In the chilly (32 degrees) dark of 5 am this morning, as I gave my dogs their morning biscuits, I admired the form of the ‘Big Dipper’ almost directly overhead. I stood, bundled up, in the center of my starlit back garden - just admiring. Five am at the height of summer, I can be getting my coffee and heading out to begin playing in the garden, but in mid-December, as we near the richly-storied winter solstice - the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere - crisp early mornings make for a great star-gazing; the entire garden is a virtual planetarium. Photo: The Moon and Jupiter in close proximity in the winter night sky. In the Northern Hemisphere, several well-known constellations are associated with winter. While many people of think of the ‘Big Dipper’ as a constellation, it is in fact more accurately an asterism - or part of a constellation or larger group of stars. The ‘Big Dipper’ is a commonly recognizable asterism of the larger constellation known as Ursa Major.

As gardeners, perhaps, we are even more aware than many of the shifts in light and its relative availability throughout the seasons and the year. Cultures across the globe have long celebrated the winter solstice and held it dear as the day on which the dark has reached its peak. As of the winter solstice, with every subsequent day, we are headed back toward the life-renewing light - the full intensity of the Sun’s energy.

Many gardeners time their planting and harvest - both the time at which they plant and harvest as well as what they are planting and harvesting - based on the phases of the moon. They do this in order to take full advantage of the powerful influence of the Moon’s on Earth as seen through tidal shifts, etc. In particular, the gardening/agricultural philosophy known as Biodynamics uses the phases of the moon as one of the critical markers for gardening tasks. According to Biodynamics.com, biodynamics, based on the teachings of Rudolph Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, is “a type of organic farming that incorporates an understanding of “dynamic” forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, farmers are able to significantly enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavor of food. It is ….. A recognition that the whole earth is a single, self-regulating, multi-dimensional ecosystem. Biodynamic farmers seek to fashion their farms likewise as self-regulating, bio-diverse ecosystems in order to bring health to the land and to their local communities.”

In thinking about the solstice and winter night sky in relation to my garden, I wondered about what the solstice actually was. To find out, I turned to friend and colleague Dave Schlom. Dave is a full-time science educator, and longtime host of Northstate Public Radio’s weekly program on planetary (including Earth) science, The Blue Dot Report. This week on In a North State Garden, Dave talks about what a solstice is and how it impacts us.

Let’s start with planet Earth and how it is positioned in space. The equator is what we call the great imaginary line (line of latitude) around Earth’s circumference. The equator lies half-way between the North Pole and the South Pole. Earth’s rotational axis is tilted 23.5° relative to the Sun. The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are lines of latitude 23.5° north and south, respectively, of the equator (Figure 3). The Sun is always directly above a point between these latitudes. In our winter, the Sun is south of the equator and in our summer it is north. What we in the Northern Hemisphere call the winter solstice, is the day that the Sun is 23.5° south of the equator, or directly above the Tropic of Capricorn. During the summer solstice, the sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer, or 23.5° north of the equator. “That is why what we call the winter and summer solstices are perhaps more accurately referred to as the southern and northern solstices respectively,” explains Dave. Photo: NASA’s diagram of Earth’s position relative to the Sun at the time of a Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice.

“In Latin,” he goes on, the word “’solstice” means ’sun stop’ because as ancient Roman people were tracking the arc of the Sun each day, it was at each ’solstice’ that the Sun seemed to stop in its tracks and begin to move back in the other direction - causing daylight hours to either get longer as after the winter solstice, or shorter, as after the summer solstice. The vernal and autumnal equinoxes occur at those moments twice a year when the Sun is directly over the equator, making for equal hours of daylight and dark. http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/imagee.htm

Why is it cold in winter and warm in summer in our part of the world? The seasons change due to Earth’s rotational axis being tilted 23.5° relative to the Sun. So, for half of the year (our winter), the Northern Hemisphere is pointed slightly away from the Sun. This angle makes sunlight hit the ground in the North State at a lower angle in winter than in summer. So energy coming from the Sun is spread out - and thereby made less intense - over a larger area on the ground.

