HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – Curious about the history of Lake County? Then please join the Hidden Valley Lake Garden Club for a presentation by Hidden Valley Lake resident, Nina Bouska, on the history of Lake County’s agriculture Monday, April 9.

Bouska’s talk will touch briefly on the primary agricultural crops grown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, on the prevalence of orchards and vineyards in Lake County and about the introduction of the pear, walnut, green bean and hops industries.

Included in her talk will also be a description of the rather elaborate flower gardens of Mrs. Rocca, wife of the owner of the Great Western Mine, once located four miles south of Middletown.

In 1938, Rocca’s youngest daughter wrote “the house itself and its porches were partly covered by several climbing roses (including) an immense white Lady Banksia.”

Meetings of the Hidden Valley Lake Garden Club are held the second Monday of every month in the administration building of the Hidden Valley Lake Association, 18174 Hidden Valley Road and are free and open to the public.

Social gathering with refreshments begins at 9:30 a.m. meeting and program 10 a.m.

For further information please contact Angela Birk at 707-987-0195, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Vacaville Resident and Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. Rick Tubbs, a candidate in California’s newly reconfigured Third Congressional District, has reportedly pulled off a stunning upset in votes taken by the district’s eight Republican central committees.

The central committees in the far-reaching district had until March 10 to make their endorsements for candidates official.

The Sacramento County Central Committee was the last to vote for an endorsement and that happened Thursday, March 8. The final vote was 14 for Tubbs and 14 for Colusa County Supervisor Kim Vann.

Among other central committees, Tubbs handily won the endorsements in Solano and Yuba counties. Van won the endorsement in Yolo County. Lake County, along with Sacramento County, tied.

Three counties – Sutter, Colusa and Glenn – did not attempt to endorse.

“It’s important to note that Ms. Vann could not gain the endorsement of her own county of Colusa,” Tubbs said.

In the final analysis, the central committees’ delegate count was 50 for Tubbs and 29 for Vann.

Tubbs credits the delegate counts to six months of extensive campaigning throughout the district.

Tubbs and his wife Kristy and an army of volunteers have made numerous campaign trips throughout the eight-county district, which includes parts of Solano, Lake, Sacramento and Glenn, and all of Yuba, Yolo, Sutter and Colusa.

“We are gratified that in spite of all of Ms. Vann’s money and establishment endorsements that she could not get the support of the front line Republicans in our central committees,” Tubbs said.

Tubbs added that his campaign has already pivoted to reaching out to mainstream voters.

To that end, the campaign is setting up a large number of town hall meetings throughout the district.

The first will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 14 at Dixon’s Veterans Memorial Hall, 1305 N. First St.

“We encourage anyone and everyone to attend our town hall meetings,” Tubbs says. “It will give voters the chance to meet me up close and personal to hear by views on the myriad of issues facing our country today,” he said. “I also will be available to answer any and all questions.”
    
A second town hall meeting is scheduled between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at  Lakeside Lanes and Family Fun Center, 2495 Parallel Drive, Lakeport.

The winner of the June 5 primary will likely face off against Democrat John Garamendi in the November general election.

Tubbs noted that because of the reconfiguration of the district, the election is predicted to be very close.

“It used to be that the district was heavily registered as Democratic,” Tubbs said. “However, due to the reconfiguration the number of Democrats, Republicans and Independents is fairly equal. As each day goes by we become more and more confident we can win.”

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture (CWA) announced it is offering scholarships up to the amount of $1,000 to graduating high school seniors and college or vocational students whose educational emphasis is related to agriculture and agribusiness and who will be attending as a full-time student.  

Scholarship applications and accompanying materials must be received by CWA on or before April 1, 2012, to be considered for an award.

The application and criteria may be obtained by calling Sausha Racine at 707-245-4787.  

Students must be a resident of Lake County and have achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or greater.  

The application must include a statement of educational and career goals, a personal history statement, a letter of recommendation and a copy of a current transcript.

The applicant must be willing to participate in an interview with the CWA scholarship committee if requested and agree to attend a CWA Chapter meeting if selected as a scholarship recipient.  

Scholarship recipients will receive funds in two installments: one at the beginning of the first semester conditioned on proof of full-time enrollment, and the second at the beginning of the second semester conditioned on proof of full-time enrollment and a GPA of 3.0 or better for the first semester.  

Lake County CWA awarded three scholarships for the current academic year, $800 per scholarship.  

CWA is an all volunteer grassroots agricultural support organization, committed to maintaining a healthy and vibrant agricultural industry through education of members and the public, agricultural promotion and legislative action. 

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) reminds growers and others involved in the North Coast walnut industry to attend the 2012 Lake County Walnut Update to be held Wednesday, March 7.

The event will take place from 8 a.m. to noon at the Scotts Valley Women’s Club, 2298 Hendricks Road, Lakeport. The facility is wheelchair accessible.

