Agriculture: Bakersfield.com

A Garden Raises A Community

Hello Friends!!
We're competing for a $25,000 grant to build a Community Garden & Canning Kitchen!!
After several months, our idea had made it through to the final stage: voting!!
We can do it with your support!! Kern County needs this!!!
http://refresheverything.com/Idea/19779

... For an extra vote each day you can
text this code: 108577 to 73774 (Pepsi)

*Also, Pepsi products have specially marked 'power vote' codes which multiply your vote from 5 to 100, if you can find em!!!

Please vote every day until September 30th!!
Thank you!! See you @ the garden!!!

Brimhall Farmers' Market Saturday mornings 9am-1pm - Fresh, seasonal produce

9500 Brimhall Road

Saturday mornings 9am-1pm

Be Healthy, Eat Green - Think Quality, not Quantity.

Brimhall Farmers' Market

This Beagle mix puppy is happy and spunky!

Marsha is a four month old Beagle and Daschund mix. She is about 10 pounds right now and is expected to grow into 15 to 20 pound girl. Marsha is very playful and gets along with dogs and cats (if the cat is dog savvy). She is very vocal and lets you know when she is feeling bored and ignored. Marsha is a very sweet and loving little girl that wants to be held, hugged and scratched behind her big, floppy ears. She can be a little jumpy when she is excited and will need some basic obedience training. Marsha has developed an umbilical hernia that will eventually need to be removed. She is current on her vaccinations and ready for a new home. Please come visit her.

Shafter Animal Control

661-746-2140

www.shaftercritters.petfinder.com

Hours:

Wednesday from 1 p.m. – 7p.m.,

Monday,Tuesday,Thursday,

Friday, Saturday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Closed Sundays and holidays.

Bakersfield College’s Garden Fest Goes Green for 2010

Bakersfield College’s annual Garden Fest is known for being one of the best annual celebrations of all things horticultural in Bakersfield. This year the event is changing shape and taking on the Green movement.

On Saturday, April 24 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Bakersfield College’s annual event will become Garden Fest Green and Clean. This celebration, to be held in the College’s Environmental Horticulture Gardens, located on Mt. Vernon Avenue just north of Memorial Stadium, will bring thousands of visitors to campus for a day of gardening, pet care, cooking, outdoor leisure, and arts and crafts.

“With an emphasis on environmentally-friendly gardening concepts and the ease of going green, activities and education at the 2010 Garden Fest Green and Clean will help attendees learn how they can be Earth friendly and save money at the same time,” said Lindsay Ono, Environmental Horticulture faculty at Bakersfield College.

The day’s events include free seminars on gardening, floral design, cooking, installing water features, pet and plant safety, pet adoptions, a farmer’s market, as well as arts and crafts..

The California Landscape Contractors Association Garden Stage will feature free seminars presented by industry professionals who inform and entertain attendees about gardening, floral design, and cooking. Learn how to install a water feature from start to finish with the Build-A-Pond seminar presented by Buck’s Landscape Materials and Pond Shop.

Animal lovers will enjoy the “Pets and Plants” classroom featuring the Bakersfield College small animal companion class presentation of pets and plant safety. “Adopt-A-Pet” will be presented by Kern County Animal Control.

This event also brings community gardening clubs, schools, forestry, parks and recreation, and green organizations to educate and inform the public.

The Renegade Ranch Farmer’s Market will return this year, featuring products produced by Bakersfield College agriculture students, and fresh fruit and vegetables from Murray Family Farms.

Breakfast and lunch will be prepared by the outstanding Bakersfield College Culinary Arts department and Coldstone Creamery will be selling ice cream to support Operation Smile.

The Arts and Crafts fair features works of art designed by both faculty and student artisans. And to keep the younger crowd entertained don’t miss Battlefield Live laser tag.

Garden Fest Green and Clean has more than 120 booths already scheduled for the one day event!

A full list of activities is available on the Garden Fest Green and Clean website at http://www2.bakersfieldcollege.edu/lono/Garden_Fest_2010.htm. Admission is free, though some activities require a fee for participation. Proceeds benefit the horticulture program at Bakersfield College. For more information, call 395-4446 or 395-4938.

What's to be, What's next?

My good friend Davina learned that her work location will be closed shortly. She wrote this poem, from the gut, as soon as she heard. I think it speaks for a lot of people in a similar situation today.

I have Davina's permission to submit this to the paper.

It's rare to see our corporate managers visiting with such short notice

As presumed, they came to serve a purpose

My team received letters and were informed this location will be closed

By August 1st is the date corporate chose

The a/p lady's tears made me feel guilty

Cuz I know her two kids need to stay healthy

My mind is running hand in hand with questions

As I'm also giving myself suggestions

Prepare! Pay off and close accounts

Owe nobody and no-one any amount

Keep only one, the internet or the cable

Cuz soon I might not be able

I called my friend Lynn and sighed the news

She reminded to have faith because God renews

She said, you have a job, stand up and rejoice!

She's right, but I can't help feeling remorse

I was blessed to be excluded from their meeting and notice

But I'm aware, retiring from the place is bogus

What's to be, what's next

Right now, I really appreciate my check

About 30/70 is the scale of my worry

I wish the economy would better in a hurry

One day I know all this will be wiped away

I'll be safe if I keep God in my everyday

…by Davina Harrison 6/18/09

Discover What’s Growing at Bakersfield College’s Garden Fest 2009

The Horticulture Department at Bakersfield College is pleased to present their Garden Fest 2009 on Saturday, April 18 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the college’s Environmental Horticulture Gardens, which are located on Mt. Vernon Avenue north of Memorial Stadium. Garden Fest will celebrate the horticulture and agriculture programs at Bakersfield College for the third straight year.

