cooperative extension


On and off, on off. That’s what I keep doing with our irrigation and hoses as the daytime temperatures stay warm, but with nighttime temperatures below freezing. On, water; off, open spigots and hoses and drain them. While this is tedious, I am enjoying the beautiful weather.

In 2003, I wrote an article on making a home firesafe. I started with this “The raging fires in California are a terrible reminder of the wildfire risk of living in the urban-wildland interface.” Now, 16 years later, that initial sentence bears repeating. With climate change, global warming we are seeing hotter, more intense, faster spreading wildfires than ever before. Fuels such as brush, grasses and trees are tinder dry everywhere, including Northern Nevada.

Fall is bulb planting time. Most people are familiar with the basic bulbs such as daffodils and tulips, but what about some of the plants commonly called bulbs that are actually corms, rhizomes, tubers or tuberous roots? All of these terms refer to the specialized underground structures that are storage organs for many of our spring blooming plants.

I’m watching leaves fall. What does one do with all these leaves? I mentioned in a previous article, some can be used as mulch around trees and shrubs. Others can be shredded with the lawnmower and added to a compost pile. However, winter composting presents a few challenges, primarily due to the cold temperatures. But you can still compost.

I have a hero whose name is Rosalind Creasy. This landscape designer coined the phrase “edible landscaping” in her first book, The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping first published in 1982 and updated three times since 2010. Since I first read this book, and her Gardener’s Handbook of Edible Plants, I have dreamed of foodscaping our yard.

The Carson City Fair has been steadily growing and coming into its own the last few years, and has now decided to form an independent non-profit organization dedicated to continuing their work.

The nights are freezing, but the daytime temperature should reach 66 degrees today and the mid to upper 70s later this week. When the temperatures vary from freezing at night to warm days, it’s hard to know how much to water.

Good yard sanitation in the fall is as important to year-long plant health as proper planting, watering, fertilizing and pruning are. This is particularly true for next year’s crop of vegetables and fruit. Remove or cut back all the plants in the vegetable garden that are done for the season.

A reader recently asked me, “How much do I water my lawn at this time of year? It depends. Influencing factors to consider include: temperature, wind, solar radiation, humidity, age of the lawn, soil type and method of irrigation.

Writing this on Wednesday, Sept. 18, the morning temperature reading was 37 degrees and Tuesday it was 35 degrees. If the cold nights didn’t alert me that fall is near, my flowers and trees would. Leaves are turning yellow on the neighborhood poplars and ash trees. Some maples are already changing to autumn oranges and reds.

Gardeners ask me if it’s time to prune. Late summer and early fall pruning can encourage new growth, which will not have time to harden off before freezes occur. If freeze damage happens, the health of the plant can be adversely affected. This is particularly true for roses, which should not get pruned until April.

Good morning and good day, Carson City. It is Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019. There's a remembrance this evening at the 911 Memorial at Mills Park beginning at 6 p.m., hosted by Carson City Christian Ministerial Fellowship. Also today is a health screening available through Carson Tahoe Health and Wellness, art workshops and showings, a farm to fork tour in Douglas County, Wheeled Food Wednesday at the BAC and more.

About this time of year, I find my interest in gardening waning a bit. For one thing, it’s hot. For another, it’s already September and the first frost may not be far off, so why bother. In years past, I reminded people to expect the first frost around September 15 in most areas.

Editor’s Note: This week's guest writer is Kelly K. Edmundson, MA, MFT, LCADC(P). Kelly is the Lead Safe School Professional School Mental Health Worker III at Carson High School.
Carson High School will again open its doors a little wider and longer for the 3rd Annual Back-to-School Night like no other Sept. 9. Open House, Open Hearts is a community event focused on building bridges to local services for teens and their families, increasing parent and guardian engagement at CHS, and celebrating the community, creativity, and diverse talents of Carson City.

Join us for a Farm to Fork Tour in Douglas County on September 11. Planned and hosted by University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Educator, Lindsay Chichester.

The day will begin at 10am at Jacobs Family Berry Farm with a tour and berry tasting, followed by a steak lunch at JT Basque, a tour and tasting at Bently Heritage, and conclude with a Bently Ranch Tour.

Do you struggle to eliminate weeds from your lawn each year? The best defense against lawn weeds is a healthy lawn. Healthy lawns are thick with deep roots and enough resilience to handle summer heat. Thin, patchy lawns are stressed and easily invaded by weeds.

