St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Gridley, with the help of generous grants from the Episcopal Foundation of Northern California and California Alliance for Community Composting, has transformed the lot next door to the church at 450 Jackson St. into a garden and composting center for the community: a place to grow food or learn how to garden, a drop-off site for compostable kitchen scraps, and a peaceful outdoor space for people to enjoy.

The Garden at St. Timothy’s opened to the public in May 2023 with 20 newly-built and filled garden beds for rent in the following sizes: 5-by-6 foot (30 square feet) at $15 per year, 5-by-8 feet or 4-by-10 feet (40 square feet) at $20 per year, and 5-by-10 feet (50 square feet) at $25 per year. Each bed has drip irrigation. The yearly enrollment price includes both water and irrigation supplies, which are provided by St. Timothy’s church. The system is on a timer and waters automatically so that gardeners don’t have to worry about daily watering. To rent a plot, email st.timothygarden@gmail.com or call 530-218-6636.

The idea for a community garden at St. Timothy’s began back in 2015 with the Gridley Community Roots Garden, which closed in 2018. In addition to the individual garden plots for rent, the church’s relaunch of the garden includes a teaching garden which doubles as growing space for food to give away to the community, a children’s garden and mud kitchen (for messy outdoor play), an outdoor sink and potting area, and of course shaded seating and pleasant
surroundings for those who gather.

The Drop in the Bucket composting program at St. Timothy’s started in August 2023 with generous help from Butte Environmental Council. Anyone in the community may sign up to drop off compostable kitchen materials, for example: fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds, paper napkins (no meat, bones, fat, oil or dairy).

The composting program at the garden is expanding thanks to a grant from California Alliance for Community Composting funded by Cal Recycle.

St. Timothy’s currently composts about 75 pounds of kitchen scraps weekly, with the capacity (and goal) to triple that
amount, significantly reducing the amount of organic waste going to the landfill. All compost produced at the garden will be used in the garden or shared with those who donate kitchen scraps.

To sign up to bring kitchen scraps to The Garden at St. Timothy’s, go to becnet.org/composting and scroll down to find the links to Gridley. When you sign up, you can request a complimentary 5-gallon bucket with a lid.

The Garden at St. Timothy’s is part of a larger effort by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California (and the Episcopal Church across the U.S.) to return its unused property to agrarian uses. Plenty of grant money is available for garden and farm projects. Locally, St. Timothy’s Church wanted to offer Gridley a garden that is both useful and beautiful, to encourage people to grow food with their neighbors and to increase food security in the community.

With faith that the grant funds would come through, St. Timothy’s began preparations for the garden in July 2022 — cutting weeds and clearing rubbish, grading and leveling the ground and solarizing the soil to kill weeds. The church paid for a new chain link fence on the alley side of the garden.

By fall 2022, volunteers were digging trenches, repairing existing piping and installing new in-ground irrigation pipe and sprinkler valves for the watering system. Old lumber left over from the first garden was repurposed to build a potting bench, outdoor sink and mud kitchen for children.

In March 2023, new redwood was purchased to construct the garden beds, and many volunteers showed up to  tackle the job of filling the beds with soil and compost. Pathways between beds were covered with donated wood chips.

The newest addition to the garden is an 8-by-16 foot greenhouse that is currently under construction. Other plans include comfortable benches and a small fountain at the center of the garden, espaliered fruit trees, a rainwater recovery system and a redwood deck at the front garden entrance.

Gardeners and volunteers at The Garden at St. Timothy’s get together monthly to learn more about gardening and preserving food while enjoying each other’s company. All are welcome to attend the meetings which take place in the church offices.

You don’t need to be an experienced gardener to get started at St. Timothy’s. There are lots of resources and support (everything from tools to seeds), as well as guidance from UC Master Gardeners of Butte County. A recent seed-starting event at the garden attracted a friendly mix of new and experienced gardeners and volunteers who had fun planting seeds in flats (for transplanting outside later this spring). Other recent events included free public talks about composting and the 1,000 Acres More program by Amy Roseman of Butte County Local Food Network.

Butte County Local Food Network has donated a “Free the Food” stand to The Garden at St. Timothy’s, so that gardeners can share their produce with the community, and the community can bring food to share with others as well: fresh, whole vegetables and fruits are welcome. The food stand will soon be located in front of the church at 410 Jackson St.

Volunteers are needed for a variety of projects at The Garden at St. Timothy’s, ranging from garden maintenance and composting to building projects, publicity and social media. If you would like to learn more about what’s going on, volunteer to help or donate to the garden, email st.timothygarden@gmail.com.

The Garden at St. Timothy’s is growing, thanks to the many gardeners, volunteers and other folks who have provided ideas, effort, enthusiasm and support. There’s plenty of room in the garden and it’s always open — come and take a look.

The Master Gardeners’ Spring Workshop Series has begun. There will be 15 more workshops on a variety of topics (including composting) between now and May 22. For information about the workshops, and to register, go to Workshops – UC Master Gardeners of Butte County at https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg. All workshops are free, but registration is required.

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 552-5812 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

Supply system disruptions, extreme weather, and rising food prices point to the fact that our local (and global) food system is fragile. When grocery shelves empty out, we are reminded that no need is more basic than food; yet our food supply in Butte County is far from secure.

The Butte County Local Food Network, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is one organization dedicated to increasing our county’s food security. Established in 2017 by Pamm Larry and Maria Giovanni, the BCLFN is working to help our food system become more locally-based, decentralized and secure. For an extensive discussion, review their Butte County Baseline Food Assessment and its Executive Summary at https://bit.ly/3Vo3sEH. Objectives include moving Butte County to 10% local food by 2025, establishing 2,500 gardens by 2025 and supporting local farmers through increased farmers market sales and Community Supported
Agriculture memberships.

Butte County agriculture is an important industry, with over 3,300 local farmers providing about 15% of the county’s jobs. Commercial agriculture’s four top crops, rice, walnuts, almonds and prunes, provide 75% of production value. While the county exports 98% of the food crops grown here, this food production supports people in 67 countries and 29 states within the United States.

At the same time, 18% of Butte County residents are food insecure: one in five families with children do not have reliable access to affordable, nutritious food, and that percentage is higher than the state average. In fact, 28% of Butte County residents live in areas considered to be “food deserts” with no access to food within a reasonable distance.

Considering the current percentage of food deserts in our county, what would happen if a disaster caused widespread disruption of the food supply? Right now Butte County does not have a Food Disaster Plan to ensure food and water are accessible for all residents if resources from outside the area (like energy and transportation) are unavailable.

The Executive Summary lists five goals or action areas to promote food sovereignty in Butte County. They are:

• decrease the number of people who are food insecure;
• increase awareness and access to locally produced food;
• increase local food in distribution, retail and food service;
• promote sustainable agriculture production;
• prepare for disasters.

The benefits of investing in local food are many. Locally and regionally produced food stimulates the economy, creates jobs and returns three times the amount of money back to the local economy as chain retailers. Local food is fresher, and, when grown regeneratively, has a lower carbon footprint, can save water and helps the environment. Local food strengthens connections in our communities via personal, community and school gardens, through urban farms, CSAs and farmers markets. Plus a robust local food system preserves rural farmlands and livelihoods.

BCLFN projects range from community gardens and composting, to food literacy education for youth. One notable project is 1,000 Acres More, a grassroots effort to increase the number of acres in Butte County that produce food for local consumption. Butte County currently has almost 500 acres in food production that stays local.

There are 42,000 acres of land in Chico, Oroville, Paradise and Gridley, and over a million acres in Butte County as a whole. The goal of 1,000 Acres More is based on the assumption that with 1,500 acres devoted to local food production, there would be enough food to feed every person in Butte County, and this could be accomplished by utilizing land that we already have within our control: our homes and backyards, as well as businesses, schools, churches and other communal spaces.