“The event is an information outreach event to tell the community about our programs,” said Lindsay Ono, Environmental Horticulture faculty at Bakersfield College. “We started our first year as a simple plant sale with nursery seminars in partnership with Kern County garden clubs. Since then, though, we’ve become bigger and better.”

This year’s event has a Farmer’s Market of local growers, gardening displays and seminars with the professionals, as well as a special “Build-a-Pond” seminar from Buck’s Landscape Materials and Pond Shop. Bakersfield College’s ceramics students will have a sale of their finest creations, joined by local artisans and crafters. A cooking presentation and food will be available from Bakersfield College culinary arts students and Chef Pat Coyle.

Participants can take home some of their own creations as well, through hands-on seminars on how to make a flower bowl, terrarium, or a floral design. California Living Museum is scheduled to attend, and Bakersfield College professors will be there to help you learn more about your pets. Learn more about the careers and education available at Bakersfield College with display booths for forestry, farming, animal science, horticulture and other departments.

More than 120 booths will be part of Garden Fest 2009! Admission is free and some activities require a fee for participation. Proceeds benefit the horticulture program at Bakersfield College. For more information, call 395-4446 or 395-4938.

When cotton was king

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" ... until it comes back to bite you.

Digressing to the 1970s and 80s, cotton marketing co-op CALCOT and the Kern County Farm Bureau — perceived as players in an emerging free-trade ideology — welcome foreign tour groups into local agriculture. Eager, well-dressed men — mostly Chinese — are armed with cameras and notebooks.

In an altruistic wave of "show and tell," big hearts take time to give them all they need to know about the science and technology to grown and gin quality cotton — Kern County's white gold — on a mass scale. Likewise across the nation they glean knowledge through the southern cotton beltway and its textile mills ... all in all, hard-won advancements spanning a century since our nation's Industrial Revolution.

Today cotton prices have tanked due to overseas dirt-cheap-labor competition and market flooding. Our surviving cotton gins are few. Many have become gutted shells (or scrapped), eerily silenced, except for the haunting echo of squatter pigeons. U.S. textile mills have virtually collapsed or converted to museums, offices and retail boutique complexes. nationwide, cotton acreage, as reported by AgDay, "has fallen to a 140-year low; nearly to that of the Civil War era." Jobs have given way to imported goods and mob-oriented Wal-Mart is the beneficiary. CNN News reports that today, thanks to the Internet, China's online espionage systematically preys on our aerospace technology.

United State of America ... where innovation, not imitation should remain as our founding credo. Politics aside, let's stop giving it away. Let's plug the leaks and look on the bright side.

Adopt a Family

This Thanksgiving the members of the Bakersfield High School FFA collected food to be given to families who would not have been to celebrate otherwise. The chapter’s community partner– Safe Havens Counseling collected enough food to feed eight families that were identified by the Safe Haven’s Counseling center, a center that deals with giving adults parenting lessons plus trying to help them. The Bakersfield FFA also collects canned food and Christmas gifts to give to families that don’t have the means to afford the food or gifts. This local FFA chapter, in addition to gathering the items close to the time that the high school starts its finals week, has the chapter members spend time during their lunch and after school to make tie blankets for each family. Simultaneously the chapter will wrap all the gifts that were brought for the families and personally deliver the gifts to the family’s home. It is always an honor for our members to see the overwhelming joy when the children and parents receive the gifts, knowing that they made their Christmas better.

AgJOBS bill

Illegal immigration has been an ongoing social issue in the United States for hundreds of years. Immigrants have faced discrimination, have been forced into assimilation, and have been denied access to social services. They have been demoralized, disenfranchised, prohibited from human rights, and been intimidated through governmental regulations.

Illegal immigrants have been faced with economic hardships due to the lack of employment or exploitation, finding themselves within the lowest income strata of the US economy (Rosen, 2005). The federal government has allowed for immigration to be a subsidy for the agricultural industry, which in turn encourages its growth. Therefore, immigrant workers continue to earn below poverty level incomes (Martin, 1994). As a result of their illegal status, they are unable to advocate for their own rights, thus leaving them more vulnerable to be further reliant on the employers that are responsible for their current disposition. Though fear tactics employers are left with the ability to control wages and whether to report illegal immigrants to the INS. In addition, the farm industry is minimally regulated by the government causing hazardous work conditions.

Historically, guest worker programs have exploited immigrants as cheap labor. In the past, policies such as the Bracero program have capitalized on this population and then sent them back to their “homelands” (Martin, 1994).

AgJOBS bill has been recently integrated into the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. The AgJOBS bill is two parts: (1) an earned legalization program for undocumented farm workers and (2) changes to the H-2A agricultural guest worker program” (Farmworker Justice, 2007, p. 1). First, AgJOBS would provide undocumented farm workers an opportunity to have a voice and advocate for themselves by earning temporary legal status to eventually attain permanent residency status after having worked three to five years in agriculture. Secondly, it would provide a revision to H-2A in which the guest worker program would be balanced by only allowing the hiring of foreign workers through seasonal employment. The H-2A program would only hire additional immigrant workforce when there is a higher demand for them (Farmworker Justice, 2007).

