Don Shor of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis passes along this conversation between a customer and a nursery employee. A conversation - or one similar - which is probably repeated in nurseries every day:
"It says here that fava beans are planted in the spring," says the young man.
"Says where?" asks the trained nursery person.
"Here," as he points to his phone.
He has Googled a web site about vegetable gardening.
Ah, the new technology.
All gardening is local. But to get local garden information online, one needs to limit their Google search. One tip we have passed along before: when researching a plant or a pest, include the initials of the closest agricultural-based university. Here in California, that would be "UC".
To use the fava bean example: an online search that only included the phrase, "growing fava beans" returns a blog page as the first result, which states: "Fava beans are cool weather crops, and should be planted as early in the spring as possible." A little detective work on the origin of that blog turns up the authors' location: the Netherlands. Not exactly local. Not exactly a climate that resembles Davis, California.
Now, Google the phrase, "growing fava beans UC". At the top of that list? Information from the UC Cooperative Extension's Gary Hickman, longtime Farm Advisor in the San Joaquin Valley (local!). So, when does a gardener plant fava beans here? It depends on your intentions. "The fava bean is a cool-season annual legume and is usually planted February and March in California for vegetable use and September to November for cover crops."
Now, an argument can be made that perhaps the customer at the nursery intended to plant fava beans for harvest. Usually, though, anyone inquiring about fava beans this time of year is thinking "cover crop". And fava beans are a very good cover crop.
Callers to the radio shows or questions to the Farmer Fred e-mail bag are no different. Someone is always trying to grow something that is not intended for our area.
Read the full blog here!
"It says here that fava beans are planted in the spring," says the young man.
"Says where?" asks the trained nursery person.
"Here," as he points to his phone.
He has Googled a web site about vegetable gardening.
Ah, the new technology.
All gardening is local. But to get local garden information online, one needs to limit their Google search. One tip we have passed along before: when researching a plant or a pest, include the initials of the closest agricultural-based university. Here in California, that would be "UC".
To use the fava bean example: an online search that only included the phrase, "growing fava beans" returns a blog page as the first result, which states: "Fava beans are cool weather crops, and should be planted as early in the spring as possible." A little detective work on the origin of that blog turns up the authors' location: the Netherlands. Not exactly local. Not exactly a climate that resembles Davis, California.
Now, Google the phrase, "growing fava beans UC". At the top of that list? Information from the UC Cooperative Extension's Gary Hickman, longtime Farm Advisor in the San Joaquin Valley (local!). So, when does a gardener plant fava beans here? It depends on your intentions. "The fava bean is a cool-season annual legume and is usually planted February and March in California for vegetable use and September to November for cover crops."
Now, an argument can be made that perhaps the customer at the nursery intended to plant fava beans for harvest. Usually, though, anyone inquiring about fava beans this time of year is thinking "cover crop". And fava beans are a very good cover crop.
Callers to the radio shows or questions to the Farmer Fred e-mail bag are no different. Someone is always trying to grow something that is not intended for our area.
Read the full blog here!