Anyone can participate in 1,000 Acres More. No garden is too small; even tomato plants in pots can be counted! You can get started by registering your garden on the Butte County Local Food Network website at Butte County Local Food Network (bclocalfood.org) so that it can be counted toward the 1,000 acre goal (you are not required to list your address).

No garden? Start one. If you don’t have backyard space, consider turning your front lawn into a vegetable garden. Front-yard food gardens generate a lot of interest, and it’s likely that if you start one, some of your neighbors will be inspired to follow suit. If you’re not a confident gardener, the BCLFN website lists many resources to help you get started and be successful, including advice from UC Master Gardeners of Butte County.

To spread the word, share information about the 1,000 Acres More project with people you know. Those who feel committed to the cause of local food security can become 1,000 Acres+ Ambassadors.

Ambassadors take on the role of getting neighbors together to talk about growing food.

This can be done by having a front yard get-together of some kind (perhaps a potluck), and inviting your neighbors. If you’re shy about approaching them, BCLFN offers a printable door hanger which you can use to invite people by hanging it on their front door knob.

As BCLFN Director Pamm Larry states, “There’s a tremendous amount of resistance to getting to know your neighbor,” yet in the uncertain times we live in, there’s real value in being friends with those who live close by.

At your neighborhood event, you can exchange information about growing food and coordinate who will grow what in larger amounts for sharing. You can order seeds in bulk to divide with neighbors. You can create a tool sharing system. You can plan to build a neighborhood stand to share extra food that you grow, and you can combine it with a community billboard for posting information. There are lots of possibilities! On its website, BCLFN offers detailed instructions and suggestions for how to run a neighborhood meeting and keep it going on a regular basis, https://bit.ly/3VtDEat.

Fall is a good time to hold a community seed-cleaning event. Cleaning and saving your own seeds is cheaper than purchasing them, plus the seeds become increasingly adapted to our area the more we save and grow them. Saving seeds helps maintain the genetic diversity of our food supply, possibly helping plants adapt to new pests and diseases as well as changes in
climate.

1,000 Acres More offers the opportunity for us to start working together now toward greater food security. The need is great, but Butte County has the potential to become self-sufficient in feeding our entire population, year-round, if we take up the challenge.

BCLFN is excited to announce its new Garden Brigade, consisting of 20 College Corps Fellows from Chico State who are eager to work on food security in Butte County. This able-bodied crew is available to help with projects like putting in or expanding your food garden, getting your winter garden ready for more cold weather, or gleaning the excess on your fruit trees and making sure it gets distributed to the community. Sign up and let the Garden Brigade know how they can support you and your family in making us all more food secure in the coming years (1000 Acres More – Butte County Local Food Network (bclocalfood.org).  Also, Garden Brigade Team captains are needed to expand this project’s reach by helping the teams of fellows get into more gardens. No huge expertise is needed, just knowledge and experience in growing food successfully. To sign up, email  pamm@bclocalfood.org.

BCLFN is dedicated to creating and supporting local food systems that are good for the planet and for people, and that foster community connection and belonging, so whenever the next disaster occurs we can face it confidently, neighbor helping neighbor.

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

On Kentfield Road in Chico, an area that used to be an empty lot is now a destination: Kentfield Gardens. On any typical day, this sunny space that would otherwise be the exclusive domain of weeds and wildlife is full of garden beds, flowers and vegetable plants, neighbors and children. Kentfield Gardens is a community garden project founded by From The Ground Up Farms, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2013. The garden is a public space where anyone can come, gather with friends, work in the garden or pick and eat fresh food, all for free.

Use of the formerly vacant lot that is now Kentfield Gardens is the gift of a neighborhood resident who owns the lot and lives across the street. This generous individual even pays for the water used for the garden. Funding for improvements to the property (like the covered seating area and outdoor kitchen) as well as ongoing maintenance comes from donations and grants.

Wendy LeMaster, who has a bachelor of arts in microbiology from Chico State, oversees the youth programs at Kentfield Gardens and has volunteered there since its inception. In the beginning her hope was “to provide kids with an opportunity to learn gardening skills while enjoying each other’s company in an outdoor environment, which allowed them to socialize after a long period of time when they weren’t able to, due to the pandemic.” Since then, she says, the program called Kentfield Kids has expanded and become “a community for parents, friends, family and little ones to come together and enjoy nutritious foods, share recipes, gardening techniques, giggles and more.”

Thanks to a recent partnership between From The Ground Up Farms and the Butte County Local Food Network which is also a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, LeMaster has been hired as Garden Program Director to bring a new program called Growing Resilient Optimism with Nature to Kentfield Gardens and local schools. The GROWN program focuses on food literacy for kids (i.e. growing, harvesting, cooking and processing food) and offers potential career path internships to older youths as well.

LeMaster says that GROWN encompasses much of what she had already been doing at Kentfield, with a few changes: “I’ve modified my program to reflect a hybrid of the Teen Group and our Young Bud group, providing an hour of mentorship opportunity for our teens to work with our younger gardeners. Each group still has an hour of fun activity focused on their age group, and as always, this program remains free and families are still welcome to join us. The only other thing that’s changed is now I get to bring these garden programs to schools throughout the county. … GROWN is a Butte County Local Food Network Project, which has been made possible by a generous grant awarded to BCLFN through the county, and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish.”

The Butte County Local Food Network lists eight community gardens on its website.

Among them is Vecino Garden in Chico, located at 1535 Laburnum Ave. in the backyard of a private residence. This 1/3 acre property contains garden beds, fruit trees, a greenhouse, a neighborhood composting center and a shaded seating area.

As of Jan. 1, 2022, California has a new, statewide mandatory organic waste collection law aimed at reducing methane emissions by diverting organic waste from landfills (Senate Bill 1383). Butte County has a year and a half to develop a plan to implement the law, but Vecino Garden is already teaching and promoting neighborhood composting, funded by a grant from Cal Recycle implemented through California Alliance for Community Composting.

Another community garden listed on the Butte County Local Food Network website is Oak Way Garden, located adjacent to Oak Way Park at the corner of Eighth Avenue and Nord (Highway 32) in Chico. This spacious garden is filled with vegetable plants, especially Asian varieties, and interspersed with fruit trees and bright flowers. Established by the Butte Environmental Council about 10 years ago, this garden flourishes on land owned by the city of Chico.

According to Caitlin Dalby, executive director for the Butte Environmental Council, neighborhood gardeners rent plots in Oak Way Garden for 50 cents per square foot, paid to the city to cover the cost of water. The yearly cost of a plot 25-by-25 feet is about $312 per year; a plot 15-by-15 feet is about $112 per year, and the garden always has a waiting list.

Dalby says the garden was created to enable people to grow fresh food and to promote urban gardening as part of a healthy lifestyle. In addition, Oak Way Garden offers a composting program through Drop in the Bucket Bicycle Powered Compost Service. The service picks up compostable food scraps from nearby neighborhoods and brings the materials to Oak Way Garden via bicycle for composting at the garden.

How many more unused plots of land in Butte County could be transformed into productive gardens? The Butte Environmental Council hopes to locate properties in other neighborhoods for additional community gardens. And, Dalby says, the council is also involved in a wide range of projects including tree planting, recycling, composting, K-12 educational outreach and coalition building.

Consensus about the value of community gardens continues to grow. A 2020 big-picture review of 45 studies conducted by researchers at Cornell University concluded that “properly designed and maintained outdoor green space (including community gardens) has the potential to reduce violent crime and gun violence, to make communities safer and keep residents healthier” (Green space can reduce violent crime – Neuroscience News).