Interestingly, notes Dave, while the winter solstice might mark an official beginning of winter, it is only rarely the coldest day of the year. Because the Northern Hemisphere is moving only slowly more tilted away from the Sun’s rays from the summer solstice to the winter solstice, the mass of the Earth receives warmth from the sun each day and only slowly does it begin to lose more each night than it gains each day. Therefore, it takes a while after the winter solstice for the Earth to cool down as far as it is going to in any given winter.

So while the winter solstice does not mark the end of cold, but is closer to the beginning of the cold stretch for our North State gardens, this cold can be beneficial - killing unwanted fungi, pathogens and others pests. (Protect and cover your citrus and other tender plants so that the cold does not kill them.) The winter solstice does however mark the shortest day of the year - and while the cold temperatures and short daylight hours might slow your garden and you down some - things are only getting brighter from here.

Happy Winter in your North State Garden!

For more information on the solstice and stars in the winter night sky, Gateway Science Museum in Chico will be hosting related Education Station activities on Saturday and Sunday, December 17th and 18th, and on the Winter Solstice, December 21st from 1 - 3 pm each day. Docents will model the concept of a solstice, show you projections of constellations in the winter night sky, and give you pin-hole constellations cards to make and take home. Additionally, on the 21st, stories behind the winter constellations will be read in the Newberry Gallery from 1 - 3 pm.

Also, fellow gardener and star watcher, Karen McGrath wrote in to me with the interesting fact that although the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, the earliest sunsets do not occur on this day! There is an interesting discussion about why at http://earthsky.org/tonight/earliest-sunset-today-but-not-shortest-day, which is a nice additional resource on these types of discussions.

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To submit plant/gardening related events/classes to the Jewellgarden.com on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com

Did you know I send out a weekly email with information about upcoming topics and gardening related events? If you would like to be added to the mailing list, send an email to Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.

In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California and made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In a North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is simultaneously universal and positively North State.

Winter. What catches our eyes, ears and interests in the garden this time of year is distinctive. For me, texture, sound, form and movement are what draw me now. (more…)

Seasonal precipitation has returned with relative gentleness on the Valley portions of the North State along with some frosts and early enticing snow in the foothills and high country. Our scenic California oak grasslands and wetlands are greening and filling; deciduous blue oaks, sycamores, maples and alders drop their summer biomass and rich, colorful fall changes to winter’s simplicity.

We are in the season of thankfulness.

I am thankful for the dried oak leaves and grass clippings both readily available now. A cozy layer of this mix insulates soil and root systems from the coming temperature and humidity fluctuations, and allows the winter rains to slow-release their nutrients down. If you have been able to get a feeding of 0-10-10 fertilizer onto the soil before topdressing with this mulch - all the better for edibles or ornamentals.

If you can work the soil, December and January are still ideal for the planting of new perennials, shrubs and trees – and bare root season for ornamental and fruit trees as well as perennial berry canes and veg will be getting fully underway by January.

In the seasonal edible garden, now is a good time to direct seed bok choy, broccoli, kale/collards, lettuce, onion sets, peas, radish and spinach. It’s also a good time to direct some annual flowers for next spring and summer’s color, these include: California poppy, larkspur, cornflower and scabiosa.

As you continue to cut back perennials and edibles that have run their course, remember that diligent attention to plant and soil hygiene now will pay-off well in the long run – winter precipitation can also inadvertently spread bacterial and fungal diseases from diseased plants. Carefully clean up the dead and fallen leaves from roses, peonies, iris, cane fruits and any other plants on which you have ever notices black spot, mildew or other issues. Do not compost diseased leaves or woody materials, discard it with your household trash.

Watch the weather forecast closely now and be prepared with frost cloth to cover tender plants.

When pruning, try to leave seed heads, healthy foliage, and winter blooms for the birds and insects to snack on and nest with - weather permitting. You will be as thankful as them. The frolicking of birds, bees and butterflies in the winter garden are some of the many gifts of the season.

Gifts of the season overflow the calendar of gardening events this month. The On-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events at jewellgarden.com adds events throughout the month. I do my very best to keep the calendar up to date and accurate, please confirm all events with the event host. If you have an event you would like listed or if you are aware of a mistake on the calendar, please send all pertinent information to: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com! Thanks!

