Age in a garden is a wonderful thing – worthy of celebrating. Age in a gardening publication in my mind is to be celebrated equally because it is through gardening publications that the ephemera of gardens and gardeners live on in perpetuity. Pacific Horticulture, one of the preeminent publications for gardeners in the West Coast states, turns 35 this year. And as with good gardens and gardeners generally, this gardening publication just gets better with age. Photo: Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ on the cover of the first 2010 issue of Pacific Horticulture, which sports the magazine’s bold new type face.
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This segment of In a North State Garden was originally recorded and written in July of 2008. Now more than two years old, edible Shasta- Butte gets better and covers more territory with each issue. The most recent issue - Summer 2009 - hit stands in late June, so with the fullness of summer’s fruit and vegetable bounty upon us, it seemed timely to re-run this segment. Congratulations on two great years, edible Shasta-Butte. Many Happy Returns!

Take “real food, community and sustainability,” season it with almost pornographically voluptuous photography of local foods, pair it with refreshingly well-crafted and interesting stories about the people who grow, raise, make or sell local food, and you will have something close to an issue of edible Shasta-Butte. (http://www.edibleshastabutte.com) “A local business celebrating the abundance of local foods, season by season,” founded by husband and wife team Earl Bloor and Candace Byrne.
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My snowdrops are in full bloom. And I usually love them. But to be honest, I feel guilty about enjoying them this year because - well - I don’t feel as though I actually deserve their sweet faces and honey-scent – we haven’t really had much of a winter yet, have we? Last year we had more than 6 inches of rain in the valley portions of the North State in January, which was two inches more than our norm. This year, I have measured only 2 inches of rain in January in my garden – 2 inches less than our norm. Our nights are still cold, but our days have been unseasonably warm and dry. So while my rain barrels are full from this last rainfall – they are just barely full. And while my snowdrops are blooming, they are accompanied by all of my hellebores, some left over roses and blue scabiosa, the camellias, and a good portion of the early narcissus. Some of these are normal, some are way too early or late?. The sap is up and the buds are fat on a lot of trees. The high country is desperate for snow, the valley is desperate for rain, and I guess we’re all a bit confused and worried. However, as one gardening friend said to me – We might as well enjoy the weather. We can’t change it. So I will try to enjoy my snowdrops.

No matter what the weather is, most of our gardening tasks and joys remain the same. Keep cleaning up dead leaves, cutting back perennials, pruning roses and fruit trees. Spray dormant oil on your fruit trees or roses if you plan to. You can still plant hardy perennials, shrubs or trees. If you feel your soil drying out to the extent that plants seem stressed – go ahead and water – especially if you have new plants you are trying to get established. I ran my system once through its whole course in mid-January.

One winter gardening task that is going well for me is my garden reading. The seed and plant catalogues are always a treat. But in addition to these I am just finishing a really good read titled: Hardy Californians: A Woman’s life with Native Plants, which my husband gave me for Christmas. Originally written in 1936 by Lester Rowntree and recently reissued in a new and expanded edition by the University of California Press, this book chronicles the adventures of plantswoman, gardener and naturalist, who beginning in her 50s and running right through her 90s - traveled all over the great state of California studying native plants in their own environments. She is smitten by their intrinsic beauty as well as their value as good garden plants. Her passion for her subject is contagious.

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For a gardener, one of life’s peaceful pleasures is a mid-winter walk in the park (or garden as the case may be). We as North Staters are lucky to have so many outstanding parks to choose from for just such a walk. While the University of California at Davis Arboretum might seem a bit south of us, and we actually haven’t had much of a winter yet, the Davis Arboretum makes for a great walk. Photo Above: A view down the waterway that runs through the center of the UC Davis Arboretum and its gardens and collections.

Recently, Ellen Zagory, Director of Horticulture at The UC Davis Arboretum, enthusiastically walked and drove me around a good portion of the 2 mile-long, 100-acre, 73 year-old Arboretum – where we paid the most specific attention to the individual ‘Demonstration Gardens’ within the larger park.

Under the leadership of staff horticulturists Warren Roberts, Emily Griswold , Ryan Deering and Ellen, this “public garden, living museum and out-door classroom and recreation area” has undergone significant renovations and additions that are of special interest to home gardeners. Restored areas include several of the 10 distinct demonstration gardens. The largest of these renovations was completed in 2008 on The Ruth Risdon Storer Garden, famous for its “Valley-Wise” plant and plant-care principles. Photo Above: Beautiful and helpful new signs were pat of the Aboretum’s renovations completed in 2008.
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The California Native Plant Society is hosting a Conservation Conference; Strategies and Solutions, January 17 – 19th at the Sacramento Convention Center and the Sheraton Grand Hotel. On January 20 and 21, immediately following the official meeting, 13 native-plant related workshops are also being held. Regular registration ends Monday January 12th. Photo above: Coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica, Sunset zones 4-9) is a native, evergreen shrub that grows from 3 - 15 feet tall, has attractive berries and takes pruning well for smaller garden situations. Its evergreen foliage with frost adds nice winter interest to a mixed border.