The Butte County Local Food Network lists many additional benefits of community gardens on their website. Director Pamm Larry points to the Butte County Local Food Assessment on the BCLFN website as a guiding document in their efforts to boost food security in Butte County, care for the environment, and promote social justice and community building.

Through a variety of ongoing projects, the Butte County Local Food Network is working to ensure local food sovereignty and abundance for the present and the future.

For more information, see the following resources:

Project for Public Spaces: Beyond Food: Community Gardens as Places of Connection and Empowerment (pps.org)

Butte County Local Food Network: Butte County Local Food Network (bclocalfood.org)

Butte Environmental Council: Butte Environmental Council (becnet.org)

GROWN: Growing Resilient Optimism With Nature – Butte County Local Food Network (bclocalfood.org)

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

Although Mediterranean climate zones comprise only about 2% of the earth’s land surface, they host 20% of all plant species, and California produces the majority of fruits, nuts and vegetables for the entire United States. No other state comes close to California’s output per acre. If you have been thinking about growing a garden to provide food for yourself and your family, now is the perfect time to start.

But wait! It’s already September — isn’t it too late? Not at all, because every season of the year in California has a surprising variety of plants that can be grown for food right in your back (or front) yard. Last week’s Real Dirt column focused on dirt: specifically, finding some.

Once you have located your patch of soil, you’re ready to begin a garden. The first step is to dig.

This sounds uncomplicated, but there is actually more to it than you might imagine. Your soil has a structure that supports plant life as well as billions of bacteria and millions of microorganisms and fungi, not to mention nematodes and earthworms.

Digging disturbs soil structure because it destroys soil aggregates, or tiny clumps, that create pore spaces in the soil used as pathways for water, oxygen and plant roots. The University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources recommends gardeners dig or turn over garden soil no more than once a season and doing so when the soil is moist but not wet to a depth of about 6 inches. A simple shovel works well. A small rototiller is another option (make sure it won’t dig too deep). And you don’t need to till or dig up the whole garden plot. One smart option is to dig planting rows about 18 inches wide, leaving walking spaces of 24 to 30 inches undisturbed between them.

On the other hand, some gardeners do not dig at all, and instead use a gardening method called “no till.” If you’re not a fan of digging, this method is for you!

No till gardening follows the pattern of nature, where organic materials like leaves and grasses decompose slowly on the surface of the ground, gradually mixing with soil minerals to create a rich growing medium for seeds that fall and take root. The soil is never turned over or disturbed. In no till gardening, you dig up a small amount of soil only where you’ll plant seeds or bedding plants.

To start a no till garden, first mow or trim any vegetation as close to the ground as possible, then water thoroughly and cover the area with cardboard or thick newspaper, dousing the cardboard or paper with water as well. Next, add a four- to six-inch layer of compost mixed with garden soil or worm castings. Compost can be purchased, but you can also make your own for free (for details see https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8037.pdf). The cardboard or paper beneath the compost will gradually decompose over a period of six to ten months, along with the roots and closely-cut remains of the weeds, lawn or plants underneath the cardboard.

While waiting for decomposition to occur, you can plant seeds of shallow-rooted plants directly into the compost and soil mix. Lettuce, spinach and chard can all be planted this way.

You can also separate the cardboard and dig a narrow trench for your seeds, mixing fine soil with compost. For deeper-rooted bedding plants, cut an X or a circle in the cardboard and dig a hole for the plant. Scoop out soil, add two to three shovelfuls of compost mix, and plant. The final step is to lay four to six inches of mulch on top, around your plants and over your walking paths; fallen leaves, grass clippings, straw, rice hulls or wood chips all work well for this. Some tree services offer loads of wood chips for free, and some feed stores give away straw or hay that accumulates on the storeroom floor, if you’re willing to scoop it up. Over time, the mulch will break down and mix with your compost layer to renew and enrich the soil.

For complete instructions on starting a no till garden go to https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/Blog.

Once, your garden area is prepared you’re ready to plant.

Think about the vegetables you and your family enjoy eating. Common cool-season vegetables that are planted in the fall include asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, chives, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, Swiss chard, kale, leeks, lettuce, onions, garlic, parsnips, peas, radishes, spinach and turnips.

Consult these Master Gardener planting guides for the valley https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/files/184803.pdf and foothills https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/files/197193.pdf of Butte County for information on the best months to plant, when you can expect to harvest your crop, and whether to sow seeds or use bedding plants.

Cool season vegetables grow best in early fall when the soil temperature is between 55 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the root zone (four to six inches below the soil surface).

All cool season vegetables can tolerate light frost, and some, like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, turnips, onions and garlic, for example, can survive even heavy frost.

Keep in mind that once the weather turns wintery and soil temperature drops below about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, most vegetables grow very little or not at all until things warm up again in the spring.

By  getting your vegetables planted now, they will grow happily through the cool, crisp days of autumn until first frost, or even beyond! With a modest investment in seeds and bedding plants, you can put food on the table for yourself and your family, with the satisfaction of knowing you took that unused patch of dirt and transformed it into productive ground.

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

Take a look around. Maybe it’s that patch of front lawn that you’re tired of mowing, or haven’t mowed at all.

Could it be the bare spot in the back where the dog likes to poop? Step One is to find some dirt, and don’t be judgy about the dirt you have. Your dirt is full of potential.

Dirt is made up of four things: minerals (from decomposed rock), air, water and organic matter (Faber et al 38). The organic material originates from living organisms (or stuff that was once alive), and a single teaspoon of soil may contain as many as 4 billion bacteria, 1 million fungi, 20 million actinomycetes and 300,000 algae, (Faber et al 50) not to mention those friendly earthworms, which together with the beneficial microorganisms work to produce healthy soil.

Even though dirt is packed with minerals, organic matter and microscopic critters, it still has space (pores) which hold water and air. Water isn’t surprising, but why air? Plant roots and most microorganisms “breathe,” and the soil takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. Ideal soil for growing plants is 45% minerals, 5% organic materials, 25% water and 25% air (Faber et al 38).

So, what about that dirt you are eying as a potential vegetable garden? About half of soil is made of minerals, and soil minerals are categorized by size: sand particles are the biggest, silt is medium-sized and clay particles are smallest.

A quick test will help you learn more about your own dirt.

First, take a small handful of moist soil. Rub the soil between your thumb and forefinger, and notice its characteristics. Is it sticky, smooth or gritty? Does it hold together, form a ribbon or thin strip, or fall apart? A sandy soil will feel gritty and crumble in your hand; a clay soil will feel sticky and form a strong ribbon, whereas silt feels smooth and slippery. Soil texture falls into three general categories based on particle size: coarse (sand), medium (silt) and fine (clay). The best soil for home gardens is a medium-textured “loam,” which means it has a relative balance of sand, silt and clay with 5 to 10% organic matter.

As you hold your own dirt in your hands, you may already be able to tell whether or not it has a favorable balance of minerals. The appearance of your dirt when it’s dry can offer clues, too. Does it shrink and crack into blocky structures? That would be clay. When you add water, does the water puddle easily (clay) or drain quickly (sand)? Even if you’re not blessed with a perfect, loamy soil, that’s ok. A sticky clay soil may be harder to work with, but clay plays a crucial role in soil fertility, so clay soil is often rich and holds moisture well. A sandy soil is less able to retain moisture and nutrients, but it’s easier to work with. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to improve your dirt so that it moves away from the extremes and closer to a balanced loam.

Your objective is to give your dirt some tender loving care, and your soil will return the favor by giving you healthier plants and better produce. Your soil’s mineral composition is what it is, but one element we can be altered is organic material. No matter what kind of dirt you have, adding organic matter will make it better. Organic materials include grass clippings, fallen leaves, straw, wood chips and bark, hulls, plant clippings (chopped small) and everyone’s favorite — manure. Now, here’s an important point: it takes time for the organic materials to break down and start to enrich the soil, to become usable to plants. So, what’s the best and quickest way to get those things into your soil? Compost. Compost is already mostly decomposed organic matter, so it mixes into the soil and continues to decompose slowly, releasing nutrients to plants and improving soil texture. Compost costs money, but you can also make your own in as little as 2 to 3 weeks at little or no cost. The article “Compost in a Hurry” at ucanr.edu has a complete description of DIY compost.