Although AgJOBS does not address all immigration issues, it is a start towards providing social justice to this vulnerable population. In order to stabilize our agricultural labor force please visit this website: http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/dol208?qp_source=web and sign the petition promoting the enactment of the AgJOBS bill.

Soil Biology 101

Soil biology is the study of life in soil. Yes, soil is alive. Just like you care for and protect the crops you grow to get the most out of it, you must also nurture and protect your soil to get the most from it. But it also should be thought of as a natural resource that needs to be preserved for the future.

There is more life and diversity in the soil than there is above ground in a healthy agricultural field. Like any ecosystem, energy flows from the sun, through plants, and finally to the living organisms in the soil. These soil organisms can be divided into algae, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworms. Each has their own role to play in the soil ecosystem.

The reason soil biology is so important is that these soil micro-organisms are responsible for decomposition of organic matter, mineralization of nutrients, storage and release of nutrients, degradation of chemicals, nutrient cycling, and finally disease suppression. The basis of a sustainable soil ecosystem is the maintenance of a healthy soil food-web, which begins with routine application of organic matter. Higher organic matter content supports thriving communities of the decomposers and predators that make up the soil's "digestive system." These tiny microbes are the driving force for all of these important processes of a healthy and productive soil ecosystem.

There is a significant amount of evidence showing that adding organic matter to the soil reduces soil borne pest problems. This is likely due to increased populations of fungal, bacterial, and nematodes that are parasitic or antagonistic towards soil borne pests. Soil biological activity also improves soil structure and fertility. Reduced soil borne pest damage from increased organic matter in soil is likely a combination of these interactions.

Soil biological activity greatly improves the soil’s physical structure including soil pore size, soil aggregate stability, and formation of macropores. The soil microbes also partially determine the soil's ability to recover from soil disturbances, such as compaction, tillage, etc. Fungi and bacteria secrete substances that bind soil particles and stabilize soil aggregates. Tiny soil arthropods feed on organic matter and their fecal pellets become part of these stable soil aggregates. Large borrowing invertebrates such as earthworms, ants, termites, beetles produce larger macropores that allows water flow through the soil. These are all important soil physical properties for a healthy and productive soil.

As these soil microbes consume dead organic matter and each other, including plant parasites, they release nutrients that were once bonded to living organisms. Without these decomposers, we would be surrounded by dead matter and nutrients would be tied up forever. However, these nutrients are re-released and made available for new living things to grow including crops. These microbes are also responsible for the degradation of chemicals and pollutants that may be found in the soil. Thus nutrient cycling is a very important process that relies on a healthy soil ecosystem.

It is important to actively manage your soil biology using minimum-tillage practices, compost, animal manures, green manures, cover crops, and crop rotations. These practices help promote the growth of beneficial organisms while suppressing plant parasites, increase soil physical characteristics, and the cycling of nutrients. This subject is too large to be completely covered here. Please read more about it in various books, web sources, or visit an extension office.

W. Murcott Mandarin May Need More Babying Than Navel Orange

The mandarin variety ‘W. Murcott’ (also known as ‘Afourer’) is relatively new to San Joaquin Valley citriculture. In fact, other than a relatively long history of growing the Satsuma mandarin, most mandarin varieties are relatively new to the San Joaquin Valley. Unlike the expertise in growing navel and Valencia oranges and lemons, most citrus growers are still on a learning curve in producing mandarins commercially. The W. Murcott mandarin is relatively late maturing variety, with good color, good production, good appearance and good taste. If grown sufficiently far from other pollen-producing citrus, it is mostly seedless. So what’s the problem?

Some of the oldest W. Murcott mandarin trees in the San Joaquin Valley are located in a randomized planting of numerous varieties of mandarins established in the mid-1990s at the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center. In early December 2007, most of the W. Murcott mandarin trees in this trial had an unthrifty appearance with very thin leaf canopies and branch dieback. These trees had either very low or very high fruit yields regardless of whether on C-35, Carrizo or Trifoliate rootstock. The many other mandarin varieties in this trial on the same rootstocks appear to be growing well. Apparently there are older W. Murcott trees than these trees at Lindcove in the San Joaquin Valley that are not exhibiting the problems seen in this trial.

Experts with far more experience in mandarin production than this author have stated that the reason for the poor appearance of the W. Murcott trees at Lindcove is that they have not been managed as intensively as this variety requires. W. Murcott has a strong, alternate bearing fruit-production pattern. As has been previously observed, especially in hot, dry environments such as the Coachella Valley, alternate bearing mandarins can exhaust carbohydrate resources in producing fruit in the high-yield year. High fruit production can seriously weaken the tree.

Although the reasons for the decline of these trees is not known for sure, W. Murcott growers in the San Joaquin Valley (and there are now thousands of acres of these trees) need to be aware that controlling alternate bearing appears to be advisable. Most growers, currently, manage alternate bearing by limiting the fruit-bearing area of the tree through annual pruning. Less fruit in the high-bearing year translates into more fruit in the off-year. As well, it has been suggested that fruit harvests in heavy bearing years should proceed in a timely fashion, so that fruit does not remain on the tree for excessive time periods. Irrigation and fertilization practices may also need to be more tightly controlled than in other citrus varieties so as not to encourage alternate bearing, yet ensure that water and nutrition is adequate to minimize stress when fruit load is higher. Knowledge of what to do and when to do it to W. Murcott mandarins is lacking. Not in doubt is the observation that California W. Murcott mandarin growers will likely be learning as they grow.