I recently talked with Catie and Jim Bishop of Oroville about the upcoming conference. Catie and Jim are on the Chapter Board of the Mount Lassen Chapter of the CNPS and are on the CNPS state Chapter Council. They are both longtime gardeners and plant enthusiasts themselves. Their interest in native plants and conservation grew exponentially after moving, in 1990, to their one-acre foothills property outside of Oroville, where they are working to garden with and regenerate the native Blue Oak Woodland habitat. Based on a good deal of work in National Forests over the past decade, they will be making a presentation on the fens (montane peatlands) of Northern California at the upcoming conference. Photo Above: Catalogue of Offerings at the Conservation Conference, focusing on Strategies and Solutions for conserving our California native plants and their habitats.
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In 2003, Shasta College in Redding became a host college for the California Extension Master Gardener Program. Leimone Waite, who has been a Horticulture Instructor at the college since 1998, is the administrator of the very successful Master Gardener Program there. At Shasta College, a member of the California Community College System of schools, the program is a collaborative venture between the college and the University of California system’s Agricultural Extension offices, which officially oversees and is responsible for the Master Gardener program throughout the state of California. Butte County began hosting a Master Gardener program in 2008 and will run the training every other year.

The Master Gardener program was originally conceived and started in Washington State in 1972 by David Gibby, Ph.D, a horticultural Extension agent for the University of Washington.
But wait. To truly understand the Master Gardener program, you need to understand a little bit about the history of the agricultural or horticultural Extension Agent system, and to understand that, you need to understand a little bit about American history.

If that sounds almost Epic - it is. The rigorously trained, enthusiastic volunteer corps we now know as Master Gardeners are at the end of one thread of the history of Westward Expansion, the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutions, and the subsequent suburbanization and even more recent Technological Revolution of the United States. In my humble opinion, the Master Gardener program is one shining example of a good and effective marriage between government resources, educational institutions and those of us at home on the farm – or in the garden as it were.
According to what is now known as the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service:

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Most of us gardeners are aware of the concept of invasive plants. We see periwinkle (Vinca major, Vinca minor) blanketing whole swatches of our parks and shaded open spaces, we see yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) running rampant in the dry, sunny open spaces of the Northstate, and we instinctively know that these plants must be damaging the existing environment. While I don’t know of any gardener or nursery that would suggest planting starthistle, plenty will still recommend planting perwinkle. Therein lies just one tip of the confusing iceberg that is the “Invasive Plant” issue for gardeners: What is invasive for my region? What is invasive for other regions? And what of those latter should I be concerned about anyway? What’s the difference between a good, solid garden thug that holds its own and an environmentally damaging invasive plant? Photo above: Ornamental Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) makes a very nice, showy alternative to invasive grasses such as Pampas Grass (Cortaderia jubata).

That’s where we California gardeners are lucky (one of the many ways we’re lucky): we have the California Invasive Plant Council (http://www.cal-ipc.org/) also known as Cal-IPC (pronounced cal ipsee) to help us navigate the invasive plant issue. I recently spoke at length with Heather Brady, Project Coordinator for Cal-IPC about the Council and their upcoming annual Symposium being held in Chico October 2-4th. Photo above: Invasive periwinkle has taken over this roadside verge.

Founded in 1992, the council started as an informal group of “weed-workers” from throughout the state who had the foresight to understand that they could work more efficiently and successfully at managing/eradicating noxious weeds by pooling their individual knowledge and experience. Since then, the council has grown to become a leader in invasive plant issues in the state. One of their early volunteers, Dough Johnson, became their first paid staff member and is now the Executive Director. A registered 501(c)3, Cal-IPC has a small paid staff, legions of volunteers and over 1000 members across the state, who receive the council’s quarterly newsletter and regular email updates. (For individual membership visit the website: http://www.cal-ipc/about/membership/index.php). Photo above: Invasive yellow starthistle is rampant in dry, sunny open areas of Northern California.
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Take “real food, community and sustainability,” season it with almost pornographically voluptuous photography of local foods, pair it with refreshingly well-crafted and interesting stories about the people who grow, raise, make or sell local food and you will have something close to an issue of edible Shasta-Butte. (http://www.edibleshastabutte.com) “A local business celebrating the abundance of local foods, season by season,” founded by husband and wife team Earl Bloor and Candace Byrne.

If you are familiar with what are known as the edible Communities Publications (www.ediblecommunities.com), you will know that edible Shasta-Butte is not alone in the world. At most recent count 44 edible (not literally, but the photos do make you hungry) magazines, which are all published quarterly, are being produced across North America - from edible Manhattan to edible South Florida to edible Vancouver and many more in between, rural and urban.

Candace and Earl are editor and publisher respectively of edible Shasta-Butte. They are both academics by profession, she an instructor of English at Shasta College Tehama Campus, and he the Dean of Mathematics, Engineering, Science and Health Occupations at Yuba College. While I am sure they are fabulous at their day jobs, I can’t help but feel they have hit on some sort of perfect confluence of academics, food, social-activism and community connection in their creating of edible Shasta-Butte. As academics, Earl and Candace have lived and worked in multiple places. He is Canadian by birth and she is native to New York. While living on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, they became interested in edible Cape Cod, and eventually Candace began to write articles for the publication. When the couple both settled in the Northstate in 2002, Candace began writing for edible Sacramento, “which was great!” she says. “But one day I said to Earl, ‘our region is so different from Sacramento and so rich in resources – we should just start our own publication!’” And they did.

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