Santa Cruz

John Bailey, director of the University of California's Hopland Research and Extension Center, has been appointed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. Bailey's two-year term expires on Sept. 17, 2021.

A monarch butterfly fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville yesterday and sipped nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) as a bird looked on. Well, sort of looked on. The bird was decorative art. The monarch was real. Now if that bird had been real, the monarch may have been a meal.

Kron named area IPM advisor for North Coast Cindy Kron has joined UC Cooperative Extension as areawide IPM advisor for Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties.

Nine local nonprofits selected for training program (Imperial Valley Press) Sept. 12 The Imperial County Local Health Authority Commission Wednesday identified nine local nonprofit organizations that have been selected to participate in capacity building training over the next several months.

One of the first gardening books I ever purchased was Sunset magazine's book How to Grow Herbs, published in the early 1970's. Though it had great information on cultivation and harvesting, what really drew me in was the use of herbs in landscaping.

The purpose of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15October 15) is to recognize the contributions and vital presence of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States.

El Mes de la Herencia Hispana comienza el 15 de septiembre y contina hasta el 15 de octubre. El propsito de la celebracin es reconocer las contribuciones y la presencia vital de hispanos y latinoamericanos en los Estados Unidos.

Eight academics joined the ranks of UC Cooperative Extension advisors, specialists and an academic coordinator over the last few months. The new academics are: Kamyar Aram UCCE specialty crops advisor Contra Costa County Kamyar Aram joined UC ANR in August 2019 as UCCE advisor in specialty crops.

Farmers who are considering growing romaine hearts or organic strawberries in California's Central Coast region can get some help determining whether the crop will pencil out for them.

California Department of Food and Agriculture will reopen the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) towards the end of 2019. The SWEEP program provides up to $100,000 for practices that increase water use efficiency and reduce energy use in water management.