- Author: Wendy Powers
The Pleasanton City Council voted unanimously to offer an “A” priority for designing the Community Farm at Bernal Park, then phase the final project through completion. Initial steps include planting cover crops to condition the soil and provide a pollinator habitat. Master Gardeners are planning for a demonstration garden at the site to encourage healthy environments with sustainable gardening, green waste reduction, and water conservation, while providing food security assistance for those in need. Congratulations to Dawn and team for their contributions to moving this forward!
The 2021 Colt Challenge on June 19th in Alturas, CA. Youth that took home weanlings from the Devil's Garden Wild Horse Territory submitted videos as part of the competition. Take a look at the winners from the video portion. Congratulations to the winners and, a huge ‘thank you!' to the Modoc National Forest for financial and programmatic support.
- 3rd Place, winning $50, was Grace and Murphy https://youtu.be/6YMLQIKzvfI from Santa Clara 4-H,
- 2nd Place, winning $100, was Wyatt and Narnia https://youtu.be/ZWRU8fAKQt8 from Siskiyou 4-H, and
- 1st Place, winning $150, was Goldie and Bella https://youtu.be/6NWD0gQrVwE from Shasta FFA
UC Federal Governmental Relations is hosting a briefing on Thursday this week to showcase the research being done across the University of California (UC) system to address wildfire impacts in California. I am thrilled to see that Lenya is part of the panel who will cover wildfire research performed on UC campuses and highlight the importance of increased federal investments critical for our ability to predict, plan for, and rebuild from wildfires. Way to go, Lenya!
If you are interested in another UC Wildfire event, consider attending the one on June 4th. The agenda features many of the Vice Chancellors for Research as well as researchers from across the UC system.
I won't make it to the briefing and Lenya's presentation on Thursday because I have the chance to spend Thursday with the REC directors, the REC superintendents, and the REC business officers. We will discuss progress on our recent undertakings, plan some next steps to advance the REC Strategic Framework, and talk about a pending grant opportunity that I personally think is perfectly suited for the REC system. I don't get to spend enough time hearing from the superintendents or business officers, so I am looking forward to the meeting.
What a beautiful week in the valley! I hope everyone gets a chance to spend some time outside. Other than our neighbor's fire in their hay barn, I have no complaints.
- Author: Wendy Powers
I had a brief email exchange with Sue Mosbacher the other day. She is not bored. I can see why – she is writing proposals and working on online delivery of Master Food Preserver classes. She has done some amazing work – check it out!
I spent Tuesday meeting with REC directors. They have some fun things going on and most, if not all, are seeing new researchers, in addition to long time users, planning projects at the RECs. John and the Hopland team have partnered with Rosie, one of our newest CE Specialists, to increase outreach efforts to sheep producers with small flocks. In addition, Hopland is developing a carbon farm plan for the REC. Ashraf and his team at Lindcove are working with the local school district to develop a K-6 activity book around citrus production. The team at Hansen are preparing for their relocation and developing a vision to drive the new facility look and function. Jairo has a number of construction projects getting started at Desert, some more complex than others. Dustin sees the end in sight for completion of the climate facilities and has attracted new Research Advisory Committee members. Rob and the Intermountain team are getting ready for their research proposal call and stay very busy. Khaled has a great idea to expand irrigation certification. Bob is feeling the spring rush already and is busy soil sampling and preparing fields for the 2021 research season. What a productive group of directors who work hard for their teams and their researchers! The conversations were upbeat, but I can sense that the team is tired – of COVID, of policy barriers, of worrying about the success of their team members, and of long hours keeping everything moving forward.
I was pleased to hear from Rachel Surls that Dean Dillard is a speaker at an upcoming Los Angeles County Master Gardener program to celebrate Black History month! The program topic is Farming While Black. I look forward to hearing from Helene and other speakers during the event this Saturday. Dean Dillard, a past Extension Director and CE Specialist herself, is such a strong supporter of Cooperative Extension. In the meantime, I have a few more annual conversations with Directors before the week closes out along with a whole host of meetings on various topics. In between, I hope to read a few merit and promotion documents. There are 80 to read this year. So far, I am not far enough along to even keep count. I am definitely not bored.