pests

Taking advantage of statewide moisture in the forecast, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest will conduct prescribed fire operations across several portions of the forest this week as part of the forest’s hazardous fuels reduction effort and active forest management program. Also, weather and conditions permitting, the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team will continue widespread prescribed fire operations this week in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

I'm just itching to start pruning our evergreens, but my arborist self knows it’s a bit soon. I will wait until we have a hard freeze, to ensure my pruning cuts won’t attract any bark beetles. When a tree is pruned, we actually are wounding it.

I have often written about my friend Laura’s fantastic gardens. She has always had horses and chickens. Then, also having a tractor, she was able to turn and aerate large piles — all the ingredients and tools for outstanding compost.

Listen, if you live in Nevada, you live in rattlesnake territory. Does that mean you can't leave your house for fear of being bitten? Of course not! Especially because there might be a rattlesnake in your house right now, watching you, so whether you're inside or not makes no difference. However, you can avoid getting bitten with these 10 tips on rattlesnake awareness.

Gardening is a great activity that can be done at home, and University of Nevada, Reno Extension is offering online courses to teach gardening basics. This April, Extension's Grow Your Own, Nevada! Program will live stream eight classes statewide to help those who want to get on a path to more sustainable, local, healthy living by growing more of their own food.

Each season brings its joys and its challenges. I’m excited after winter to see the delights of Spring with all the blooming forsythia, flowering plums, daffodils, and other plants displaying their colors. I generally forget the spring problems until suddenly I’m seeing ground squirrels, ants and weeds. All of a sudden, I feel as if I have to hurry to catch up with the pests.

I just read an interesting article called “How are gardeners adapting to climate change?” in the British magazine “Gardens Illustrated.” The authors interviewed head gardeners at National Trust properties across the United Kingdom. All the gardeners were seeing effects of climate change such as “floods to drier summers.”

I love to hear from readers. One reader and friend, Paul, suggested the following for article ideas: 1. How to deal with those tiny flies that seem to come from indoor plants. 2. This is the best time to take down danger trees, since the insects will not jump to healthy trees now. 3. This is the time to order from plant catalogues and plan for your gardening in the spring.

The first of a series of 12 educational gardening classes presented through the collaboration of Carson Tahoe Health and The Greenhouse Project begins this Friday, Jan. 24. Site managers Cory King and William Pierz have put together the monthly series of classes.

I write weekly articles and I rarely remember from week to week what I wrote. So, I reviewed this past year’s production for some of my favorites.

Red wriggler worms are decomposing work horses. They eat paper and food scraps turning them into compost, a nutrient-rich material for plants.

I asked Cory at The Greenhouse Project to share a worm composting method. He suggests a 3-bin method, starting with plastic bins approximately 1-1/2 feet by 2-1/2 feet. The boxes are shallow, because worms are surface-dwellers and prefer to live in the top six inches of bedding material.

The last Thursday of November means a big gobble gobble, Happy Thanksgiving to all. Enjoy in the games, festivities, activities at home and outdoors. Events are at a minimum, for obvious reasons, but the two big ones are traditions for us in the capital city. The Carson City Turkey Trot at the Governor's Mansion and the free Carson Nugget Thanksgiving community dinner. Enjoy your day and any slight break in the weather. More winter storms are on the way.

With snow overnight into the morning, the eve of Thanksgiving will bustle with last minute food shopping and, for many, preparing for an extended holiday weekend. There's a few activities around Carson City on Wednesday, Nov. 27 including a "Get Fit with Fight Camp" at Yaple's Ballroom, art showings, classes and more.

With the season's first big winter storm expected to arrive later Tuesday evening into Thanksgiving, you can still get in activities around the capital city before the snow flies. There's a morning walk and evening hike with Muscle Powered, a job fair at the Carson Nugget, fitness and swing classes at Yaple's Ballroom, a Carson City School Board meeting and more.

Enjoy any sunshine Monday as our first significant snow storm of the season is ahead this Thanksgiving holiday week. Activities and happenings on the first day of the work week, Nov. 25, 2019 include a free yoga class offered through Partnership Carson City, a discussion on the Julian Castro campaign hosted by the Carson City Democratic Men's Club, art events and more.

Santa will be appearing at St. Nick's Village, located at Casino Fandango between the Sky Bridge and Galaxy Theater, each Saturday and Sunday between Thanksgiving and Christmas from 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. The first 4X6 photo with Santa is free, and donations will be accepted to benefit The Greenhouse Project.

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.

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.

The Carson City Health Department's inspections this week returned with eight Carson City businesses in violation of health and safety codes. Scores of 0 with no violations translate to full compliance with health department food safety codes.

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.

I bumped into my friend Cat at a nursery buying marigolds to solve a problem her lilacs were having. She said something was eating the leaves along the edges leaving sharp-edged cutouts. She said someone swore that marigolds planted around the base of the shrubs would solve the problem.

CARSON CITY — A field of wildflowers is one of the most inspiring scenes you can experience in nature, and springtime in Nevada offers an abundance of opportunities to enjoy these blossoming treasures.

Although I have never tried Epsom salts, named for a town in England, in my landscape or garden, I have heard many gardeners rave about what they call a miracle cure for plants. Whenever I wonder about whether something is a horticulture myth, I turn to Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D., a well-respected horticulture researcher at Washington State University.

Recently a reader asked me about growing hemp. According to Penn State Extension, hemp was often found in early settlements and used as a fiber source. It was widely grown in Pennsylvania and other states in the 1700s and 1800s. Not only grown for fiber, its oil was used “in paints, ink, varnishes, and lamp oil.” Conestoga wagon covers and clothing were made from hemp.

Carson City School District is pleased to announce Educator Kristina Britt, speech language pathologist at Bordewich Bray Elementary School, as a winner of GreenNevada’s Growing Resources for Environmental Education in Nevada 2019 Golden Pinecone Sustainability Award.

We are pruning pine, incense cedar and spruce trees now. Some have branches hanging in the way of the driveway or gates. Others have dead or dying branches. We had delayed pruning until after a hard freeze to reduce the possibility for beetle attacks.

CARSON CITY — Of all the decorations that people put up on Halloween, there is one that Jennifer Newmark, Wildlife Diversity Division chief for the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), holds a special affinity towards. Newmark cannot get enough of the bat decorations, just not for the same reasons as most people.

Recently we visited friends at beautiful Flathead Lake, Montana, where, unfortunately, yellowjackets were swarming. They attacked for no reason and their bites/stings burn and itch, often causing swelling.

RENO, NV – At Nevada Field Day on Sept. 8, visitors will be treated to a variety of free activities and giveaways, and even some tasty food samples.

As part of this year’s activities, nationally acclaimed local food advocate Mark Estee will present a cooking demonstration at 10 a.m. Estee has been featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and in Esquire Magazine.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Mike Smith, owner of Shiny Shoes in downtown Carson City, last Sunday to talk about his "Ideas on Tap" concept as a monthly community event in the Nevada state capital.