NOVEMBER

November 27 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society - Field Trip: Ten Mile House Trail to Big Chico Creek 9:15 am Meet at Chico Park & Ride west parking lot (Hwy 99/32) in time to leave by 9:30 am. Wear hiking shoes and bring lunch, water, sunscreen/insect protection and money for ride sharing. We’ll drive east 9 miles on Hwy 32 to the Green Gate Trail Head. From there we’ll follow an historic wagon road down to Big Chico Creek, our lunch site. On our return we’ll see buckeye and black oak in fruit and stop at a spring where a homestead once stood. Be prepared for a 700′ elevation gain back to the trail head. Four miles round trip. Call leader for alternate meeting location. Gerry 530-893-5123. For more information: http://mountlassen.cnps.org/

November 29 - Red Bluff Garden Club: Monthly Meeting and Program: 1:00 p.m. at the Union Hall, 12889 Baker Road in Red Bluff, California. Public Welcome! For more info: http://redbluffgardenclub.com/Home_Page.html; 530.824-5661 or email dianecleland@att.net.

November 29 - Chico: Butte Rose Society General Member Meeting & Little Rose Show 6 pm gather, 7 pm meeting and program on Seasonal Pruning of Roses. Chico Veterans Memorial Hall at 554 Rio Lindo Ave. For more information: http://www.butte-rosesociety.org/

November 26 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Walk With Lisa Endicott, Horticultural Manager 11 am. Bring your notebooks and camera! We’ll make our way through the Gardens with frequent stops for discussions about (what else?) plants! Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery

DECEMBER

December 1 – Paradise: Saturen Studio Botanical Illustration Classes - Fall Session VI begins 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm every Thursday for 4 weeks: Dec 1 - Dec 22, 2011. 10 yrs to Adult. Create scientific illustrations of exotic flowers, leafy foliage, tantalizing fruit, and seeds – even carnivorous species. Draw flora to scale, add texture, shadows, and balance as you transfer visual references to paper. Sharpen your drawing skills and pencils as you learn techniques that create 3-dimensional drawings that appear to pop out of the paper! Terry Ashe Recreation Center in Paradise, California Paradise Recreation and Park District (PRPD) Supplies list available at PRPD office. FEE: $30.00 INSTRUCTOR: Ben Saturen. More info please email: b.saturen@yahoo.com

December 2 - 4 - Red Bluff: SLOW FOOD SHASTA CASCADE and Holbrook Studios present 2nd Annual Kilnside Christmas Featuring local artisans, cheeses, wines, olive oils and more. Friday 5 - 8 pm, Sat. & Sun. 9 am - 4 pm. 575 Wiltsey Avenue, Red Bluff. For more info: http://www.themuddyhands.com/Christmas2011

December 2 & 3 - Red Bluff Garden Center: Holiday Wreath Class 10am both days. Create a beautiful holiday wreath to take home. Cost is $10. Please call to reserve space. 530-527-0886. http://www.redbluffgardencenter.com/home?GardenCenter=Events

December 3 – Redding: Shasta Chapter California Native Plant Society : Mule Mountain Hike 9 am meet at Redding City Library. This Mule Mountain hike is a repeat of last year’s hike, except that the trail has been completed to the south base of the mountain, with only a steep 300’ off-trail elevation climb to the top. This is a 5-mile, moderately difficult hike. Expect to see typical mixed conifer and chaparral plants including silk tassel, redberry, deer brush, service berry, snowberry and snowdrop bush. Meet at 9 AM at Redding City Hall south parking lot on Parkview Avenue. No dogs, please. For more information, call David Ledger at 355-8542. http://www.shastacnps.org/calendar.html

December 3 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Holiday Wreath Making Workshop 9 am - noon. Floral designer and instructor Darlene Montgomery leads this creative and fun holiday workshop. Each participant will create their own fresh, full-size holiday wreath for the front door or family room. All materials provided. Space is limited to 15 participants, adults and youth ages 16+. Call 242-3108 to pre-register (required). Members $35, nonmembers $40 Visitor Center - JSS Classroom More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery

December 3 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Charlie Rabbit and Friends 10:30 am. Presented by John & Betty Fitzpatrick. An interactive program in the Children’s Garden (or Greenhouse in rain) for children, their siblings, parents and grandparents. Join Charlie, our adorable jack rabbit puppet, in various gardening activities. Wear your favorite gardening clothes! Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery

December 3 - Redding: Wyntour Gardens: Holiday Open House and Kids Planting Party Open House All Day. Planting Party 10am - Noon. Join us in celebrating the holiday season with delicious goodies and hot apple cider. One Day Gift Shop Sale. For more info: inform@wyntourgardens.com, 365-2256. 8026 Airport Road Redding.

December 3 - Los Molinos: SLOW FOOD SHASTA CASCADE and Kitchel Family Organic Farm present 2nd Annual Holiday Local and Fair Trade Gift Faire 1:00pm - 4:00pm BUY/SELL/TRADE Kitchel Family Organic Farm 25255 3rd Ave. Los Milinos Please call if you are interested in booth space! 384-1966

December 3 – Davis: UC Davis Arboretum: Guided Tour: Planting for Pollinators and Other Beneficial Insects 2 p.m., Arboretum Teaching Nursery, Garrod Drive, UC Davis. People thinking about adding to their home landscapes can tour the new demonstration plantings at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Saturday, December 3. The guided tour will focus on the best plants for our garden climate that attract and provide habitat for butterflies, hummingbirds and other native pollinators. The tour will meet at 2:00 p.m. at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery, on Garrod Drive across from the School of Veterinary Medicine on the UC Davis campus. There is no charge for the tour, and free parking is available in Visitor Lot 55, on Garrod Drive across from the nursery. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.

December 3 & 4 - Durham/Chico: Patrick Ranch Winter Holiday Fair and Sale: Opening Reception 4 - 8 pm Friday December 2nd with wine, live music and appetizers; Saturday 10 - 5pm, Sunday 10 - 4pm. Seasonal holiday arts and crafts and fun. Glennwood Historic Farmhouse tours will be offered Saturday and Sunday. 10381 Midway, Chico. For more information: 530-570-7343.

December 4 - Redding: Growing Local Shasta Alternative Christmas Fair First United Methodist Church, 1825 East Street, Redding. For more info email growinglocalshasta@gmail.com

December 4 - Chico: The Plant Barn: Annual Wreath Classes Two classes being held, you must call to reserve space in this annual, festive tradition of friends, fun and the fashioning of holiday wreaths. 530-345-3121. 406 Entler Avenue, Chico.

December 4 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society - Field Trip: Lower Bidwell Park Old Forestry Station 10:00 am Meet at the Cedar Grove parking area (just west of the Chico Creek Nature Center at 1968 E. 8th St) for a 2-hour stroll through the old (1888) California Board of Forestry plant introduction and nursery station. Many fine old specimens of American persimmon, Japanese zelkova, cork oak, black ash, and 65 others from around the world still survive. The Bidwells gave these 29 acres to the state for testing woody plants for their use in horticulture, medicine, forestry, and landscaping. Over at noon. Leaders: Wes 530-342-2293 and Gerry 530-893-5123. For more information: http://mountlassen.cnps.org/

December 4 - Chico: Magnolia Gift & Garden: Holiday Open House Benefit for the Butte Humane Society and Featuring the Yule Logs! 2 - 4 pm. Join us for holiday cheer and music, a garden of gifts and delights at the same time helping to support our four-footed friends at the Butte Humane Society this holiday season! Simon (the divine canine representative at Magnolia) Says Santa (who’s a dedicated winter gardener) will be pleased. Magnolia Gift & Garden 1367 East Avenue 530-894-5410. http://magnoliagardening.com/