In Northern Nevada, many of us have single stream recycling with curbside pickup. However, in an anti-pollution campaign, China has reduced or eliminated what kind of foreign recyclables and what percent (0.5) of contaminated materials it will accept.

One of the things I used to do at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension was diagnosing plant problems. When people brought in samples, I, other Extension staff and volunteers would examine them to see what the problem was and what might be causing it.

Heading into the first day of the work week, if you're an early, early riser or are settling in for the night, you'll want to step outside at around 3 a.m. for the peak of the Perseid shower, which will be in the eastern sky. If you missed them, there will be a viewing party hosted by Carson City Parks and Rec at the Jack C. Davis Observatory at WNC beginning at midnight Tuesday morning, August 13. Otherwise, it's onward and upward into the day with a Cooperative Extension presentation, Shred Kids mountain bike camp, Red Cross sitter certification class, West Coast swing dancing and more.

Ticks not only can carry disease, they are disgusting. I have rarely noticed ticks on our property, but recently, I found two in the house, where they must have come in on my clothes after I worked in the high grasses and wildflowers in the yard. Yuck! Fortunately, they weren’t engorged with blood.

Skunks are back in our neighborhood. Twenty-five years ago we had skunks here regularly, sometimes living under our shed. Our dogs would run through nearby fields and get sprayed. When the golf course was built across the creek from us and numerous houses went in, skunks disappeared.

The long-awaited tomato harvest has begun. Tomatoes are ripening, but what’s with the blackened leathery spot on the bottom? We put in all kinds of time and energy to grow lovely delicious tomatoes and these are ugly. The problem is blossom end rot, a physiological issue. It’s not a disease, so the unaffected parts of the tomato are still edible, once you cut away the blackened part.

I just finished Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior, a heart-wrenching story about monarch butterflies, their migration and the destruction of their habitat. Although fictional, the author provides detailed scientific information about their physiology, migratory behavior, food sources and how scientists study these amazing creatures called “King Billies” in the book.

The word “pest” means different things to different people: weeds that are never-ending, insects on plants or in houses, plant diseases of all types, mushrooms in a lawn or critters digging up a garden or yard. Gardening is not for the faint of heart. Some people spray or use a chemical for everything, whether it is called for or not. This is not necessarily an effective approach.

SILVER CITY, Nev. — Children ages 8-12 and their parents can take part in a fun science activity this Tuesday. Jim Barcellos of University Nevada Cooperative Extension leads his popular interactive science activity on Tuesday, July 9 from 10 to noon at the Silver City School House, 385 High Street. The activity is free and all children ages 8-12, with their parents, are invited to attend.

We are getting a new roommate next week — a kitten! We haven’t had a kitten in over 30 years. We have always adopted older cats and lucky for me they didn’t eat my houseplants. However, kittens are like toddlers, always exploring and getting into trouble, so I have to make sure none of our plants can poison a curious kitten.

As we go forward and move ahead into Tuesday, July 2, 2019 we're looking at another sunny day, all the better as we prepare to celebrate Independence Day. Are you ready for July 4 fireworks at Mills Park? As a Tuesday warmup, get the heart pumping during Muscle Powered's three fitness outings. Plus there's art showings, hands-on science activities in Silver City, an evening archery shoot, a viewing of the 1953 film "From Here to Eternity" at the Brewery Arts Center hosted by the Carson City Classic Cinema Club and more. Enjoy the day.

Location is University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, 2621 Northgate Lane, Suite 12, Carson City, NV

In addition to a short video on climate change, the meeting will discuss climate change and ways to mitigate its effects. Everyone is welcome to attend our monthly meetings.

A reader sent me a question. “We had an arborist trim our apple tree in March and this is the first year in at least 20 years that the tree had no blossoms. Is this situation common or did we do something wrong?” Neither of my apple trees had flowers this year either. I had assumed a late freeze had caused this because often my trees bloom, then there is a freeze and the flowers wither and die. However, this year there weren’t any flowers at all.

Silver City, Nevada - Kids ages 8-12 and their parents can don goggles and learn why there's an endothermic reaction between vinegar and baking soda in a bubbling and fun activity on July 2 in Silver City. Participants will use thermometers and observe whether heat is created or extinguished. The experiment will also help them learn about Celsius and Fahrenheit.