only avocados, but many other tree species, including many California natives.

Argentine Ant is a very aggressive invader that disrupts native ant populations and at the same time disrupts biocontrol agents that help control, such pests as scale, aphids and mealy bugs in citrus and other tree crop species.

Few people have seen California's state insect in the wild, but now thousands will this week--on TV. The California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice, and its Auburn habitat will be featured on KVIE Public Television's "Rob on the Road" show at various times throughout the week.

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.