From our local chapter of CWA

The Ventura County Chapter of the California Women for Agriculture (CWA) strives to promote agriculture awareness and education within our communities. As a result of this effort, we are seeking candidates to apply for our scholarships which will be awarded in June 2010.

A total of $2,500 in scholarships will be awarded this year. The top scholarship will be $1,000 and the remainder will range from $250 and higher.

Requirements for scholarship applicants must include one of the following:

• Student and/or a parent/guardian have been employed in Ventura County agriculture for the past two (2) years. (Farm laborer, work for an ag-related industry, i.e.; chemical company, packinghouse, well drilling, etc.)

• Student at least a one year member, in good standing, in FFA, 4-H or Grange.

• Student pursuing a Bachelor's degree (4-year), an Associate's degree (2-year) or a degree from an accredited trade school, all in agriculture or related subject areas.

Finalists may be required to meet with the CWA Scholarship Committee for an interview. The completed 2-page application, recommendation form(s) and transcripts must be postmarked no later than Friday, April 30th.

At least 1 but no more than 3 recommendation forms will be required for each applicant. Please click this link for the application forms.

Please mail completed application to:

Beverly Rueckert

3070 Old Coach Drive

Camarillo, CA 93010-1657

If you have any questions, please contact CWA Ventura County Scholarship Chair, Beverly Rueckert at (805) 482-2518.

Robert Hammond, a 4-H parent with Bardsdale 4-H Club shares with us his experience with the 4-H SET (Science Technology and Engineering) program.

Did you know that using a pencil, a basic pinwheel made from paper, some tape, three paper clips, a piece of string and some wind (provided by household fan) that you could actually hoist a paper cup filled with about a dozen pennies, almost three feet off of the ground?

As a member of a small team, using the materials listed above, we were able not only to lift the pennies, we were able to compete with other teams to see which design could lift the most and perform in the fastest time. This was only one of the activities that took place at a workshop designed for 4-H Volunteers to learn how to facilitate or assist in leading a “Power of Wind” club project.

The workshop was intense (8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. on a Saturday). It was an interactive and an activities-filled exploration of wind and its uses. Led by Dr. Cynthia Barnett, 4-H youth Development Advisor for San Bernardino County and Dr. Keith Nathaniel, 4-H Youth Development Advisor for Los Angeles County, the workshop was not only a wonderful learning experience, it was fun.

The Power of the Wind Curriculum is part of the National 4-H Curriculum Collection and is designed for middle-school-aged youth to learn about the wind and its uses.  This project has young people work as a team to design, create, build, and test wind-powered devices and they are given opportunities to explore wind as a potential energy source in their community.

Part of 4-H SET (Science Engineering and Technology), the components of this program include: learning about and using the engineering design process, achieving scientific goals, unifying concepts across science curricula, participating in investigative, exploratory and challenge activities, using an engineering design notebook, learning questioning techniques, using scientific terms, finding out about careers as well as including an online component.

My family is new to 4-H (my eleven-year-old son joined the Bardsdale 4-H this past year), so I wasn’t expecting to do more than support his participation.  We own on a small citrus ranch in the Fillmore area, and happened to become involved with wind power when we decided to convert our wind machine (for frost protection) to an energy producing wind turbine.

While I’m a novice to 4-H and to wind power, I spent 34 years as a teacher and administrator in public schools in California, and am impressed with the quality of the Wind Power program. Not only is it a great opportunity to learn useful skills, the hands on activities are fun.  I am pleased to recommend the program and would be happy to help anybody interested in getting started.

This article is part of Cloverlines, our 4-H newsletter. These newsletters can be found on our office website.

Improving water quality is an important step towards building and maintaining sustainable natural ecosystems. We can all help reach water quality improvement goals by making small changes in our behavior.  Small changes multiplied by many people make a big difference!

What  is urban runoff?  Urban runoff is the water that washes away all the chemicals we use, which then flows into storm drains and creeks and then out to the ocean. These chemicals include: home pesticides, fertilizers, cleaning products, oil and many other products.  Urban runoff is a significant contributor to poor water quality.

This rainy season is a good time to think about our contributions to urban runoff and to make some small changes. Here are some good places to start:

• look into ways to reduce home pesticide use
• learn about composting to improve soil quality and possibly reduce the need for fertilizers
• find safer alternatives for cleaning products.
• keep mechanical equipment in good repair.

Our office has great resources to help further improve water quality.

A collection of "green sheets" designed to help people make small changes to improve water quality

Management Practices to Portect Water Quality: A Manual for Greenhouses and Nurseries

Orchard Water Quality Management

Please contact our office if you would like further information.

The Ventura County Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners Speakers Bureau will present a talk on using native plants in your garden.

The talk will be held on Tuesday March 16, 2010 from 1:30pm to 3:00pm at the Simi Senior Center. The center is located at 3900 Avenida Simi, Simi Valley.

Please contact Vickie Howard to attend this event.