Cypress Tree Problems

Several cypress tree species are frequent in Kern County landscapes and windbreaks. In recent years significant numbers of cypress appear to be declining, which is likely due to the inherent adaptability of these trees to the local climate. Certain opportunistic pest problems may accelerate their demise.

Arizona cypress, Cupressus arizonica, and Leyland cypress, Cupressocyparis leylandii, have been extensively planted throughout Kern County. These species are often found in windbreak plantings around houses or corrals. Arizona cypress has been widely established in Mojave desert landscapes in the Ridgecrest, Rosamond, and Mojave areas, while Leyland cypress has been planted in Tehachapi and on the San Joaquin Valley floor. Both species possess cold tolerance sufficient for almost any Kern County location. Arizona cypress is considered to be drought tolerant based on its performance in desert areas. When vigorous, these cypresses have few pest problems.

In recent years a number of these trees appear to be declining or have died. In almost all situations plants have apparently been adequately irrigated. For Arizona cypress, tree ages at decline are about 20-30 years. These trees appear to be nearing the end of their natural life span in the desert, but their decline may be accelerated by bark beetle attack. Although trunk sprays of insecticides may forestall beetle attacks, insecticides are a distant third line of defense – after keeping plants vigorous (especially by supplying sufficient irrigation) and preventing injury (such as from sunburn) which are far more effective strategies.

For Leyland cypress, the fundamental problem appears to be an inherent lack of adaptation to the warm, dry climate of Kern County. This weakness renders the species susceptible to attack by a canker disease, resulting in a life expectancy of 12-15 years. It has not been uncommon to see entire rows of Leyland cypress turn brown en masse, almost as though a clock had struck their death knell, and this despite sufficient irrigation and appropriate maintenance. Fungal pathogens such as cypress canker, Seridium or Coryneum cardinale, causes lesions to form on small branches, resulting in death of branch tips, often followed by colonization of larger-diameter wood. Fungicides cannot be expected to provide any control of this disease, and are not recommended. Although Leyland cypress trees grow rapidly and provide an excellent screen, their short life expectancy must be considered if they are selected for planting.

2008 San Joaquin Valley Grape Symposium

The San Joaquin Valley Grape Symposium will be held at the C.P.D.E.S. Hall, 172 W. Jefferson Avenue, Easton, California on Wednesday, January 9, 2008. This year’s meeting, presented by the University of California Cooperative Extension and sponsored by the California Raisin Marketing Board, will begin with a continental breakfast at 7:00 am followed by a technical program from 7:45 am to 2:00 pm. Topics will cover new rootstocks for raisin production in the SJV, irrigation management for DOV raisin vineyards, vine mealybug management, nutritional characteristics of new raisin cultivars and the potential use of abscission agents for raisin production. Lunch and proceedings are $10 per person if registration is completed by December 31, 2007. Register online at http://ucanr.org/sjvgrapesymposium.

Growing Pistachio Trees

No scientific trials have been conducted to give the pistachio growers guidance on the best way to prune pistachio trees. So what is a pistachio grower to do?

Observation made in some older orchards on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley suggests that this lack of information is translating into a reluctance of some growers to control tree height for fear of losing yield. Standard industry practice for pruning branches in the upper canopy of pistachio trees is to make the pruning cut at a point on the branch located two or three vegetative buds above the last flower bud. These vegetative buds will provide locations for new growth the following year.

Of course, continuing this practice indefinitely will result in ever larger pistachio trees. In some orchards, excessive tree height is resulting in excessive shading of the lower tree canopy resulting in loss of fruit wood and leaf area. Shading results in increased humidity in the tree canopy and increased problems with fungal pathogens, like Alternaria species. Tall canopies make harvest less efficient. Long limbs dampen the energy that the harvest shaker is able to transfer to nut clusters, and results in nuts being slung outside the catching screen.

Although no comprehensive pruning studies have been conducted, related scientific information does exist. Research indicates that pistachio can compensate, to a degree, for bud removal in one part of the tree by producing more nuts or heavier nuts in the remaining clusters in other parts of the tree. In addition, since pistachio is alternate bearing, yield loss as a result of pruning that occurs in one year, has been compensated for by increased yield the following year. Huge trees are not required for huge yields. Relatively small 10th leaf trees in the southern San Joaquin Valley are capable of producing 5000 pounds of dry yield in a single season.

Dr. Louise Ferguson, University of California Extension Specialist, in cooperation with others, has demonstrated that two successive years of mechanical topping mature Kerman trees, on P. atlantica rootstock, mitigated alternate bearing without affecting cumulative yields for the following 5 years. She also noted that cutting into 3 and 4-year old wood during the mechanical hedging of both sides of a tree decreased cumulative yield over the following 6-year period.

University of California Farm Advisor Bob Beede has experimentally pruned an orchard that was initially 16 years old and composed of large, crowded trees on P. integerrima rootstock (planted 17 ft between trees and 17 feet between rows). Farm Advisor Beede found that while hedging every-other row in alternate years did not significantly decrease cumulative yields, moderate mechanical topping (removal of approximately 50% of the fruit buds at the top of tree) prior to the on-year in successive cycles, did. He also reported that biennial hedging both sides of the tree was detrimental to cumulative yield.

Clearly, attempting to control tree size, once trees are mature, may result in significant yield loss. With the above described studies in mind, factors are examined that can influence the rate at which trees grow and influence how trees grow. Later, possible ways to mitigate these factors are discussed in relation to management of tree size, structure and yield.