Maybe you’re thinking, why can’t I just throw on my leaves or grass clippings and dig them in? You can do that, but unfortunately, that reduces nitrogen (the nutrient plants need most) in your soil for a while because the soil microorganisms will be competing with your plants for nitrogen as the microbes eat up all those grass clippings and leaves. You would still end up needing to add nitrogen fertilizer. The next best thing to do with your organic material (if you’re not using a compost bin) is to turn it into mulch.

Think of mulching as another method of composting that involves placing a thick layer of organic matter on top of the soil and letting it decompose very slowly. It’s even better to put a layer of newspaper or cardboard on the ground first, wet it and then spread out the organic material on top, about 4 inches thick. The organic matter and the paper or cardboard underneath will break down over the next 6 to 10 months. To add plants, push aside the mulch, expose the paper or cardboard and cut an “X” large enough to accommodate your plant. Fold back the flaps, dig a hole and add your plant. When done, lay the flaps back in place and re-cover with mulch.

Remember that front lawn that you’re thinking could be a vegetable garden? This method of sheet mulching is one way you get rid of the grass! Cover it, mulch it, forget about it. If you want to learn more about lawn removal, here’s an article containing complete instructions: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=18225.

Healthy soil produces healthy plants, and mulching and composting are two ways to turn your dirt into the rich loam that gardeners dream about. Even better, they require no chemicals, and you won’t have to spend any money if you’re resourceful. In times like these, it’s good to know you can get started gardening without emptying your wallet. It’s simple.

Find some dirt, and make it better!

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

Today hummingbirds inhabit only the Americas, from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego and the Caribbean, although fossils of hummingbirds 30 to 35 million years old have been found in southeastern Germany (a species named Eurotrochilus inexpectatus because of the paleontologist’s surprise at finding it there). Why they died out in the Old World remains a
mystery.

Comprising the family Trochilidae and closely related to swifts, hummingbirds are one of the most diverse avian families in the world. They have adapted to a variety of landscapes which consistently offer an abundance of flowers: temperate woodlands, mountain meadows, cloud forests, tropical rainforests, deserts and many urban and suburban gardens throughout the United States. Most areas in the U.S. have one or two breeding species and only the ruby-throated hummingbird nests east of the Mississippi. Most hummingbirds spend the winter in Mexico or Central America, migrating north to their breeding grounds in the southern U.S. and western states as early as February, although the Anna’s hummingbird has become a permanent resident in California.

Hummingbirds coevolved with the native plants that provide them with food; being nectar feeders they are constantly mobile, guided by the changing pattern of flower production over time. In the western U.S., hummingbirds migrate through the lowlands in the spring and return by way of the mountains in the summer, tracking the blooming of annual plants. Visiting 1,000 to 2,000 flowers every day, they play an important role as pollinators. Even so, nectar represents only 20% of a hummingbird’s diet; the spiders and insects they catch in midair and feed to their nestlings constitute the remaining 80%. For example, a nesting female Anna’s can capture up to 2,000 insects a day; small species like midges and leaf hoppers are preferred. Hummingbirds consume half their body weight in insects and nectar each day.

With the fastest metabolism of all creatures on the planet (except for insects), the hummingbird has a relentless demand for food. A ruby-throated hummingbird’s heart beats more than 1,200 times per minute when it is flying, and its wings beat about 70 times per second in flight and more than 200 times per second while diving. Hummingbirds can enter a state of temporary hibernation called “torpor” at night, when temperatures drop, or other times when food is not available. Torpor allows them to conserve energy by slowing down metabolism, heartbeat and respiration.

Hummers also have an exceptional spatial memory which directs them to return to the same sugar water feeders after migrating thousands of miles each year. According to Terry Masear in her book Fastest Things on Wings, “Migratory hummingbirds can remember to within inches the precise location and height of a sugar feeder they frequented before heading south for the winter.” They return to the same feeder on the same day, year after year, and if the feeder is hanging higher or lower than last year, they will initially hover at last year’s height.

The hummingbird is the smallest of all birds, and the smallest hummingbird is the bee hummingbird Mellisuga helenae of Cuba, which weighs as little as 1.95 grams (two almonds) and is only about two inches in length. The typical hummingbird nest is about 1 and one-half inches in diameter (the size of a walnut shell), lined with plant down and secured with spider
webs to cradle two pea-sized eggs.

Despite their diminutive size, hummingbirds are fierce and territorial. They will drive their peers away from a favorite food source and will chase and dive at larger birds to defend a
nest, while buzzing, posturing and fighting with their needle-like bill and sharp talons.

These tiny aerial acrobats are the only birds able to fully support their weight while hovering, to stop in midair, and to fly backwards, sideways and upside down. They can do this because their wings rotate at the shoulder. They have been clocked at speeds of 25 to 30 mph, doubling or tripling that during courtship dives. They have the stamina to traverse up to 20 miles a day during migration, with nonstop flights of 18 to 22 hours over open ocean, covering thousands of miles in their yearly travels. Unlike waterfowl that migrate in flocks, hummingbirds fly alone.

Hummingbirds owe their shimmering iridescence to microscopic pancake-like structures in their feathers called melanosomes, packed with air bubbles that reflect light.

Humans have long been fascinated by hummingbirds. The Aztec god Huitzilopochtli is often depicted as a hummingbird. The Native American Ohlone people of the central California coast have a creation myth in which the hummingbird figures prominently, as well as a legend explaining how the hummingbird got his brilliant red throat. In Hopi and Zuni culture, Hú (also known as Huhuwa and Tithu or Tocha) is the Kachina of the hummingbird who helped convince the gods to bring rain. The Mayans, Cherokee and Cheyenne have hummingbird legends as well.

The European conquerors of the New World were intrigued by these tiny “winged jewels.” The French called them oiseaux mooches (“bird flies”), to the Portuguese they were beija-flores (flower kissers) and in Spanish they were known as chupaflores or picaflores. The English called them humbirds beginning in 1640, later changing the name to hummingbird.
Butte County Hummingbirds Five species of hummingbirds are found in Butte County: Anna’s, rufous, Allen’s, black-chinned and calliope. The most common are the Anna’s  (permanent residents) and rufous (common transients appearing during spring or fall migration). Of the remaining three, the Allen’s is a rare transient in Butte County, the black-chinned is an uncommon summer visitor, and the calliope is an uncommon transient. These hummers are all between 3 and 4 inches long, weigh about a tenth of an ounce (less than a nickel) and appear in a variety of colors.

The Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna), named for 19th Century Italian duchess Anna Massena, is one of the larger and more vocal hummingbirds in the United States, and the only
one to produce a song. In an elaborate courtship display, the Anna’s male flies upward 100 feet or more, then dives at around 50 miles per hour in a U-shaped arc, spreading his tail at the bottom of the dive to create a high-pitched tone and simultaneously flashing his magenta gorget (patch of color at the neck). The Anna’s female has a smaller magenta gorget.

These birds have adapted to wintering in California when other species migrate, allowing them to take advantage of food sources free from competition.

The rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) is smaller than the Anna’s and notably pugnacious, with glowing coloration described in Audubon Guide to North American Birds as “like a new copper penny.” The rufous nests farther north than any other species, as far as south-central Alaska, migrating north from Mexico through Pacific lowlands in early spring and southeast in late June, mostly through the Rocky Mountains. In recent years, the rufous has wandered further east, with many now found east of the Mississippi every fall and winter.

