- Author: Wendy Powers
Admittedly, when I have thought about southern California in the past, I have imagined that once you moved east of the crowds and beaches it was a barren desert sans camels. But UC ANR personnel in Riverside and Imperial Counties have shown me that there is so much more to the far southeastern part of the state! The Coachella Valley, in particular, is just beautiful. From what seems like an enormous amount of cilantro and dill to orchards, rows of 7-acre greenhouses, and leading table grape production, the 60+ crops not to mention feedlot inventory, meat processing and hay acreage have changed my impression of those counties and opened my eyes to some of the challenges and opportunities in the region. I want to thank Jairo Diaz, Oli Bachie, Jose Aguiar, Eta Takele Carmen Gispert, Sonia Rios, and Pratap Devkota (new Advisor in Imperial County!) for helping me get up to speed as well as Vince, Scott and Jeff for letting us stop by their operations.
Clearly I'm not the only one intrigued by all of the production in the desert. While we were at the Imperial UCCE and REC facility, there was a group there as participants in the winter tour series. I learned this is part of the FARM SMART program; an initiative that spans youth development, community nutrition, gardening and agritourism. Overall, it's a fascinating program and a novel way to tie all the strengths of UCCE together while reaching a number of target audiences.
Chris Greer, Oli, Pratap, Jairo and I also spent some time with David Bradshaw from the Imperial Irrigation District to see firsthand the New River Wetlands project, designed to alleviate degradation of the Salton Sea. We stood at the edge of the Salton Sea but water levels are clearly low already and projected to go even lower in the near future.
The trip to the desert was enlightening, as much because of what was growing in the desert as because of the insights it provided about how important our partnerships across the borders (state and national) are in that region. Repeatedly I heard that clientele include growers from El Centro, Indio, Yuma and Mexicali, alike. And students from Mexico are an important part of the research underway. The strong partnerships and stakeholder support became obvious when I was able to meet so many special guests that attended lunch at the Imperial UCCE and REC facility. Guests included the local Farm Bureau, area growers, NRCS and commodity group representatives, and administrators from a university in Mexicali. A great turnout and a great meal prepared by the personnel.
- Author: Wendy Powers
One of the best things about getting out of the office is putting faces with names. Take last week, for example, when I met Claudia Diaz Carrasco in person. Previously we had only communicated via email. And for the same reason you wouldn't want to use email as a means of communication for difficult conversations, email provided little insight into how enthusiastic and passionate Claudia is about the work she does. After meeting with the Riverside office I can see that enthusiasm permeates throughout the group. Based on the program overview that Rosa Olaiz, Janet Hartin, and Chutima Ganthavorn gave it is clear the group works together well. The result is a strong, integrated program in partnership with the Community Settlement Association (CSA) that brings together the efforts of Master Gardener volunteers with nutrition education and youth development. With Claudia and Emma Sandoval as our guides, Chris Greer and I toured the CSA community garden that includes adult and youth plots. Then Yolva Gil invited us in to visit with UC ANR's first bilingual 4-H group that was meeting after school. I have to admit that I don't know the 4-H pledge in English, much less Spanish and English as this group does! But what really impressed me about this group of future leaders was what they shared with Chris and I about what the program had done for them. The kids were so articulate and forward-thinking! One participant, probably 8 or 9 years of age, greeted us at the door with a handshake and an introduction, and then later told us he planned to be a paleontologist. And he wasn't even the group's president! I'm pretty sure that at that age I had no idea what paleontology was and likely couldn't pronounce the word. This group will be going places and it will be interesting to see where they are in 10 years.
Speaking of difficult conversations, Jan Corlett and Linda Manton are teaching Crucial Conversations later this week. A good friend and colleague, Deanne Meyer (UCD Specialist, couldn't say enough good things about her experience when she took the training so I have enrolled in the April training down in Irvine. If any of you taking it this week learn any tips I should know in advance, please send them along. I had really hoped to get to the homework reading well in advance of the class but homework has never really been my thing. Deanne's probably much better about homework than I am so it's no surprise she was just accepted into LEAD21. It's a competitive program but she's always been a strong leader – way to go Deanne! And congratulations to Tapan Pathak and Karina Diaz Rios, who are participating in the Western Extension Leadership Development (WELD) program this year. If you have someone in mind you would like to nominate for next year's WELD class, please let me know as it's never too early to assemble a list of names. It seems everyone in UC ANR is a leader in some form or another so we are really fortunate to have leadership development opportunities available to us whether it is a year-long program or a 2-day training.