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO OVERSIZED TREES

Factor One: Rapid Tree Growth

Oversize pistachio trees are generally a developing problem on the west side of the southern San Joaquin Valley. Conditions here appear to be perfect for pistachio growth. The soils are deep, boric, and calcareous and heat units accumulate quickly during the summer. As a result of problems with Verticillium wilt fungus, the trees are planted on rootstocks with P. integerrima heritage. Pistachio trees on P. integerrima rootstock or its hybrids are more vigorous than those on P. atlantica rootstock. The result is a bigger tree that produces good yields of nuts more quickly.

Factor Two: Close Tree Spacings

Pistachio trees, historically, have been planted fairly close together in California. There are good reasons for this. Close plantings (usually less than 18 feet between trees and 20 feet between rows) will give higher yields per acre when young, because there are more trees per acre. Also, since trees will eventually be harvested with mechanical shakers and nut catching frames, tree size needs to be managed so nuts do not fall outside of the frame. Since the standard frame is something of the order of 20 feet in length, problems arise in catching the nuts if trees are more than 20 feet apart within the row. However, if trees are planted too close together, mutual shading and crowding occurs more rapidly. Once trees begin to shade each other, the only direction left to grow is up. Shaded branches tend to grow thinner and extend more rapidly toward sunlight in response to shading than unshaded branches.

Factor three: tree training

Branches attempting to grow within trees that are already densely packed with branches will compete for light and productivity. The dense canopies of older trees are often the result of the way young trees were trained initially. Often trees of older orchards are characterized by long, thin interior scaffolds arising low in the tree and that don’t branch. This lack of branching on a scaffold is the result of too many scaffold branches being left in the tree during training within the first few years of planting. Crowded scaffolds have no room to branch as they grow due to competition with neighboring scaffolds. The eventual result is a large tree composed of narrow, weak scaffolds. These scaffolds will tend to sag into the middles once they bear leaves and nuts.

Factor four: high cost of hand pruning

Sending pruning crews through the orchard with pole pruners and other hand tools can be an expensive operation. Skimping on hand pruning can be a temptation, especially in an off-year when income is reduced. Difficulty in finding trained labor for this task is also increasing. The further bad news is that the cost of hand pruning can only go up.

DEVELOPING AN ORCHARD WITH MANAGEABLE TREE SIZE

As discussed previously, no scientifically designed experiments have been conducted comparing possible strategies for maximizing yield while maintaining manageable tree size from planting to advanced maturity. However, based on the identification of factors that have promoted oversize trees above, perhaps, strategies are suggested for limiting tree size of trees in future plantings.

Factor one: rapid tree growth

Rapid tree growth, at least early in the life of the tree, is probably worth promoting. Pistachio trees appear to have to reach a certain size before producing enough nuts to be harvested economically. On the west side of the southern San Joaquin Valley, some pistachio blocks reach full maturity by the 9th leaf. Once the orchard reaches full production, it may be advisable to reduce fertilizer and irrigation inputs. Excess fertilizer and irrigation may stimulate unnecessary and unproductive vegetative growth that will cause competition for light among branches within a tree canopy and between canopies of neighboring trees. The objective of this strategy is to find levels of irrigation and fertilization that will support high yield and reduce pruning requirements. Regulated deficit irrigation in conjunction with leaf nutrient analysis may be useful tools to apply experimentally toward meeting this objective.

Factor two: tree spacing

Because trees grow very rapidly on the west side of the southern San Joaquin Valley, growers have less time to enjoy the early yield benefits of closely spaced trees and more time to pay for the pruning required to keep older trees separated for efficient nut harvesting. This observation suggests that pistachio trees could be planted further apart in this area of the pistachio production area.

Although tree spacing is confined by the size of the harvesting equipment, spacing trees 20 feet between rows and 20 feet between trees within the row appear to be economical. Wider in-row spacing could have several advantages. Trees can be hedged not only down the rows, but the wider spacing would provide space for hedging across the rows (called cross hedging). Hedging the four sides of tree could be accomplished on some alternating multi-year schedule. The wider tree spacing, in combination with intervals of light hedging in both directions, would reduce shading between neighboring trees. Less shading would further decrease inter-tree competition for light and the associated production of branches stretching toward light. Moderate mechanical topping, perhaps once every three or four years, would limit tree height, and fruit wood would be encouraged around the entire circumference to the canopy and not just on top, as currently occurs in some crowded orchards. Perhaps a 12 or 13 foot tree height would be the objective instead of 16 feet or higher now seen in some orchards.

Mechanical hedging and topping should probably begin relatively early in the life cycle of the tree, focusing on pruning relatively less plant material more often. The trees would end up being shorter and wider than the tall closely planted trees currently seen in many orchards. Shorter trees would result in similar nut production to taller trees since the productive area of the tree remains the same. With shorter trees the productive area is closer to the ground and a greater surface of the canopy is exposed to high light levels. Shorter trees would be more efficient to shake for harvest and to spray for pest control.

A more frequent mechanical pruning schedule should moderate alternate bearing as well. Trying to play catch-up topping on older trees will only result in the huge yield loss associated with trying to remove 3 or 4 feet of large scaffold branches from the top of the tree in one swoop or 2 feet in each of 2 swoops. Pruning operations of this kind will destroy tree structure, leaving very little intermediate size wood for rapid replacement of lost fruit wood. Growers with excessively large trees do not have attractive options.