According to Audubon, the rufous is “still widespread and very common, but surveys show continuing declines in numbers during recent decades. Because it relies on finding the right conditions in so many different habitats at just the right seasons during the year, it could be especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change.”

A Hummingbird-friendly Garden With a little forethought, you can create a hummingbird-friendly environment in your own yard. If you encourage your neighbors to do the same, you can create a corridor of inviting habitat for migrating or overwintering birds.

Sugar water feeders are an obvious addition, preferably more than one and spaced apart since hummingbirds are territorial. Placing the feeder near nectar-producing plants is ideal, so that hummers get a better balance of nutrients from the feeder, plant nectar and insects.

Make sugar syrup at home by combining one part white cane sugar to four parts water, and bring to a boil for at least 30 seconds to retard fermentation and mold. Do not microwave because microwaves break down the sugar molecules and change the nutritional value. Do not use honey, brown sugar, molasses, agave, raw sugar, or artificial sweeteners as these can be dangerous to hummingbirds. Food coloring is unnecessary because the red on the feeder is enough to attract the birds. Let the mixture cool before filling the feeder.

Placing the feeder out of direct sunlight, if possible, will slow down the growth of mold.

Clean and refill the feeder every 3 or 4 days, or when it begins to look cloudy or wild yeast starts to form (it appears as flecks on the surface of the liquid around the edges). Clean the feeder with a bottle brush, hot water and a little white vinegar. Extra sugar syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or so.

“The most important thing about feeders is to keep them clean, which can require vigilance in a hot climate,” states Terry Masear, who rescues and rehabs hummingbirds in southern California, adding that hummers can get fungal infections from dirty feeders, “and it’s the most horrible way for them to die.”

The California Native Plant Society advises attracting and supporting hummingbirds by including nectar-rich plants in the garden, especially native plants that hummingbirds have evolved alongside and that depend on them for pollination. Native plants provide more nectar than non-natives, and studies show that hummingbirds prefer natives.

Hummers will feed on any flowers, but gravitate towards tubular flowers that are red, orange, or bright pink, possibly because insects have a harder time seeing red, leaving the nectar
from red flowers available for hummingbirds.

Providing nectar-producing plants that bloom through the seasons of the year will help ensure that hummers keep returning to your garden. For fall to winter bloom, consider planting native perennials such as Manzanita genus Arctostaphylos, Chaparral current Ribes malvaceum, Fuscia-flowered gooseberry Ribes speciosum or Hummingbird sage Salvia spathacea. Non-natives like bottlebrush, bird of paradise, Mountain sage Salvia regla or Indian hawthorne Rhaphiolepis – R. indica are also good choices.

Spring blooming native perennials include Chuparosa Justicia californica, Burgundy desert willow Chilopsis linearis ‘Burgundy’, Pink-flowering currant Ribes sanguineum glutinosum and Black sage Salvia mellifera, while non-native lavender or lantana are also good picks. Native flowers such as California Fuchsia Zauschneria or Epilobium canum, Hummingbird sage Salvia spathacea, species of Beardtongue Penstemon, Indian Paintbrush genus Castilleja and Coyote mint Monardella villosa all begin blooming in spring, as do non-native salvias, snapdragons, and begonia Begonia semperflorens.

Native plants that bloom summer through fall include Monkeyflowers genus Mimulus, Lupins Lupinus and Mexican Bush Sage Salvia leucantha, while non-native Giant hyssop genus Agastache, Hollyhock Althea rosea, Lily of the Nile Agapanthus, Rose of Sharon Hibiscus syriacus, plus petunias and zinnias are all attractive to hummingbirds.

The University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Tulare-Kings County offer a helpful plant list: Plants That Attract Hummingbirds: Zones 8 and 9 (ucanr.edu).

The ideal garden for hummingbirds is free of chemicals and a little messy.

Besides diverse and abundant flowering plants grown in large patches for more efficient foraging, a hummingbird-friendly garden includes tall trees for perching and nesting, water for bathing (a misting device is especially attractive), safety from domestic cats and tree trimmers during nesting season, and insects to feed upon.

Throughout the Americas, hummingbirds pollinate plants that in turn feed them nectar, and this keystone mutualism between plants and birds holds their natural habitat in balance.

Without hummingbirds, the ecosystem would be dramatically altered. Hence, these tiny “winged jewels” need our attention and protection, because the fate of hummingbirds is tied to our own.

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu. If you would like to participate in 18 th Annual Bowl-A-Thon and Silent Auction hosted by the Support Group of UCCE Butte County on Saturday, March 12, from 6 to 9 p.m., see more information on our website and at https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/files/364282.pdf.

A closer look at a poinsettia reveals that the colorful parts are pigmented leaves, not flowers at all, and the actual flower is quite small (a type of flower structure called cyathium unique to the genus Euphorbia). In the wild, the brightly colored leaves (called bracts) serve the same purpose as flower petals, attracting pollinators like hummingbirds.

The poinsettia we know and love is Euphorbia pulcherrima. It grows wild all along the Pacific coast of southern Mexico and northern Guatemala, mostly on western-facing slopes in
steep canyons of the tropical dry forest, where rainfall is limited by the long dry season each year. Wild populations of E. pulcherrima are also found further inland in the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, where the climate is much hotter. In their native habitat, winter-flowering poinsettias grow large and bushy (up to 10 feet tall), with long stems and many smaller clusters of bright red or white leaves.

The first to cultivate the poinsettia were the Aztecs of 14th Century Mexico, who prized the plant and called it cuetlaxochitl (coo eht la soch itl), “mortal flower that perishes and withers
like all that is pure” (J.A. Burciaga, “La Cuetlaxochitl,” Drink Cultura: Chicanismo, 1993, p. 41).

The Aztecs used the plant’s red bracts to create dyes for textiles, and its milky sap (similar to latex) medicinally.

The first association of cuetlaxochitl with Christmas occurred in the 17 th century when Spanish friars began using the plant in nativity processions. According to a legend from this period, a little girl had no gift to bring to the child Jesus (in the local nativity scene), so she picked a bouquet of weeds from the roadside. The child was ashamed to bring her gift of weeds into the church, but her cousin reminded her that “even the most humble gift, given in love, is acceptable in God’s eyes” (Z. Sterkenberg, “The long, strange tale of the Poinsettia,” Holiday Plant Profile, Ambius, December 2, 2019). When she laid her gift before the child Jesus, the weeds miraculously turned into a beautiful bouquet of cuetlaxochitl or flor de nochebuena, (Christmas Eve flower), as it came to be called in Mexico.

In the early 1800s, the plant came to the United States via Joel Roberts Poinsett, an American congressman and diplomat who was appointed the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

Poinsett was also an amateur botanist, and while visiting an area south of Mexico City called Taxco de Alarcón, Poinsett encountered the flor de nochebuena and sent samples back to the United States. He also sent cuttings and plants to a nurseryman in Philadelphia, who entered them at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s flower show in June 1829. According to the authors of “The Poinsettia: History and Transformation”, “the specimen received in Philadelphia was not a wild plant, but one that had been cultivated and modified for many years in Mexico” (J.M. Taylor, et al, Chronica Horticulturae, Vol. 51, Number 3, 2011).

The flor de nochebuena was at first called “Mexican flame flower” or “painted leaf” in the United States, and how exactly “poinsettia” became its permanent name is unknown. The plant next was sent to Scotland, and from there it reached German botanist Karl Willdenow in Berlin who named it Euphorbia pulcherrima in 1834 (Taylor et al).

Mexican growers of E. pulcherrima still believe that Poinsett deliberately prevented them from selling the plant internationally by obtaining a patent in the United States, although this document has never been found (Taylor et al). Poinsett was eventually recalled from his post in Mexico by President Andrew Jackson because of his diplomatic difficulties there, and the term “poinsettismo” is still used in Mexico to express officious and intrusive conduct (Burciaga, p. 44).

