Archive for Compost

Have you seen any monarch butterflies this season?

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I recently read an article in The San Diego Union-Tribute dated July 13, 2020 that said butterfly plants are in short supply. They cited the pandemic-fueled gardening boom as well as public’s awareness of shrinking monarch population and wanting to help increase it. The Center for Biological Diversity put a release out on March 13, 2020 that stated the yearly count of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico shows a decrease of 53% from last year’s count and is well below the threshold at which government scientists predict the migration could collapse. They attribute the decrease of Monarchs to milkweed being devastated by increased herbicide spraying in conjunction with corn and soybean crops that have been genetically engineered to tolerate direct spraying with herbicides. Additionally, they are being threatened by other herbicides and by neonicotinoid insecticides that are toxic to young caterpillars and decrease the health of adult butterflies.

At the Pine Cove Water District, we were lucky enough to procure several new narrow-leaf milkweed as well as tropical milkweed for our butterfly garden. We’ve even seen a couple of visitors and look forward to seeing more as we come to the end of the season.

There’s a little guy hanging upside down
Another bigger guy across the garden

What can you do to help?

Plant the right milkweed.
According to The Laid-back Gardener, Monarchs seem to like common milkweed best but also fed happily on swamp milkweed. Apparently, butterfly weed isn’t too well liked in the caterpillar community.

Cut your milkweeds back.
Prior to blooming, cutting back the plants make them more attractive hosts for caterpillar larvae. Research at Michigan State University shows that female monarchs prefer to lay their eggs on fresh young stems that haven’t flowered yet. Heavy pruning doesn’t harm the milkweed plants and they quickly rebound.

Know your sources and avoid pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides.
When purchasing flower starts or seed, know the source. Make sure they are all natural and have no pesticides. Additionally, keep that same mind set when amending your soil and use natural compost like the compost we supply at the Water District to Pine Cove residents.

Plant additional flowers to feed adults.
Although the female monarchs only lay their eggs on milkweeds and their caterpillars only feed on those same plants, adult monarchs feed on nectar of additional flowers like Wild Bergamont, Mountain Mint, Pale Purple Coneflower, and more. Try to provide a wide range of flowers that bloom through the entire growing season. It is also suggested that you grow single plants isolated from others by mulch or wood chips (which the Water District also can supply to Pine Cove residents) instead of mixing them as the butterflies rely on seeing the plant shapes to know where their food is.

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Posted in: Animals, Around the District, Compost, Garden, gardening, Monarch Butterflies, Mulch, Pine Cove Water District, Raised Bed Gardens, The Garden, Uncategorized, Wood chips

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Wood Chips and Compost

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There must have been a lot of yard work and gardening going on over the weekend because when we arrived this morning, both piles were depleted!  This means Pine Covers are amending their soil so it retains moisture better and putting down wood chips to keep the moisture in the soil.  We are working on getting more compost as well as wood chips, so if you didn’t get yours, do not worry.  I will post here on the blog as soon as our supplies are replenished.  We are so happy to be able to provide these items to Pine Cove Water District customers free of charge.

Compost

Remember, if you need a large amount of either item to check in with us at the office first, as we want to be sure there is enough for everyone.  Now is the time to be outside cleaning up your yard, doing your fire abatement, amending your soil and adding a layer of woodchips to keep moisture in.  These are all very necessary chores that need done, so get them done now so you can enjoy the summer with peace of mind knowing you are doing all you can to keep your mountain home safe and that you are helping to conserve water.

Wood Chips

Jerry & Stitch

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Posted in: Around the District, Compost, Conservation, Customer Infomation, Drought, Fire Abatement, From the Office, Water Conservation, Wood chips

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Sunny Days Ahead

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Looks like nothing but sunny days for the next week.  While I wish I could say rain or snow is coming, it just isn’t so.   Now is a good time to get out into your garden and add some compost and mulch to help your soil absorb and retain more water.  That way your outdoor watering will become more efficient and you will use less water.

Summer Sun

We are offering FREE compost and mulch to all Pine Cove Water District customers in order to help them conserve water outside in their gardens.  Yes, you heard right.  FREE!!! You can help yourself as the piles of compost and mulch are located behind the water district garage/workshop right here on Marion Ridge Road.  If you need an exceptionally large amount, such as a dump truck full, please stop by the office or give us a call during regular business hours.  Our phone number is 951-659-2675 and we are open Monday thru Friday from 9 am until 4 pm.  We want to be sure there is enough for everyone, so please be considerate if you plan to take a large amount so that we can make arrangements for that.   Otherwise, just help yourself.