Factor three: tree training

Mechanical pruning can reduce the amount of hand-pruning required, but some interior pruning would still be required. Relying more heavily on mechanical pruning has the attendant concern of producing a tree that is nothing more than a cellulose box. The amount of interior pruning required could be reduced by stringent tree training in the first few years after planting. Tree training generally begins during the first dormant season after planting. Training usually involves a combination of thinning cuts (i.e. branch removal) and heading cuts (i.e. branch shortening). Wherever a heading cut is made, two or three vegetative buds below the cut will push, producing two or three new branches. If heading cuts are favored over thinning cuts, a geometric increase in new branches occurs low in the tree during the first few training years. In contrast, by emphasizing thinning cuts during the first few years, and heading cuts later, more of the tree arises higher in the tree. By reducing the number of branches lower in the tree, long, leggy branches that have no space to subdivide are minimized as is competition for light among branches. A more open tree will be produced that is more amenable to mechanical pruning in that fruit wood will be produced at greater depth in the tree canopy, and mechanical pruning operations will not be as destructive to overall yield.

Factor four: high cost of hand pruning

Dependence on outside labor, and at what rate its cost will increase, is a major grower concern and one that is often outside of the control of the grower. Watching trees get taller and taller, and orchards shadier and shadier, is another concern, that appears to have no easy solution once it exists. Greater reliance on mechanical pruning should reduce overall pruning costs compared to the heavy reliance on hand-pruning that currently exists.

IN CONCLUSION

Based on current observations of some orchards on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, increasing tree height is a problem that facing some growers. Eventually the grower will have to risk losing some yield to maintain trees at a manageable height. The question posed is whether it is better to spend some money and risk some yield loss now or postpone concerns to a much later date. This article suggests that it may be of economic benefit to the grower to begin to think about managing tree size even before trees are planted and to address tree size annually there after. The pistachio tree has demonstrated an excellent ability to compensate for relatively modest annual pruning activities. Waiting until closely-spaced trees are twenty years old before a problem with excessive tree height is first addressed will certainly limit a grower’s options and eventually result in a less productive and more expensive orchard to operate.

Kern County 4-H is Enrolling New Members

There’s a youth development program in your community that helps young people gain citizenship, leadership, and life skills. It is called 4-H. The members and leaders of the Kern County 4-H program are preparing to begin a new year and they are inviting you to join them.

The 4-H Youth Development Program is in every county in California. You will recognize 4-H by its green clover. What you may not know is that 4-H is for everybody, for all young people in California, whether they’re in small towns, big cities, or anywhere in between. Today, 4-H in California is 130,000 young people learning, achieving and giving back to their communities, supported by 20,000 caring and enthusiastic adult volunteers.

There are about 1100 kids in the traditional 4-H program which involves 42
clubs (chapters are FFA) throughout the county. The ages run 5 - 19 with the
5 - 8 year olds being Cloverbud members. They can not compete. The regular
4-H members are 9 - 19 years of age.

4-H is a place where young people are given many opportunities to build confidence, learn responsibility, and develop skills that will last them a lifetime. It’s a place where youth make friends and share interests, ranging from building rockets to raising rabbits. It’s a place where youth work together to make a positive difference in their club, their community, their country, and their world.

The most popular projects in Kern County, with project members between 100 - 400 per category, are: leadership, community pride, shooting sports, photography, creative arts & crafts, food preservation, foods & nutrition, clothing, rocketry, poultry, swine, sheep, rabbits, and horse. The key events put on by the 4-H Council (Fair is an activity we participate in but do not run) are 4-H Field Day, 4-H Presentation Day, 4-H Fashion Revue, Winter Camp, and 4-H Home Economics Field Day.

Get involved in the 4-H community and make a lasting difference! Volunteers are needed as project leaders for all those projects mentioned above and more. To learn more about 4-H and what it has to offer young people, call (661) 868-6200 or visit our web site at: http://cekern.ucdavis.edu/Youth_Development

Off-Colored Vegetables Are Good For You - No Joke

Most Kern County residents know that Kern County is a major almond, table grape, and cotton growing region. But are they aware that this is also a major carrot and potato production region? In the 1950s and 60s Kern was a famous potato growing area when there was nearly 55,000 acres of potatoes in the county. Kern County produced the earliest crop of potatoes in the nation and was able to beat everyone else to the market place. While Kern growers were harvesting, the rest of the nation’s potato growers were just starting to plant. That advantage was lost when others figured out how to store potatoes for up to 12 months. Now that big beautiful baking potato you just bought from the store may be 9 to 10 months old if it came from Washington or Idaho. Today Kern annually produces about 23,000 acres of potatoes and is still known for their freshness because Kern growers do not store their potatoes. When potatoes were “King of Kern County Vegetables”, carrots were just small potatoes (pun intended) with less than 100 acres of carrots being grown. Carrots didn’t come to their own until the 1980s and really exploded in the 1990s with the introduction of baby carrots that have become so popular with consumers. Today Kern County leads the nation with the production and processing of carrots.

While the rich sandy loams soils and abundant sunshine are responsible for carrots and potatoes doing so well here, there is always room for change. Consumers want more variety and healthier choices in the food they eat. Growers of course want to meet those demands, especially if there is a market to sell to: hence the recent growth of the organic food industry.