December 4 - Los Molinos: SLOW FOOD SHASTA CASCADE and Blush Catering present A Moveable Feast: 3 - 9 pm. Arc Pavilion. 2040 Park Avenue, Chico, California.Open Boutique, 3-5 p.m. (free admission). Dinner, 5-9 p.m. Tickets $40 at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/211986 Appetizers and No Host Bar with Local Wine and Beer Makers, 5-6:30 p.m. Blush Catering and Slow Food Shasta Cascade cordially invite you to join us for an interactive dining experience this holiday season. The meal will highlight products from Chaffin Family Orchards, GRUB, Morse Farms, North Valley Farms Chèvre, and Turri Family farms. Come meet the farmers as we dine together to celebrate community and the North State’s seasonal bounty. Prior to the dinner there will be an open boutique showcasing several of the participating farmers and Slow Food USA’s “Ark of Taste” program. Other eco-friendly local products will also be available for sale. Boutique admission is free. Ticket sales will be available only until Saturday, December 3rd at 5:00 p.m. Get your tickets early, these events sell out! Check out Blush’s website! http://www.blushcatering.com/

December 7 - Chico: Mt. Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society Regular Monthly meeting and Program “Evolutionary Development, Classification, & Name Changes in the California Flora” by Dan Potter 7:30 pm Butte County Library, Chico. Dan Potter is a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis and Director of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity, including the University’s herbarium. The names of plants have been in flux for centuries. They have occurred at an accelerated pace in recent years, due to advances in our understanding of evolutionary relationships based on analyses of DNA. The results are sometimes striking. Dan’s presentation will be a great chance to learn the ins and outs of plant naming, to become more confident with sometimes daunting terms.For more information: http://mountlassen.cnps.org/

December 10 - Full Moon and Terre Madre Day

December 10 - Corning: SLOW FOOD SHASTA CASCADE and Lucero Olive Oil celebrate Terre Madre Day with First Annual Winter Crush 10 am - 4 pm 1st Annual Winter Crush at Lucero Olive Oil Saturday Dec. 10 - 10:00am to 4:00pm 2120 Loleta Avenue, Corning Fresh Citrus Olive Oil, Cooking Demo’s by Farwood Bar & Grill (Orland) & GR Gibbs (Redding), Food Tastings, Live Music… For more information go to lucerooliveoil.com andslowfood.com/terramadreday.

December 10 - Sacramento: Sacramento Master Gardeners: All Dried Up - Master Food Preserver Demonstration 10 am - Noon. Basic introduction to safe dehydration techniques. This is a free class. Location: 4145 Branch Center Road Sacramento, Ca 95827 http://ucanr.org/sites/sacmg/?calitem=132072&g=21788

December 10 - Chico: The Plant Barn: Holiday SALEABRATION 10 am - 5pm Holiday-style flower floozie fun! Appetizers, local artists, Wine and Olive Tastings and Random Sales all Day. 530-345-3121. 406 Entler Avenue, Chico.

December 10 - Chico: Chico Horticultural Society: Annual Holiday Greens Workshop 2 - 4 pm. Bring Family, bring friends and share the holiday spirit. Annual Chico Hort Holiday Greens Workshop: Saturday December 10th from 2 - 4 pm, at the Chico Library General Meeting Room. We will have demonstrations on hand-making your own holiday wreath, swag or centerpiece using seasonal greens, berries and cones. The cost of the workshop is $12 and includes all the materials (forms, greens, wire, ribbon) and help needed to a make one 12″ round wreath, one hearty door swag, or one stunning holiday centerpiece. Registration Required. To register to participate, please contact Jennifer Jewell at 588-6369 or jennifer @jewellgarden.com, in your message please indicate how many are in your party, which item each person would like to make, and a good contact for you for confirmation. Money will be collected at the door on the day of the event.

December 14 – Davis: UC Davis Arboretum: Walk With Warren 12 noon, Gazebo, Garrod Drive, UC Davis. Join Arboretum Superintendent Emeritus Warren Roberts for a lunchtime stroll in the UC Davis Arboretum on Wednesday, November 9. Enjoy the crisp fall weather, explore the pleasures of the autumn garden, and get a little exercise. Meet at noon at the Gazebo, on Garrod Drive on the UC Davis campus. There is no charge for the tour. Parking is available for $7 in Visitor Lot 55, on Garrod Drive at the School of Veterinary Medicine. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.