Today about 35 million potted poinsettias are sold in the United States each year, equal to one quarter of all flowering potted plant sales. The amazing growth in popularity of the poinsettia is largely attributed to the Ecke family, German immigrants who settled in Southern California around 1900 and began dairy farming and cultivating flowers. Albert Ecke became intrigued with poinsettias, which in those days were being sold only as cut flowers.

Clever marketing combined with hard work to produce superior plants enabled the Eckes to eventually control 90% of the poinsettia market (worth about $149 million annually by 2018) under the leadership of Paul Ecke, Sr., Albert’s son. He began to market potted poinsettia plants in addition to cut flowers, and he licensed grafting technology to produce plants that were bushier and more attractive than competitors’. Ecke obtained patents and tested his varieties to make sure they could withstand neglect and rough handling, and he began marketing the poinsettia as the “Christmas flower,” providing his plants free of charge to the White House and to many magazines and television shows (including The Tonight Show). (Erica R. Hendry, “How America’s Most Popular Potted Plant Captured Christmas,” Smithsonian Magazine, December 12, 2013).

In 1920 the discovery of photoperiodism in plants (seasonal changes in day length that induce flowering) led the floriculture industry to shorten the day length of poinsettias in greenhouses by covering them with black cloth to force flowering for the Christmas season.

Poinsettias remained fragile plants, difficult to maintain in perfect condition for Christmas until the 1950s, when breeding programs across the U.S. began producing plants of notably improved quality, appearance and durability. Another helpful innovation was the discovery in the 1980s by breeder Gregor Gutbier of a benign phytoplasma (similar to a virus) that could be used to increase branching in poinsettia cuttings.

According to Taylor et al., “other innovations in poinsettia production include plant pruning (pinching) to increase branching and the use of plant growth regulators (PGRs) to reduce stem elongation and final plant height. By increasing branching and controlling plant height, poinsettia producers can produce compact, high-quality plants that may also be packed, shipped, and sold on a cart in retail locations.”

The wildly successful marketing of poinsettias as Christmas flowers has, at the same time, limited their sales to about 6 weeks per year; however, there may be opportunities to move beyond the Christmas market. Examples include pink poinsettias for Valentine’s Day or orange plants for Thanksgiving.

With reasonable care, today’s poinsettia plants last well through the holidays and can even be induced to bloom again. When selecting a plant, look for one with green foliage down to the soil line, solid color in the bracts (pigmented leaves) and green- or red-tipped flowers in the center that look fresh and are pollen-free.

A potted poinsettia needs light, so placement near a sunny window is perfect. Room temperature should be 65 to 70 degrees and, if possible, slightly cooler at night, but not below 60 degrees. Avoid either hot or cold drafts, as these can cause premature leaf drop. Check the pot daily and water when the soil surface is dry; allow water to run through the drainage holes in the pot. “If a saucer is used, discard the water that collects in it. Do not leave the plant standing in water. Overly wet soil lacks sufficient air, which results in root injury. A wilted plant may drop its leaves prematurely, so try to keep it well watered. Plants exposed to high light and low humidity require more frequent watering.” (UCCE Center for Landscape and Urban Horticulture, Poinsettia Care, p. 1-2). Do not fertilize.

Poinsettias will color up and flower again the following Christmas if a fairly complicated care regimen is followed throughout the year. In brief, this regimen includes the following: cut the plant back to 4 inches above the soil surface and repot in mid-May; start to fertilize every 2 weeks when new growth appears; move the plant outdoors to a lightly shaded location in June; “pinch” or cut one inch of terminal growth in early July; cut new stems again between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1, leaving 3 to 4 leaves on each shoot, then place the plant  indoors in a sunny location; starting Oct. 1, keep the plant in complete darkness from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. using a closet, opaque box or black cloth; continue fertilizing until Dec. 1.

For complete details on this procedure, see UCCE publication Poinsettia Care, p. 2. Although poinsettias are reputed to be poisonous when ingested by pets or small children, the truth is that they are only mildly toxic and irritating, not poisonous. According to Poison.org, “In most cases, exposure to any parts of the poinsettia plant in children or pets has very little if any effect. If swallowed, it may cause mild irritation: nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.” Touching it may cause a rash in sensitive individuals.

Aztec symbol of purity and sacrifice, Christian symbol of the nativity of Jesus, the poinsettia remains a beloved and beautiful part of our winter holidays. Whether the flor de nochebuena will move beyond Christmas and become a plant for other holidays, or for every day, remains to be seen.

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

Christmas cactus is a general name given to a small group (genus) of cacti called Schlumbergera that are native to the coastal mountains of southeastern Brazil, growing mostly in high altitude, moist forests where conditions are relatively cool, shaded and humid. In the wild, Schlumbergera are either epiphytic or lithophytic, meaning they grow either on moss-covered tree branches or in rock crevices filled with decayed leaves and other vegetation, rather than in the ground.

These plants are true members of the cactus (cactaceae) family even though they bear little resemblance to other species of cacti adapted to desert heat: they have photosynthetic stems rather than leaves and areoles rather than branches.

In spite of their cool and moist native habitat, these plants are hardy and grow well in a pot outdoors on a sheltered patio or indoors next to a window in bright, indirect light. With proper cultivation, they are also long-lived; Schlumbergera can live up to 50 years or more; many have been passed down in families as cherished heirlooms.

Surprisingly, a “Christmas cactus” can be one of three different species. Schlumbergera truncata blooms earlier, usually in November, and is more accurately called the Thanksgiving cactus. Schlumbergera x buckleyi (sometimes referred to as S. bridgesii) blooms later, often in December or January (hence “Christmas cactus”). Finally, there is Schlumbergera gaertneri (formerly classified as Hatiora gaertneri or Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri) which blooms in the spring, around Easter, and again later in the year (P.Geisel and C.Unruh, Holiday Cacti, Publication 8114, UC Regents, 2004).

The common and botanical names given to these plants can be confusing, and any of them may be labeled “Christmas cactus.” So how can you identify exactly which species you have?

If the plant is in bloom, the flowers of S. truncata are zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical when sliced lengthwise) held more or less horizontally or above the horizontal, and the pollen is yellow; whereas the flowers of S. x buckleyi are more regular and hang down below the horizontal, with pollen that is pink. The flowers of S. gaertneri are different from the other two species because they are radially symmetrical (actinomorphic) and open to a funnel shape, like a starburst.

If the plant is not blooming, the best way to identify which species you have is by looking at the stem segments (phylloclades) that form the plant. In S. truncata the stem segments have pointed teeth (dentate), often with two large teeth at the end of the segment, while in S. x buckleyi they are rounded, with more symmetrical teeth (crenate); in S. gaertneri the segments are very rounded with small notches along the edge at the aeroles. For helpful illustrations of all of these species, see “Is it a Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter Cactus? – World of Succulents.”

Indeed, some sources claim that the Thanksgiving cactus Schlubergera truncata is actually the one that is widely marketed as Christmas cactus.

A brief history

Christmas cacti have been given as holiday gifts since the second half of the 19th Century.

Charles Lemaire, a French botanist, named the genus Schlumbergera in 1858, commemorating Frédéric Schlumberger, who had a collection of cacti at his chateau in France. Lemaire began with only one species in his new genus – a plant discovered in Brazil in 1837 which is now classified as Schlumbergera russelliana.

Schlumbergera truncata (Thanksgiving cactus) was cultivated in Europe starting in 1818, and S. russelliana was introduced in 1839. The two species were deliberately crossed in England, resulting in the hybrid now called Schlumbergera × buckleyi, first recorded in 1852, the true Christmas cactus.