According to Gardening for Dummies, putting down a layer of  mulch in your garden will usually provide the following benefits:

  • Inhibits weed germination and growth. (Weeds are not only unsightly, but they also steal resources from desirable garden plants!)
  • Holds in soil moisture, protecting your plants from drying out quickly
  • Moderates soil-temperature fluctuations (This benefit is especially valuable during that turbulent-weather period in spring when you don’t want your plants to be stressed.)
  • In cold-winter areas, protects plant roots from winter cold and helps prevent frost-heaving, in which plants are literally pushed out of the ground by the natural expansion and contraction of the soil as it cools off and heats up
  • In hot-summer areas, helps keep plant roots cooler
  • Depending on what you use, adds a bit of welcome nutrition to your garden as it breaks down

So come on down and get yours today and make your plants and trees happy and save water in the process.  We also have bluebird houses available to all Pine Cove Water District customers as well.  Pick yours up today.

Wood Chips

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Posted in: Compost, Conservation, Customer Infomation, From the Office, Garden, gardening, Mulch, Rain, Water Conservation, Wood chips

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Rain Barrels

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If you missed out on our rain barrel purchase program last year, fear not.

Special Offer from PCWD

Rain Barrel from last year’s promotion.

I now have instructions that show you how to make your own rain barrel, here at the district office that you can pick up free of charge.  Or you can go to this address and look it up for yourself if you’d rather.

http://www.shelterness.com/great-diy-rain-barrel-for-those-who-want-to-go-green/

Rain water harvesting is an excellent way to collect water for outside use.  If you are interested in learning more about harvesting rain water, I recommend going to Brad Lancaster’s website at http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/.  He is one of the leading experts in rain water harvesting and saving and reducing water usage.  I highly recommend his books, videos and website as they are a wealth of information.  He also shares a lot of information on how to make your property act like a sponge and retain the rain that does fall on it.  He has many tips and tricks that we can all implement in our own gardens in order to take better advantage of any moisture that we do receive, such as creating berms and swales.

You can also amend the soil in your garden so that it is more absorbent and retains more water.  We have free compost available for Pine Cove water customers as well as wood chips that you can apply to help retain moisture and will gradually decompose over time and add even more nutrients to the soil.

Compost

Wood Chips

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Posted in: Around the District, Compost, Customer Infomation, From the Office, Garden, Rain, Rain Barrels, Rain Water Harvesting, The Garden, Water Conservation, Wood chips

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Saving Water in the Garden

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With the drought continuing to strengthen it’s grip on California, gardeners are wondering how they will be able to maintain their gardens in the coming years.  Here in Pine Cove, we are a step ahead because we do not typically have large lawns to worry about maintaining.  But even so, many residents do like to garden and even grow some of their own food.  Now is the time to start thinking about spring projects and what you can do to conserve water in the garden.

If you have an existing garden, there are several things you can do to reduce the amount of water you use in the garden.   First, be sure to add compost to your existing garden.  Soil that is high in organic matter stays moist longer. Improve your soil by adding a source of organic material such as compost or well rotted manure.  If you consistently work to improve your soil each season, the texture and water holding capacity of your soil will increase and your garden will require less water.  In order to make this easier for you, we have wonderful compost available to our customers for free!

Compost

Once you have amended your soil, it is time to add some mulch.  Why you ask?  Well, mulch accomplishes three things.  First, it adds a source of organic material which, although it is not rotted and therefor not readily available to the plants, will eventually improve the structure and the water holding ability of the soil. Second, it slows surface evaporation so you will water less and third,  it helps to smother weeds, making your gardening easier!  As it happens, we also have mulch available to our customers for free as well!

Wood Chips

Another wonderful thing you can do to help keep your garden looking good throughout the summer is to harvest rainwater.  This can be as simple as a rain barrel under your down spout or shallow trenches to divert the rainwater to the garden.  You can add swales and berms strategically placed throughout your garden in order to keep rainwater from running off your property.  You can even go so far as to install a large water storage tank either above ground or underground in order to store thousands of gallons of rain water.  For more rainwater harvesting information, go to Brad Lancaster’s website at http://www.harvestingrainwater.com.  He has lots of information and tips on rainwater harvesting.

Rain water is FREE water.  That’s right.  Just catch it, store it and use it.  If you do a search for rain water harvesting online, you will find a treasure trove of information and lots of examples on how to set up rain harvesting system.  By using your roof water you will reap water benefits from even a gentle rain by capturing all of the water that falls onto your roof surface.

rainwater_big

Finally, install a drip irrigation system which will deliver water directly to the plants root zone instead of watering the entire surface of the garden.  Although a drip irrigation system can be expensive initially it will certainly pay off in drastically reduced water use if you intend to grow a  garden year after year. The hoses, emitters, fittings and valves must be laid out to deliver the water to each plant.  If you can’t afford to install a drip system,  an easy alternative is to use soaker hoses that allow water to seep through the porous material along their entire length.  They are less expensive to install and you can put them under the mulch to prevent evaporation.   Both methods are better alternatives than sprinklers or letting the hose run.

