BEWARE: Silly String Attack!

Silly string?  NO!  Citrus trees beware!  This highly invasive parasitic plant attacks and grows over ornamental shrubs and fruit trees with a preference for citrus, but its non-discriminating taste also includes annuals, perennials and native trees such as oaks and willows.   This mess of thick spaghetti with leafless twining threads, wraps around host stems to form a dense mat; if it doesn't kill the host, the weakened state of the infected plant will predispose it to diseases, insects and nematode invasions.

This weed is under an eradication program in California and has spread to more than a dozen California counties including Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Merced, Sacramento, Shasta, Solano, Sutter, Tulare, Yolo, and Yuba. It has also been a major problem in Texas.

WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU SEE THIS?  Do not try to control it yourself.  Report it to Yolo County Agricultural biologist Bill Lyon at 530-666-8140.  Curious?  Find out more about this weed on the UC Davis IPM website.

Thank you to the University of California Cooperative Extension Yolo County Master Gardeners for shedding some light on this parasite.  This content is paraphrased from a Spring 2011 feature by Diana Morse appearing in their newsletter, "The Yolo Gardener."  

To check out some of their past issues, go here.  Interested in signing up to receive quarterly news via email from this wonderful resource, enter your address into the box at the top of the page.

Community Garden Guide

All those interested in starting a community garden, check this out! The UC Cooperative Extension has a guide on all of the how-to’s of starting your own community garden. It's a great way to get people involved in their neighborhoods. Take a look at the this step by step guide which is to intended to help neighborhood groups and organizations along the path to starting and sustaining a community garden.

Food Safety Tips for Your Edible Garden

Dr. Linda J. Harris, associate director of the UC Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security (WIFSS), collaborated with University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Research Specialist, Dr. Trevor Suslow back in August of last year and published a brochure entitled Food Safety Tips for Your Edible Home Garden.

This consumer brochure provides an outline of food safety practices important to consider in the edible home garden. The objective of the project was to help consumers develop a food safety plan for their home garden by applying food safety principles the authors have drawn from research and practical experience.

It contains some useful reminders for all you home gardening enthusiasts! You can download it here.

To find out more about the UC Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, visit their website here.