Schlumbergera gaertneri (Easter Cactus) was first described in 1884 as the variety gaertneri of Schlumbergera russelliana). The name honors one of the Gaertner family, early settlers in Brazil.

These winter and spring-blooming species are three of the seven recognized species within the genus Schlumbergera. In addition, there are hundreds of modern cultivars (breeder-selected cultivated varieties) of the Christmas cactus.

Care and feeding

Schlumbergera cacti do best in temperatures ranging from 50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes them an obvious choice for a houseplant, but they can also live outside if they are sheltered from direct, intense sun, heat and frost. These rainforest plants need humidity. An indoor environment such as a kitchen with bright indirect light is perfect, or you can provide humidity by misting the plant or placing the pot on a saucer of pebbles filled with water so that the plant benefits from evaporation but doesn’t sit in water. In their native habitat, these plants may get up to 17 inches of rain a month during their growing season (March to September).

Although this drops to as little as 3 inches per month in the dry season, it’s still enough to provide consistent moisture and humidity (Geisel and Unruh, Holiday Cacti). Since these plants naturally grow in crevices of tree branches or rocks, they prefer to be in smaller pots with tight root space. The potting mix should be loose and fast draining; a good cactus mix that is somewhat acidic (pH 5.0 to 6.0) will work. Allow Schlumbergera to dry out wartially, but not completely, between waterings. A good rule of thumb is to water when the top one to two inches of soil are dry (depending on the size of your pot). Fertilize every two to four weeks during the growing season using a well-balanced formulation such as 10-10-5. Liquid fertilizer mixed with water according to directions or granular slow-release formulations are equally effective. With reasonably good care, these hardy plants are generally free of pests or disease.

Blooming and propagation

The trickiest aspect of Schlumbergera cultivation is getting them to bloom abundantly every year at holiday time. Schlumbergera are thermophotoperiodic, which means that temperature and short days (fewer hours of daylight) trigger bloom. Even with good care, they will probably bloom sparingly unless exposed to cool nighttime temperatures (50 to 55 degrees) and 12 to 16 hours a day of total darkness starting about six to eight weeks ahead of their flowering period.

In the fall, a sheltered location outdoors will work as long as daylight is limited to 10 to 12 hours and nighttime temperatures dip into the 50’s (but not much below 50 degrees). Indoors, a cool room where lights are not turned on at night is ideal; another option is to place the plant under a black cloth or in a closet to ensure total darkness from 5 pm to 8 am.

When flower buds are set, keep the plant away from heater vents, fireplaces and other sources of hot air; continuous warm temperatures, especially above 80 degrees, can cause the flower buds to drop. Once the plant is blooming, make sure it is regularly watered, but do not fertilize.

Schlumbergera usually remain in flower for four to six weeks and then enter a rest period, followed by a new growth cycle. After blooming is a good time to prune and shape the plant. You can use the pruned sections to easily start new plants. Allow the cut ends to dry (callus) for a few days, and then insert them about 1 inch deep in moist, clean potting mix (5 cuttings in a 6-inch pot). Use of a rooting hormone is usually not needed. Cover the pot or tray with a clear plastic bag to create a more humid environment, making sure the bag is held up and away from the cuttings.

Although far from their native rainforest home, exotic Schlumbergera cacti still brighten our winter holidays with the gift of spectacular color and beauty.

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

Plants define the landscape. In California, besieged by the twin threats of drought and wildfire, the choice to grow native versus non-native plants is attracting more attention than ever before. What exactly are the merits of native compared to non-native plants, and how do gardeners make the best choice about what to grow in a home garden?

Native plants occur naturally in the area where they originally evolved. These plants have coevolved with wildlife, fungi, and microbes, and their interdependent relationships form the foundation of our native ecosystems, according “Native and Naturalized Plants for the Home Garden in Northern California.”

Every place has its own native plants, but California is spectacular in that most of the state is comprised of the “California Floristic Province,” a biodiversity hotspot that contains over 5,000 native plant species, more than 60% of which are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world.

With this stunning variety of native plants, you might expect to see them growing on every corner and offered for sale in every nursery and home improvement store, yet this is not the case. In fact, according to the California Academy of Sciences, 75% of the original native plant habitat in California has been lost , according to “Hotspot: California on the Edge.”

Since California natives are less commonly planted compared to non-native plants, you can become more familiar with them by visiting a local native plant garden such as the Butte County Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden at Patrick Ranch in Durham, the Alice B. Hecker Native Plant Garden at Chico Creek Nature Center, and the Native Plant Pollinator Garden at Gateway Science Museum in Chico.

But how do we know for sure that a plant really evolved in the local area? Botanical studies of the world’s flora have been ongoing for many years, and the historical record includes many specimens and drawings of plants that were originally brought to America by European explorers and settlers. In addition, paleobotanists have been able to compare fossil records with modern plants to accurately identify which plants are native to an area, according to “Native and Naturalized Plants for the Home Garden in Northern California.”

For gardeners, native plants have some important advantages. According to the California Native Plant Society, native plants are adapted to the local area and have natural defenses to local diseases and insects, minimizing the need for pesticides. Unfortunately, pesticides kill indiscriminately, so beneficial insects become collateral damage when pesticides are used. In contrast, native plants have built-in natural pest control, so that you can avoid the cost, mess and environmental damage involved in applying pesticides.

Another advantage to native plants is that once they are established, they normally need little watering beyond normal rainfall. With California experiencing an historic drought, native plants can help save significant amounts of water that would otherwise be soaked up by thirstier landscape plants. In general, native plants require less maintenance than non-native garden plants: less water, little or no fertilizer, less pruning, less of your time.

In addition, California native plants attract wildlife that use these plants as their natural habitat. For example, the many pollinators that flock to native plants can improve fruit set in your home orchard and yield in your vegetable garden. A variety of native insects and birds can reduce populations of mosquitos and plant-eating bugs. By using native plants, you support native wildlife and help preserve the balance of natural ecosystems, according to “Benefits of California Native Plants.”

As gardeners we have many choices about what to plant, even after allowing for what’s available locally and what we can afford. However, home gardeners may not realize that some of the non-native plants commonly available at garden centers and nurseries are invasive species or have the potential to become invasive; in other words, they are plants that  threaten California’s natural ecosystems and cause damage to wildlife.

“California has the greatest natural botanical diversity of any state in the United States. In addition to nearly 5,000 native plant species, there are about 1,500 non-native species that have become established in the state. About 250 to 300 of these are weeds of agricultural crops, turf or gardens. The remaining 1,200 or so are naturalized plants of wildlands or disturbed non-crop areas, some of which are important invasive plants,” according to UC IPM Pest Notes: Invasive Plants.

Invasive plants can “disperse, establish and spread without human assistance,” and they cause disruption of natural ecosystems. The worst invasive species are called landscape transformers because they substantially alter the “character, condition, form and nature of the invaded habitat,” consuming resources needed for native plants to survive. When invasive plants replace native plants in the wild, wildlife that feed on the native plants suffer and may become endangered, according to UC IPM Pest Notes: Invasive Plants.”

Of the many species listed on the California Invasive Plant Council Inventory, 37% were accidentally introduced into the state, but “the remaining 63% were intentionally introduced as landscape, pond or indoor ornamentals, aquarium plants, soil stabilization species, animal forage species, or human food, fiber or medicine,” according to UC IPM Pest Notes: Invasive Plants.”

Home gardeners may be surprised to learn that commonly available plants such as periwinkle (vinca major), or butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), are listed on the California Invasive Plant Council Inventory, as are sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), and gazania daisy (gazania linearis). Periwinkle, English ivy, Himalayan blackberry, and Chinese pistache, among others, have invaded our own beloved Bidwell Park. You may be dismayed to realize that you are growing invasive plants in your own garden! The University of California’s division of Agriculture and Natural Resources has information on how to determine whether a plant in your garden is safe to keep or should be removed, according to UC IPM Pest Notes: Invasive Plants.” The potential for a plant to spread from your garden to surrounding natural areas is a critical consideration in deciding whether to keep an invasive plant or destroy it.