But there are other ways to provide more variety and healthier vegetables. Today researchers are learning about the many benefits of eating vegetables that are of different colors. As it turns out the pigments that give color to fruits and vegetables act as antioxidants and cancer fighting chemicals. Plant breeders are taking this new information and adding colors to vegetables, including carrots and potatoes. Although it is still at a small scale, Kern County potato and carrot growers are helping lead this revolution by planting colored carrots and potatoes.

Carrots are thought to be naturally orange in color, but actually they come in many colors in the wild. Carrots were originally purple or red, with a thin root. The species didn’t turn orange until the 1500s when Dutch growers used a mutant yellow carrot seed from North Africa to develop a carrot in the color of the House of Orange, for the Dutch Royal Family. But now breeders are going back to old varieties because of the health benefits of the different pigments in plants. Carrots can be found in purple, red, yellow, white, and of course orange. Besides the health benefits of the pigments, chefs and consumers like adding color to the dinner plate.

Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that pigments in these colorful carrots, which taste just like regular carrots, may help prevent heart disease and cancer, and reduce cholesterol. Studies examining the health benefits of fruits and vegetables are revealing the disease-preventive powers of the pigments that give plants their distinctive colors.

Carrots are a well-known source of vitamin A. Just a single, full-size carrot more than fulfills an adult's daily quotient of the essential vitamin. But the carrot hasn't always been the vitamin A powerhouse that it is today. Over two decades ago, scientists in the USDA Vegetable Crops Research Unit at Madison, Wisconsin, began a quest to breed carrots packed with beta-carotene—an orange pigment used by the body to create vitamin A. Thanks largely to this work, today's carrots provide consumers with 75 percent more beta-carotene than those available 25 years ago.

“We grow some yellow, red, and purple carrots to offer something different in the market place. We bunch the colored carrots together, something like a rainbow bunch. We do cut ‘n peel baby carrots with the yellow carrots in bags also. All the colored carrots are being grown organically. The colored carrots go to all the major supermarkets that we deal with along with organic stores such as Wholefoods, Wildoats, and Henry’s,” said Todd Brendlin, organic farming manager at Grimmway Farms.

Red carrots derive their color mainly from lycopene, a type of carotene believed to guard against heart disease and some cancers, especially prostate cancer. Yellow carrots accumulate xanthophylls, pigments similar to beta-carotene that support good eye health. Purple carrots possess an entirely different class of pigments— anthocyanins—which act as powerful antioxidants.

“We have yellow carrots mainly for juice and purple carrots, because there’s some demand for these. People want them for the health benefits. We’re experimenting for the fresh market, but there are no really good varieties for that yet,” said John Guerard, and agronomist for Bolthouse Farms.

Red colored fruit and vegetables: Red foods contain the pigment lycopene, which may help prevent certain diseases such as prostate cancer.

Purple colored fruit and vegetables: The pigment anthocyanin and phenloics is what gives these foods their rich purple color which promotes a healthy heart, have antioxidant and anti-aging benefits.

Yellow colored fruit and vegetables: The yellow pigment is a hydroxy carotenoid which is an excellent source of lutein which is good for healthy vision and a healthy cardiovascular system.

Blue colored fruit and vegetables: Blue colored vegetables contain a wide variety of anthocyanins, the oxidation-fighting pigments that combine to give them that unique color.

White colored fruit and vegetables: Are colored by pigments called anthoxanthins. They may contain health-promoting chemicals such as allicin, which may help lower cholesterol and blood pressure and may help reduce risk of stomach cancer and heart disease. Some members of the white group, like bananas and potatoes, are good sources of the mineral potassium, too.

Orange colored fruit and vegetables: Are usually colored by natural plant pigments called carotenoids. Beta-carotene in sweet potatoes, pumpkins and carrots is converted to vitamin A, which helps maintain healthy mucous membranes and healthy eyes. Scientists have also reported that carotenoid-rich foods can help reduce risk of cancer, heart disease and can improve immune system function. One study found that people who ate a diet high in carotenoid-rich vegetables were 43 percent less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration, an eye disorder common among the elderly, which can lead to blindness.

Carrot Breeders are not the only ones looking to add color to crops. Potato breeders have also begun to look at the health benefits of eating colored potatoes. Like carrots, in the wild potatoes naturally come in many different colors. There are purple, blue, red, and yellow fleshed potatoes and of course the white fleshed types we are used to seeing. Actually most people in the world eat yellow fleshed potatoes. The consumption of white fleshed potato is a more North American phenomenon, although yellow fleshed potatoes are just starting to become popular here.

Potato breeders working with human physiologists have found that many colored potatoes have cancer fighting properties. The pigments in red and purple flesh potatoes are anthocyanin and the one in yellow flesh potato is zeaxanthin. Each pigment has found to cause induction of apoptosis in human cancer cells. Apoptosis is the orderly death of a cell, which is good if it is a cancer cell.

“We grow purples and different types of fingerlings. Russian Banana has yellow skin and yellow flesh. French fingerling has red skin and yellow flesh. Red Thumb is red skin with a pink flesh. They are growing in popularity. Years back we were looking to grow something different from the rest of the pack. Actually they are a very good eating potato. The novelty sells them, but the taste brings them back,” said Michael Kundert of Kundert Farms.

Today plant breeders are looking at these health properties of carrots and potatoes and trying to incorporate them into high quality and high yielding varieties that can be grown in a commercial scale. Kern County being a major growing region for these two crops could be in the forefront of a new trend. Try some of these new varieties next time you are at the grocery store and you see a bag of colored carrots or potatoes. Besides being appealing, tasty, and nutritious, they may also have some anti-illness properties too.