Remember, we are all in this drought together and each of us plays a very important part in conserving our water.

Next week, I will discuss the virtue of raised bed gardens and container gardening.

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Posted in: Compost, Conservation, Customer Infomation, From the Office, Garden, Mulch, Rain Barrels, Rain Water Harvesting, Water Conservation

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Water Saving Kits

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With this winter’s lack of moisture, comes the reality of having to conserve water.  While this should be an ongoing way of life, here on the hill, the weather we are having, or the lack of it, seems to effect how much we think about water conservation.

In an effort to boost your conservation efforts, we are providing a few items to our Pine Cove Water District customers, FREE OF CHARGE!  That’s right.  Stuff for free.

For your outside areas, we have compost you can add to your soil to improve it.  We also have wood chips that you can put on your garden to help retain moisture.  The wood chips will eventually decompose and turn into compost as well, there by improving your soil as well.

We also have water saving kits by Niagara Conservation available free of charge to any Pine Cove Water customer.  These are great kits and include the following items:

1 Earth Massage 1.5 GPM showerhead with a two setting massage spray showerhead.

1 Kitchen Swivel 1.5 GPM Aerator with dual spray functionality, with wide spray radius and water pausing on/off valve.

2 Bathroom Faucet 1.0 GPM Aerators that deliver half the flow, but twice the power.  These are commercial grade aerators for the home.

1 Toilet Water Saver (Fill Cycle Diverter)- This patented water saver takes excess water from the bowl and diverts it to  the tank to reduce water consumption.  (This is NOT a flow restricting device.)

Toilet Leak Detection Tablets that are FDA certified, non-toxic dye tablets used to detect leaks in toilets.

Water Conservation Wheel that provides useful ways to conserve water around the house.

Flow Meter Bag.  The kit bag doubles as a flow meter to identify water wasters throughout the home.

This is a pretty good deal considering it is free of charge.  So stop by the office any time during normal business hours and pick up your water saving kit.

We also have our famous blue bird houses back in stock.  While they don’t help you save any water, they do provide shelter to our little bird friends here on the hill.

Our office is located at 24917 Marion Ridge Road and we are open Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. So stop by today and get your free stuff!

 

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Posted in: Compost, Conservation, Freebies, From the Office, Garden, Mulch, Water Conservation, Wood chips

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Still no Snow…

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This morning is very overcast, so I checked the weather forecast in the hope that rain or snow was expected to arrive, but alas, I see no rain or snow in the immediate forecast.  Here is what is predicted for the next week.

Today, mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

  • Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. East wind around 5 mph.
  • Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. East wind around 5 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
  • Saturday: Night Mostly clear, with a low around 41. West wind around 5 mph becoming north in the evening.
  • Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 56. West wind around 5 mph.
  • Sunday: Night Mostly clear, with a low around 42.
  • Monday: Sunny, with a high near 58.
  • Monday: Night Mostly clear, with a low around 44.
  • Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 60.
  • Tuesday: Night Mostly clear, with a low around 47.
  • Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 63.
  • Wednesday: Night Mostly clear, with a low around 48.
  • Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 60.

While this weather is certainly enjoyable and makes for easy winter living, it is not helpful in easing our drought conditions.  We are hoping that rain and snow fall in February and March will make up for the extremely dry January, but if they do not, we will be considering going back into Stage 1 Conservation.  Stage 1 is voluntary compliance.  Customers are asked to conserve, when possible, the amount of water used to that amount necessary for domestic and business purposes.  Hopefully, everyone who lives in Pine Cove is already doing these things.

Fix leaky plumbing, prevent irrigation runoff, refrain from washing down sidewalks, driveways and parking areas and avoid sprinkling unplanted areas for dust control.  Customers will be encouraged to utilize wood chips to mulch around all plants and trees in order to minimize outside watering.  An added bonus is that the wood chips you mulch with will gradually compost and feed your plants and trees and improve the soil, thereby enabling it to retain water better.

We will be monitoring the water situation very closely and will take whatever measures we deem necessary in order to continue to provide water to the customers of Pine Cove.  Getting in the habit of conserving as much water as possible will ensure that we all will have what we need down the road.  We all have our part to play and we hope we can count on you to play your part!

Wood Chips

Wood chips provided free of charge to Pine Cove Water District customers.

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Posted in: Community, Compost, Customer Infomation, From the Office, Garden, Pine Cove Water District, Weather, Wood chips

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