When you shop for plants, “the key element is to know which horticultural plants are invasive in your area of the state. If a plant is listed as invasive in your region, it should be avoided for landscape use, especially for locations near natural areas. It may be safe to use in other regions, but sometimes the plant is not listed as invasive in an area merely because it has not yet become a presence,” according to UC IPM Pest Notes: Invasive Plants.”

For the five different regions of California, the PlantRight program identifies the most troublesome plants, as well as plants with the potential to become invasive, and suggests horticultural alternatives for them. For example, the PlantRight website highlights periwinkle (vinca major) as highly invasive in all five regions of California, and it suggests planting Bee’s Bliss sage (Salvia ‘Bee’s Bliss’) or yerba buena (Clinopodium douglasii) instead — both are native to California. But interestingly, not all of the alternatives they suggest are native plants.

Another plant on the watch list of the California Invasive Plant Council because of high potential risk is butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii); for alternatives, the website lists more than a dozen approved cultivars of this non-native plant.

Another fine resource for Butte County gardeners interested in planting responsibly is the list of Butte County All-Star Plants developed by the Master Gardeners and based on their experience at the Demonstration Garden at Patrick Ranch. These are plants that grow well in the local area. Almost all them are drought tolerant or require only moderate watering, and some are also California natives.

Gardeners interested in planting California native plants will appreciate the CalScape website where you can enter your address and search for plants that are native to your area. The search results are categorized in useful ways including low/very low water, butterfly hosts, very easy to grow, shade/part shade, annuals, perennials, and more. The information on each plant also details how the plant provides habitat for wildlife.

Clearly, home gardeners can support the health of natural ecosystems and conserve water in California by making wise choices about landscape plants. With non-native plants, make sure a plant is not invasive (or potentially invasive) before purchasing it, and be aware of its water requirements. Ultimately, California native plants are the best and most responsible choice, especially because of the ongoing drought and their diminishing natural habitat. The one drawback of native plants, perhaps, is that they can be harder to find; fortunately, the Butte County Master Gardeners program offers twice yearly plant sales featuring native plants at reasonable prices. One native plant at a time, home gardeners can help “California look like California” again in all its marvelous biodiversity.

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

Welcome to the sustainable garden!

The Cambridge Dictionary defines sustainable as “causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time.”

Sustainable gardens are resource efficient and able to perform their intended functions indefinitely with minimal negative impact on the environment.

A garden that grows and produces well, doesn’t drain resources and money, and has a positive impact on the environment: this sounds like any gardener’s dream, right? But it’s not difficult to achieve. You can create a sustainable garden in your own yard by following some simple techniques.

A trip to the garden department of any large home improvement store might give you the impression that gardening requires a vast and confusing array of products: fertilizers, pesticides, bags of soil amendments, something specific for every situation.

Sustainable gardening takes a different approach; instead of products, there are ways of doing things which result in a garden that sustains itself.

Placer County Master Gardener Elaine Kelly Applebaum has put together a helpful document that outlines the principles and practices of sustainable gardening in “What is Sustainable Landscaping” at https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmgplacer/files/166235.pdf.

She writes “What we do in our home gardens can greatly impact the environment, for better or worse. By making the right choices of what to grow and how to care for our landscapes, we can make a positive difference, not only in the health of the environment, but in our own health as well, now and into the future.”

One simple example of a sustainable gardening practice is to select the right plant for the right area of your yard, making sure that the plant will get the correct amount of sunlight and
have adequate space to grow.

Every yard has different “zones” that are appropriate for different kinds of plants: places that are sunnier or shadier, areas that have better or less good growing conditions for particular plants.

You can observe hours of sunlight throughout the day for each season of the year and select plants accordingly. You can also make sure that when plants get larger they will not be cramped for space. This may seem like a “no brainer,” but the truth is that people often fail to place plants in locations where they will thrive.

Another important sustainable gardening practice is to feed your soil. Why feed soil?

The simple answer is that if you feed your soil, the soil will feed your plants, and you won’t need to buy that bag of fertilizer or bottle of plant food.

One of the best ways to feed your soil is to make your own compost using organic materials you get for free, like fallen leaves, grass clippings, wood chips, straw, paper, cardboard, kitchen vegetable scraps and twigs and small branches pruned from plants in your yard.

You can construct a simple compost bin from reclaimed materials like wooden pallets, chicken wire or cinder blocks. For the basics on composting, see http://acmg.ucanr.edu/Growing_Your_Own_Food/Improve_Your_Soil_With_Compost.

Compost is dug into the soil or laid on the surface, where it continues to decompose and release nutrients into the soil.

A sustainable practice that goes hand in hand with composting is mulching, which involves laying organic material in a thick layer (four to six inches) on top of the ground around your plants.

Wood chips, sawdust, chopped leaves and straw are examples of organic materials useful for this purpose. Mulch breaks down slowly over six to ten months, suppressing weeds and conserving water as it does so.

Growing your own manure is an easy way to feed your soil; and no, you don’t have to fill your front yard with goats.

Cover cropping, a sustainable cultural practice in use for over 3,000 years, involves growing a crop specifically to cover and protect the soil from erosion; a cover crop that is chopped up and turned back into or onto the soil is referred to as “green manure.”

Since ancient times, cover crops such as legumes, clover, mustards and grasses like wheat or rye have been grown specifically to protect and enrich the soil.

Green manure feeds your soil (by increasing soil organic material and nitrogen), aerates (by penetrating compacted soil and improving soil structure), improves water infiltration and retention, and provides food and habitat for soil microorganisms, beneficial insects and pollinators.

Best of all, if you grow your own green manure, you will reduce or eliminate the need to buy fertilizer.

For details on cover cropping see https://casfs.ucsc.edu/documents/for-the-gardener/choosing-cover-crops.pdf and http://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/files/290909.pdf.

Cover crop seeds and seed mixes cost money, but they’re not expensive if you go to a feed or farm supply store where you can buy seeds by the pound.

Once you have your seeds, you simply scatter them over the soil, rake them in with a garden rake, pat them down to make good soil contact and water.

Cover crops are often planted in the fall and cut in the spring, three to six weeks before planting any new vegetable crops in the same soil, but warm season cover crops can also thrive in the summer.

You may be thinking that your tiny garden is not big enough for cover cropping, or your year-round vegetable garden has no empty space for this practice, but consider the fact that a low-growing cover crop like Dutch white clover can be sown in between the rows of your fall or winter garden crops.

In the spring, you can cut the clover, compost the tops or use them as mulch, and plant your summer garden among the roots, which you leave in the ground.

Plant clover again in the empty rows after you remove your winter garden, as white clover tolerates summer heat with minimal irrigation.

Clovers, like other legumes, add nitrogen to the soil through a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that inhabit nodules on their roots, Rhizobium spp.

Rhizobial bacteria “fix” or “grab” nitrogen from air in the soil and convert it into a form (ammonium) that plants can use. Once the clover plant dies, the root nodules release their nitrogen into the soil, so it is important to leave the roots in the ground.

One additional note: make sure that the clover seed you buy is inoculated with the bacteria Rhizobium spp.

Feeding your soil and choosing the right plant for the right spot in your garden are two sustainable gardening practices, but there are many more.

For additional information, go to http://sonomamg.ucanr.edu/files/243996.pdf.

Sustainable gardening practices support the effort to work with nature rather than against it, right at home in your own garden. In the words of author Michael Pollan, “The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.”

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4H, farm advisors, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.