Most of the worlds sunflower is grown in California . . . initially

Sunflower field near Winters, CA

Although I study sunflower, even I was surprised to learn that most of the world crop originates in California. The Central Valley is the incubator for seeds that then get shipped around the world and grown into the plants that provide us with sunflower seeds and sunflower oil. Those thousands of acres of buttery yellow blooms create the blooms elsewhere next year!

Learn more about the interesting, global process here: http://www.sunflowernsa.com/magazine/details.asp?id=607

Help count pollinators this Thursday

Citizen science is a great way to get involved in important projects and provide key data. The University of California is asking you to go outside and count all the pollinators you see for 3 minutes, then add that data to their map. This will help them learn which pollinators people re seeing all over the state.

To learn more about how you can contribute, check out their web page:

http://100.ucanr.edu/Day_of_Science_and_Service/Pollinators/