Topics will include the status of the Lake County walnut industry, updates from the agricultural commissioner and Irrigated Lands Program, understanding walnut tree growth and how it affects management, 2011 walnut quality problems and causes, new clonal Paradox rootstocks, and walnut husk fly management.

The California Walnut Board also will present a domestic and international marketing update.
 
Just added to the day’s agenda is a pruning demonstration following the meeting. It will beginning at 2p.m. at the Suchan Valadez Farm and Nursery, 10005 Elk Mountain Road, Upper Lake.
 
The meetings are sponsored by UCCE, California Walnut Board, Lake County Department of Agriculture, and the Suchan Valadez Farm and Nursery.

There is no registration fee; morning refreshments will be provided courtesy of the California Walnut Board.

For more information, contact UCCE at 707-263-6838 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The meeting agenda and directions to the meeting site can be viewed at http://celake.ucdavis.edu .

SACRAMENTO – State and federal agricultural officials are lifting the European grapevine moth (EGVM) quarantine in Fresno, Mendocino, Merced and San Joaquin counties, and US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced $8 million in federal funding to continue the program’s progress.  

Grower vigilance and local support have combined with regulatory oversight to achieve a substantial reduction in the area affected by the grapevine pest.

“The announcement of funding from our federal partners at USDA is welcome news for California grape growers and their consumers,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “We have made significant progress toward reducing the quarantined areas with the help of residents, growers and local officials.  We have a lot of work still to do and the federal funding announced by USDA Secretary Vilsack ensures we can sustain our momentum toward eradicating the pest in the remaining counties.”

“This program is a model of how industry and government officials can coordinate detection, treatment and regulatory action to deal with a serious agriculture pest,” said USDA Deputy Undersecretary Rebecca Blue. “The cooperating agencies and industry achievements to date encourage us all to complete the task of eradication of European grapevine moth in California.”

The lifting of the quarantines in the four counties will take effect March 8.

The quarantine continues in the original infested area encompassing portions of Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties.

More isolated infestations have also triggered smaller quarantines in Nevada, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.

The areas that remain under quarantine have also been reduced by a change in the regulation that originally required the inclusion of a five-mile "buffer" around any site where the pest had been detected.  Continual monitoring of the infestations and assessment of the biology of the insect have led officials to reduce the buffer requirement to three miles.

Approximately 661,110 acres are being released from the quarantine. The remaining quarantine areas cover a total of approximately 1300 square miles, down from 2335.

Maps of the quarantine and related information may be found online at:

http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PE/InteriorExclusion/egvm_quarantine.html or http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/eg_moth/index.shtml.

The quarantines primarily affect farmers as well as those who harvest, transport and otherwise process or handle grapes and other crops.

These growers and business people sign compliance agreements that indicate how crops, vehicles, equipment and related articles are to be handled and tracked during the quarantine.

Residents are also affected by the quarantine. Agricultural officials generally work with residents to remove the grapes and flowers from their homegrown grapevines. For those who prefer to harvest their grapes, the vines may be treated with the organic-approved pesticide Bt.

EGVM, or Lobesia botrana, is found in southern Asia, Japan, Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, the Caucasus and in South America. The pest primarily damages grapes, but has also been known to feed on other crops and plants.

The EGVM larvae, not the adult moths, are responsible for the damage to grapes. Larvae that emerge early in the spring feed on grape bud clusters or flowers and spin webbing around them before pupating inside the web or under a rolled leaf.  

If heavy flower damage occurs during this first generation, the affected flowers will fail to develop and yield will be reduced.

Second-generation larvae enter the grapes to feed before pupating in the clusters or in leaves. Larvae of the third generation – the most damaging – feed on multiple ripening grapes and expose them to further damage from fungal development and rot.

These larvae overwinter as pupae in protected areas such as under bark, and emerge as adults the following spring.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) invites growers and others involved in the North Coast walnut industry to attend the 2012 Lake County Walnut Update to be held Wednesday, March 7.

The event will take place from 8 a.m. to noon at the Scotts Valley Women’s Club, 2298 Hendricks Road, Lakeport. The facility is wheelchair accessible.

Topics will include the status of the Lake County walnut industry, updates from the Agricultural Commissioner and Irrigated Lands Program, understanding walnut tree growth and how it affects management, 2011 walnut quality problems and causes, new clonal Paradox rootstocks and walnut husk fly management.

The California Walnut Board will also present a domestic and international marketing update.
 
The meeting is sponsored by UCCE, California Walnut Board, and the Lake County Department of Agriculture.

There is no registration fee; refreshments will be provided courtesy of the California Walnut Board.

For more information, contact UCCE at (707) 263-6838 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The meeting agenda and directions to the meeting site can be viewed at http://celake.ucdavis.edu.