December 17 – Davis: UC Davis Arboretum: Guided Tour: Under the Redwood Canopy 2 p.m., Wyatt Deck, Old Davis Road, UC Davis. Enjoy the peace and silence of the redwood grove on a misty winter day and learn about the complex and fascinating ecosystem of the redwood forest during a free guided tour at the UC Davis Arboretum on Saturday, December 17. This walk will provide a brief introduction to the ecology and history of the coast redwood and the plants that grow under the redwood canopy. The tour will meet at 2:00 p.m. at the Wyatt Deck, located on Old Davis Road next to the Arboretum redwood grove on the UC Davis campus. There is no charge for the tour and free parking is available in Visitor Lot 5, at Old Davis Road and A Street. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.

December 19 - Chico: In a North State Garden: Special I-5 LIVE! The Wonderful World of Mushrooms 8 - 9 pm. Join host Jennifer Jewell and mushroom-enthusiast guests Don Simoni of Mushroom Adventures, and Beth and Stephan Wattenburg in Forest Ranch to chat about the seasonal appearance of these wonderful structures throughout the North State. What do they tell us? How to begin to id them? Where to go see them, how to make a spore print, and some favorite recipes preparing them. KCHO 91.7/KFPR 88.9 fm in Chico and Redding.

December 21/22 - WINTER SOLSTICE 12:30 am Eastern Standard Time

December 31 - Chico: Butte Rose Society Annual Rose Pruning Demonstration, Historic Stansbury House 10 am. Want to see how to prune roses effectively and correctly and have seasonal fun doing it? Join the BRS for their annual pruning demo in the Historic Stansbury House rose garden. For more information: http://www.butte-rosesociety.org/

December 31 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Walk With Lisa Endicott, Horticultural Manager 11 am. Bring your notebooks and camera! We’ll make our way through the Gardens with frequent stops for discussions about (what else?) plants! Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery

December 31, 2011 - January 1, 2012 HAPPY NEW YEAR. May be peace be yours in the coming year.

Jewellgarden.com’s collections of note cards and blank journals make wonderful gifts. Dedicated to the art, craft and science of gardening, produced wholly in the North State on 100% recycled papers, Jewellgarden.com’s line of Holiday, Natives in the Garden, Edibles in the Garden, and Seed Series of printed products will delight all the gardeners, readers, writers - all enjoyers of life - in your life this year. Available now on-line. All of Jewellgarden.com’s cards are printed in Chico by Quadco printing using 100% recycled paper and vegetable-based ink.

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To submit plant/gardening related events/classes to the Jewellgarden.com on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com

Did you know I send out a weekly email with information about upcoming topics and gardening related events in the North State region? If you would like to be added to the mailing list, send an email to Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.

In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California. Made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico, In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In a North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is simultaneously universal and positively North State.

I was lucky in having been born the daughter of a dedicated gardener mother (aided always by my father) and the grand daughter of two avid gardening grandfathers. Growing up at 8,000 feet on the front range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, my sisters and I were in and out of the garden all day - a good part of the year. My mother’s quarter acre log-rail-fenced vegetable garden, under towering ponderosa pines, featured all the bounty I could have imagined: sharp spring radishes and tender spring peas, sweet summer carrots, lettuces, chard, spinach and even some tomatoes. Leeks, potatoes, onions. Apples, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries. Herbs year-round and seasonal sweeps of ornamental flowers: peonies, oriental poppies, shasta daisies - accenting each row and section of the garden. As a child I learned the garden through being shown and being asked to do things my mother needed done - as they needed doing. Photo: The Shasta College Community Teaching Garden, Redding. All photos in this week’s essay are by Susanna Sibilsky and Melita Bena. (more…)

Even with the rain of the past few days, the ornamental grasses in the garden are lovely this time of year - stately and painted in warm, light catching hues. The McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay in Redding is hosting a class on the planting and care of ornamental grasses in the garden on October 29th. Thought revisiting this interview with Lisa Endicott was timely.

