Garden and Country Extension Webinar Series
University of Arizona Gila County Cooperative Extension
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Gila County presents: Garden and Country Extension Webinar Series
A Zoom webinar (60-minutes or less) featuring a variety of horticultural and natural resource topics relevant to the environmental conditions and residential concerns of Gila County, Arizona.
Contact: Chris Jones, Extension Agent Agriculture and Natural Resources
Upcoming Webinars
- August 6, 2020 - Restoration approaches to manage buffelgrass and other invasives webinar
- August 13, 2020 - Container Gardening II Webinar
- August 20, 2020 - Basics of Lavender Webinar
- August 27, 2020 - Greenstripping and Grazing for Cheatgrass Webinar
When the Smoke Clears—The Road to Recovery Following Large-Scale Wildfire
July 30, 2020
Webinar Overview: Carol Ekarius is CEO of Coalitions & Collaboratives (COCO), a nonprofit that supports place-based groups working in the natural resource realm, and in the emergency response realm to natural disasters. She will discuss some of the first-steps toward recovery, such as anticipating flood conditions and debris flows, working collaboratively on response by forming a recovery committee, figuring out how to pay for it, and thinking about long-term recovery. Carol has extensive experience around wildland fire recovery, working with federal agencies, state agencies, local governments, and community members on fires across the West over the last 20 years. COCO sponsored the first national conference on post-fire recovery in 2019, After the Flames. COCO hosts a post-fire resource page as listed below.
Container Gardening
July 23, 2020
Webinar Overview: Container gardening enables you to grow plants where they otherwise wouldn’t. Containers can sit on stairs, hang, be moved as the season progresses, come indoors for the winter or can be handicap accessible. The only limit is your ingenuity and imagination. Bill will discuss container requirements, along with the pro’s and con’s of the many container materials. He will describe potting soil characteristics, such as container material, size, location and intended purpose. This presentation also includes: 1) Different options to mix your own soil and how to produce a better soil at a better cost; 2) Watering: How much, how often and how to manage water quality issues, such as hard water; and 3) Fertilizers and long term soil maintenance.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Bugs in the Garden
July 16, 2020
Webinar Overview: This is a presentation to help gardeners recognize beneficial and non-beneficial insects and bugs in the garden. Suzan Miller-Hoover will discuss organic ways to deter and eliminate the bad bugs and to encourage beneficial ones. Lots of pictures of bugs! Suzan has been gardening for many years in her backyard. She joined the Payson Community Garden three years ago and learned how much she didn't know. As a staff member of the garden, she is happy to share what she has learned.
Photo credit: Anita Barker
How to make and use compost tea webinar
July 09, 2020
Webinar Overview: Compost tea is one of those often misused, misunderstood terms that gardeners throw around from time to time. The old method of making it has limited benefits and may end up harming your plants more than helping. So it’s time to learn what ACTIVELY AERATED COMPOST TEA is all about. In my presentation you will learn about what equipment to use, how to make it yourself for very little money, how to “brew” compost tea, what to do with it once you have it and what it does for your plants. Do your plants a favor and give them a shot of the beneficial microbes that deliver first class plants in your garden.
Solar Energy: Off-grid uses and rooftop options
June 25, 2020
Webinar Overview: Solar energy systems can help Arizona individuals, families, and businesses achieve energy conservation goals beyond the adoption of energy-efficient appliances and LED bulbs. This presentation describes solar photovoltaic (PV) system components and their use in different types of solar PV systems. The benefits and limitations of each system will be discussed, as well as steps to determine how to size a stand-alone solar PV system.
Biochar Kilns
June 18, 2020
Webinar Overview: Hazardous fuels are a major problem on wildlands throughout the West. Foresters traditionally pile and burn material from fuels reduction projects, but air quality restrictions and longer fire seasons have made open pile burning much more difficult over the past 30 years. Biochar kilns are an innovative approach to hazardous fuel reduction. Containing fuel inside a metal box can allow burning under restricted smoke dispersal conditions. It also allows burning in relatively close proximity to heavy fuels, structures, and within Stream Management Zones. Burning in containers minimizes soil damage, and soil conditions can improve by using the biochar produced on-site. This is an accessible and durable approach to carbon sequestration.
Biochar Introduction and Uses
June 11, 2020
Webinar Overview: Biochar is the same as charcoal, made from the incomplete combustion of wood or other biomass products. Biochar made from green waste can be good for the climate and environment. Since burning wood does not add fossil carbon to the atmosphere, making and using biochar is considered a carbon-negative process. Adding biochar to soil can store carbon for many generations and help lower CO2 gas emissions. Biochar can initially add salts and raise pH in semi-arid soils and is not ideally suited to most Southwest soils. Nonetheless, adding biochar to semi-desert soils can make plants more drought resistant, reduce plant nutrient losses, and when mixed with compost can improve soil structure.
Biology of Red Brome Grass
June 4, 2020
Webinar Overview: This year is predicted to be another potentially active fire season in certain parts of the state, such as Gila County, with conditions very similar to what Arizona saw last year. Two wet winters produced dense stands of red brome (Bromus madritensis spp. rubens) in some areas. This exotic annual grass helped fuel the Woodbury fire in June 2019 in Tonto Basin. It became widespread in the Cobre Valley area too this year. Join plant ecologist Cindy Salo to learn more about this invasive grass: where it is from, how it got to Arizona, how it behaves in the Sonoran Desert, and how we might best live with it.
Ready, Set, Go! - Fire Preparedness
May 28, 2020
Webinar Overview: The Ready, Set, Go! Program provides information for residents and property owners on how they can successfully be prepared in the event of a wildland fire. Kevin McCully will discuss our area’s threat for wildland fire and describe more about the wildland urban interface (WUI), an area which is not only limited to forest vegetation. Fire season is an increasing threat and a year-round reality. As a seasonal resident or property owner, it is important to educate yourself and prepare. The Ready, Set, Go! Program gives you simple, easy-to-follow tips to increase your safety and that of your family.
Making Compost - The Traditional Method
May 21, 2020
Webinar Overview: A healthy, living soil is essential for sustainable agriculture. Making compost at home is an important step toward that goal. The raw materials for compost are locally available, and the finished product is better than chemical fertilizers which contain little or none of the nutrients (beyond nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) that plants require. Composting basics are easily mastered by any backyard gardener.