Utilizing Recent Irrigation Research Requires Measuring Plant Water Status with a Pressure Chamber

The pressure chamber, also known as the pressure bomb, is a device equipped with a small gas cylinder, high pressure gauge, and a thick-walled metal chamber with a top in which a plant leaf petiole can be sealed. The amount of pressure that is required to force water from the cut base of a pressurized leaf or petiole provides an estimate of the water status of the plant.

Over the past two decades much of the irrigation research conducted on perennial fruit and nut crops in California, and much of the world, has used pressure chamber measurements of plant water status as the key indicator of the degree of water stress experienced by a tree. Some of this research has focused on improving or maintaining crop yields and/or quality by reducing irrigation during certain crop developmental periods. Saving water and improving fruit and nut quality by reducing irrigation in this manner is referred to as ‘regulated deficit irrigation.’ Researchers use specific plant water potential measurements, usually measured in ‘bars’ of pressure in the U.S.A., as triggers for beginning or ending periods of deficit irrigation.

Many growers continue to estimate crop irrigation needs by measuring water depletion in the soil adjacent to the plant, or by measuring weather variables that estimate crop evapotranspiration requirements. While these methods can provide excellent results, they do not measure the water status of the plant as directly and immediately as the pressure chamber does. Soils vary considerably in ability to provide water to the tree, and similar levels of soil water depletion do not usually result in the same degree of stress to the tree.

For growers to fully realize the benefits in water saving and fruit and nut quality that irrigation research tied to crop water status appear to promise, purchasing a pressure bomb and developing experience with it is required. Growers, understandably, have been reluctant to use pressure chambers. The pressure chamber is relatively expensive compared to the cost of tensiometers, for example (however, not so in comparison to possible water savings and improvement in crop yield possible with regulated deficit irrigation). The pressure chamber requires training for proper operation and some experience in its use for those that will interpret the results from the field. The pressure chamber, also, is not a stand alone instrument. The grower will still have to measure soil water depletion in order to schedule the amount of water necessary to refill and/or leach the plant root zone.

The time has come for more growers to begin applying and fine tuning the impressive store of new information that agricultural researchers have been developing related to plant water stress and regulated deficit irrigation in many fruit and nut crops. A pressure chamber will be required to do that effectively.

Preventative Measures Go a Long Way When Managing Sugar-Feeding Ants

Of all the household pests found in the San Joaquin Valley, Argentine ants can be one of the peskiest. Like something out of a science fiction novel, these ants go far beyond their proverbial status as picnic pests, and show no bashfulness in creating their long, fast-moving trails inside and outside of local residences in their quest for food and water.

Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, are the most common of the sugar-feeding ants found in the lower San Joaquin Valley. They can be recognized by the uniform size and grey color of the worker ants, and the trails they form. This is in contrast to the southern fire ant, Solenopsis xyloni, which primarily feeds on foods high in protein. Fire ants are red and black, worker size varies, and when disturbed, they have a characteristic behavior of swarming and biting anything and everything in the vicinity.

In order to effectively control Argentine ants, one must first gain an understanding of their biology. Ants are highly social, meaning that they live in colonies of hundreds to thousands that work together for the common good. At the top of the hierarchical chain are one or more queen ants, whose primary function is to populate the colony. In the case of Argentine ant, multiple queens exist in each colony, with each queen capable of laying thousands of eggs during one season. Any control strategies that do not kill the queens are nothing more than an exercise in futility.

Workers, on the other hand, are completely expendable. Their function is to build the underground nesting area, forage for food and feed the queen and developing larvae. Many people forget that in a large ant colony, hundreds of workers are born and die every day. While it may be therapeutic to spray down an ant trail with a pesticide of choice and watch the ants flip on their backs and die, such actions result in inconsequential improvements in overall control; similar results can be attained by removing the food source and sucking up ants with a vacuum or wiping them up with a washcloth and a small amount of dishwashing soap or glass cleaner.

The most effective way to control Argentine ants is through the use of baits in bait stations. This method tricks the workers into collecting pesticide-laced food that, when fed to the queens, either kills them or makes them sterile. Advantages are that they are relatively safe to people, pets and the environment, and they can provide long-lasting control by stopping the development of new worker ants. The primary disadvantage is that they don’t work immediately, as complete control cannot be attained until existing workers die off naturally.

Any pesticide-based baiting program should be coupled with cultural practices that help keep ants out of the home. For example, cracks and crevices that allow the entry of ants should be caulked or otherwise sealed. Outdoor plants should be pruned so that they do not come in contact with the house. Attractive food items such as sugar, honey and pet food should be stored in clean, sealed containers. Dishes should not be left in the sink for extended periods of time and garbage should be removed from the home frequently.

The trick with Argentine ants is to be persistent. No single strategy works immediately, nor alone. Try to use as many different management strategies as possible, keeping track of which work best in your particular situation. Then, once the goal has been achieved, don’t let down you guard. Argentine ants are very invasive and are constantly seeking out ways to expand their territory. Small efforts towards preventing reinfestation around the home can save months of efforts to seek out another cure.

More information on how to manage Argentine ants, as well as other species of household ants, can be found at the University of California Integrated Pest Management Web Site at http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7411.html, or by contacting the UC Cooperative Extension office for Kern County at 661-868-6200.