Hosted by UC ANR South Coast REC, Cooperative Extension, and the Orange County Farm Bureau, programs that provide

agricultural education to an increasingly urban population, local high schools participated in workshops at the UC ANR South Coast REC that were designed to acquaint the students with ag research techniques, careers in agriculture, and the importance of urban ag and water conservation in their daily lives.

UCCE Master Gardener volunteers assisted staff rotating the (82) Students and teachers between

workshops focusing on water conservation, mulch: benefits and proper use, crops for large and small spaces: tomato planting and potato harvest, a tour of South Coast REC extension and research projects, and basic IPM. Hands on activities included planting rows of tomato seedlings and harvesting potatoes, in addition to learning proper mulch techniques.

Following lunch, all students were able to bag up the fruits of the labor to share with their families along with various outreach material.

A group of 109 gathered for a casual lunch to celebrate the twenty-eight years of service that  Dr. John Kabashima,

Environmental Horticulture Advisor for Orange County, has dedicated to the UC ANR Cooperative Extension. Attendees included colleagues – researchers, advisors, staff, and business contacts; along with many of the UCCE Master Gardener - Orange County volunteers.

The festivities included a looping picture collage of his career, speeches, and a barbeque lunch hosted by Darren Haver, Center and County Director, and cooked by UC ANR South Coast REC staff.

In addition to many administrative and academic accomplishments, John's active career has included cutting edge research on invasive species such as the red imported fire ant, the glassy winged sharp shooter, and the polyphagus shot hole borer to new name a few, to the Southern California area and beyond.

Luckily for UCCE Orange County, retirement will not last long for John who will retain emeritus status conducting further research on the invasive species that plague Southern California and beyond.

In collaboration with Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, (140) highschool Freshman and chaperones from Whittier Christian School in Whittier, CA came to UC ANR South Coast REC, as part of their community service requirement. Each student at this grade level is expected to dedicate (10) hours of volunteerism for the school year. To help achieve this goal, the school works with local food banks such as Second Harvest to assist them with a variety of tasks associated with providing food to the hungry Orange County.

‘The fight against hunger is always a challenge', explained Nick Ayo, volunteer coordinator from Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, ‘especially to provide those in need with fresh fruits and vegetables. The fruits collected today will be washed and distributed across the county to young and old alike.'

Pairing up with Second Harvest creates a very unique situation: Second Harvest seeking opportunities to provide for the hungry, has the ability to pair large groups willing to harvest orchards, especially those where the fruit may otherwise go to waste; UC ANR South Coast REC is able to provide a nutritious food source for the less fortunate in the community through it's extension project largely maintained by volunteers which is used to educate the public through workshops and tours. Bringing the two groups together benefits the community by assisting the REC with additional man power to properly glean the citrus, important to the health of the trees, and provides Second Harvest with fresh produce to distribute at the food banks.

Led by UCCE Orange County Master Gardeners, the group from Whittier Christian High School gleaned the citrus located in the Center's Demonstration Orchard. While harvesting the citrus located in the Center's Demonstration Orchard, the Master Gardener volunteers educated the teams about the various citrus varities, safe and proper pruning techniques.

Though their time was short, an early tally of the gleaned fruit was 4,800 lbs. The youth and adult volunteers were very proud of the contributions to such a worthy cause.

 

Like to plan ahead? Interest in learning how to reduce your water use? Then be sure to mark your calendar for a fun-filled day on September 26, 2015 from 9am - 2pm.