They catch the light - especially the low, soft slanting light of Autumn; they dance in the slightest breeze; they hold dew drops and rain drops like pearls, winking on a string; they arch and drape and cascade, adding both vertical and horizontal beauty and interest to any garden; they are often drought tolerant and deer resistant, and many of them provide both forage and shelter for native and migrating song birds. They are ornamental grasses, and with more varieties, colors, shapes and sizes (and native choices) available to home gardeners every year, there is one (or 30) to brighten and dress-up just about any garden throughout the seasons. Photo: Deer grass under planted with blue fescue in the California display garden at the McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. (more…)

Autumn’s arrival for me is accompanied by a renewed sense of community. Perhaps it is the return of regular school schedules, and the return of regular monthly meetings for garden clubs and organizations. Perhaps it is the primal sense of oncoming winter and a need to come together and prepare. Perhaps it’s the anticipation and energy of the harvest – from the vast chartreuse rice fields and the statuesque almond, olive and walnut orchards running through our region, to the end-of-summer tomatoes, peppers, beans, and squash finishing up in our home gardens and now filling our kitchen counters, freezers and shelves. Cool, even cold, nights and days with a prospect of rain are returning. We are gathering, and we are planning and planting for the seasons to come. Photo: Rice fields, Central Valley in October. (more…)

Susan Mason know her weeds. She knows most of yours, too. She is particularly familiar with the weeds of Bidwell Park after having worked more than 4000 volunteer hours over the past 12 years helping to identify, map, work towards eradicating, and follow-up monitoring all manner of invasive weeds in the park - one of the largest municipal parks in the country at 3,670 acres. Photo: Susan Mason, armed with a large bag for picking up trash as she walks, near the entrance to the ‘Lost Park’ section of Chico’s Bidwell Park. (more…)

Late May has been cool and wet here in much of the North State - but June, June holds the promise of true summer – bringing with it all that summer is supposed to be: soft light of early morning when the day is cool and fresh; iridescent roses, lavender, salad greens, strawberries and cherries; long days with true heat; the chirping call of the quail and the crazy way they scatter when you come upon them; luminous California Buckeye blooms held like candles in the woodland edges; the silent flitting of little bats in the early evening as they gather their fill of insects; and the long days ended by warm nights filled with the song of crickets. And - I hope - this June brings each and ever gardener some deservedly lazy, laid back summer vacation, in and out of the garden. Photo: Native clarkia in bloom in Big Chico Creek Canyon at the Chico Canyon Retreat special events center. (more…)

This week In a North State Garden has the pleasure of interviewing Drs. Carole Burr and Roger Lederer, a husband and wife team based in Chico who in 2010 published a lovely little handbook entitled “The Birds of Bidwell Park.” Going into its second printing as I write, the book is dedicated to the founding mother of Chico, Annie Bidwell. A manageable 83-page field guide to 80 of the birds you are likely to see while walking or hiking in Bidwell Park, the book was in part inspired by Carol and Roger’s granddaughter Olivia Calvin, who is an artist following in her grandmother’s footsteps. “Without interest in and dedication to the protection of our natural resources by our and future generations, our lives and theirs will be diminished in countless tangible and intangible ways. We need to foster the interest of those coming after us through exposure to the beauty and importance of the natural world,” they write in the opening Acknowledgements of the book. Although highlighting the birds found in Bidwell Park, given the size, range and diversity of habitat that is Bidwell Park, the book is easily a guide to many of the birds you are likely to see in the North State generally. And the birds you may very well want to attract to your home garden. Photo: An acorn woodpecker hangs beneath a granary tree branch in Upper Bidwell Park. (more…)

I first met and wrote about David Grau in the spring of 2009, at the end of his first winter of the Chico Organic Gardening Class Series, organized by David and held at the Chico Grange. Now headed into the third winter of this class series, David Grau and fellow gardening and sustainability enthusiast/advocate Adrian Johnson have formed a the Chico Organic Gardening Society and are also producing the new monthly e-publication Valley Oak Magazine, the mission of which is to gather and share information and resources pertaining to sustainability in the inland California valley bioregion. The magazine is named after the Valley Oak tree which is a unifying and constant feature of California’s inland valleys. (more…)