- Author: Cindy Yee
We spent a most enjoyable week in Victoria, British Columbia this July. Our Airbnb was an old converted church called The Fernwood Church, owned by a French-born artist. There are articles online regarding its restoration.
Upon arrival, I was immediately captivated by the eclectic garden. Its a very small lot and the garden is just a few feet wide, wrapping around the church. And yet, there was so much to see and enjoy. Everywhere, we saw handmade water features - with soothing bubbling, trickling or cascading water sounds. The owner collects driftwood from local beaches and paints them, creating structures with cement, tile, rocks, metal, shells, etc. Many are re-purposed household items. One picture below shows his water feature that incorporates kitchen utensils including teaspoons which slowly twirl around as the water trickles down to a glass-studded cement bowl. Virtually all the garden features are run by solar energy.
Meandering walkways lead the visitor to various meditation spots. Every part of the garden was well-utilized and filled with eye candy. There was so much attention to detail. All the plants were healthy and well cared for. I especially liked the brilliant purple and highly scented lavender. We made sure to spend time every day soaking in the beauty and wonder of this peaceful little paradise.
The last picture was included if you're wondering what the interior looks like. The Fernwood Church was very comfortable, airy, filled with artwork, and not creepy. However, the highlight of our Airbnb stay was most definitely the artist's bohemian garden. What a delightful feast for the senses!
- Author: Jennifer M Baumbach
A 2023 Arizona survey of food service directors and school nutrition staff identified the effects of the move away from free school meals for all students in the 2022-2023 academic year. While Arizona students no longer were provided free school meals for all, a statewide policy that eliminated co-pays for reduced-price lunch took effect in January 2023, expanding the population of students able to receive meals without charge. The survey respondents represented almost one-third of Arizona school districts with most districts having at least 40% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That academic year, 71% of schools reported experiencing a decline in school meal participation. Respondents perceived that inadequate meal variety, taste or portion sizes, as well as stigma around free and reduced-price lunch contributed to the student participation decline. Respondents also reported perceiving that students prefer meals from home or skipping meals potentially due to high cost. Food service professionals felt that parents were confused about changing meal costs and the burden of an additional application process to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. More than half of respondents reported an increase in paperwork for administration and staffing challenges. Factors that helped schools during this time included federal Supply Chain Assistance funds, state and federal funding for school meals, and a supportive district administration.
Meet two real-life entomologists that studied bugs in school and now work with them for their job. Learn how they became interested in bugs, and the projects they work on.
You'll also learn about the common critters found around your home, and then make an insect collection. (bring all the dead bugs you can find!)
We will provide a box, pins, labels, and some bugs. Put bugs you find around your home in a jar and freeze them, then bring it to the workshop. You will take home a bug magnifier and bug net.
Where: Ag Center, Harvest Hall rooms D&E, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Modesto, 95358.
When: Saturday, October 5, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Cost: $10
Sign up: https://ucanr.edu/get/buggy/2024
Questions? (209) 525-6800, ask for Anne.
Instructors: UC Cooperative Extension Entomologists Mahesh Ghimire and Dr. Samaneh Sakaki, UC Master Gardeners Alycia Johnson-Urban, Doone Cockrell, and Tara Hoffknecht.
Questions? Call (209) 525-6800 and ask for Anne, or email her at aschellman@ucanr.edu
*never try to catch bees or wasps, as they may sting you. You can usually find them already dead, laying on the ground.
/span>- Author: Michael Hsu
UC Cooperative Extension advisors, educators join growers in showcasing rice production
When Tracy Schohr volunteered in her son's pre-K class a couple years ago, she was stunned to find out that only two of the 20 children had ever been around a tractor. And this was in the rural Butte County community of Gridley, in the heart of California's rice-growing region.
Seeking to introduce more young children to agriculture, Schohr – the University of California Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor for the area – and her friend Lisa Donati created an event to showcase rice farming.
After the debut of “Ricetastic Day” last year with about 140 students from Gridley in attendance, this year's event on Sept. 19 attracted more than 240 schoolchildren – this time from across south Butte County.
First graders from McKinley Primary School in Gridley, Manzanita Elementary School, Biggs Elementary School and Richvale Elementary School – along with their teachers and many family members – enjoyed hands-on experiences at Schohr's rice and cattle ranch.
“There's a dwindling population that produces the food that we eat across America, so how can we have more people know, appreciate and love agriculture if we don't give them that opportunity?” said Schohr. “That's what this day is really about – to teach them about rice, to teach them about their community, how healthy rice can be, and how the farming and ranching can also create habitat for wildlife. It's all-encompassing.”
Event stations share different aspects of rice
Schohr, who grew up on the family ranch in Gridley, remembers coming with her McKinley schoolmates for a visit. But those field trips had comprised only lunch and a quick “drive-through” tour of the historic farming operation.
For Ricetastic Day, however, Schohr organized – with generous help from local growers and community partners – a more comprehensive half-day of activities. After her brother, Ryan Schohr, welcomed the participants to the family farm, the students formed groups that were led by Gridley FFA youth on a rotation through a variety of stations.
At the milling station, Luis Espino, UCCE rice farming systems advisor, demonstrated how his mini mill machines remove the husks from rough rice to make brown rice, and then polish away the bran layer to make white rice. He had the children see and feel the difference as the rice moved through processing.
“I didn't even know brown rice existed!” exclaimed Elsie, a first grader at McKinley.
A native of Peru, Espino came to study agriculture through his lifelong fascination with biology and living things – and he said events like Ricetastic Day can inspire a similar passion in young people.
“It might spark their curiosity so that they might go into these areas of work in the future or have a career in agriculture, when they see that people do this for a living,” Espino said.
Ray Stogsdill, another McKinley school alumnus, returned to Gridley after college to pursue just such a career. A staff research associate in the lab of UC Davis professor Bruce Linquist, Stogsdill manages on-farm rice variety testing across the region. He volunteered to help Schohr with Ricetastic Day by talking about some of the heavy equipment and providing his perspective for the kids.
“They drive by the fields and they don't know what's out there,” he said. “This gives them a chance to know what they're driving by, so they can say, ‘We have rice here and this is how it works; this is how it grows.' It gives them an idea of what's going on around them.”
Where rice fits within a healthy diet was the focus for the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC Cooperative Extension team, comprising nutrition educators Sunshine Hawjj, Joanna Aguilar and Kenia Estrada, as well as community nutrition, health and food security advisor Veronica VanCleave-Hunt. They talked about how rice – like other grains in that vital food group – gives people energy, and then taught the students an energetic “ricetastic” movement activity.
“Because our program is part of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, it's important to make the connection between where our food comes from and how it gets on our plate – especially with young kids, so that we can promote value for our local agriculture and our food systems,” VanCleave-Hunt explained.
Activities spark further conversations, learning about agriculture
With rice harvest late due to late planting in the spring, Eric Waterbury of Waterbury Farms was able to take some time to attend the event. Although his family has been growing rice for three generations, he said he appreciates opportunities for the broader community to see all aspects of his work – from the equipment to the processing.
“If the kids walk away from this with one thing, I hope it's that they realize every time they have a meal, somebody was out there working hard to provide that meal,” he said. “It wasn't just the person at the grocery store that provided it for them.”
Schohr added that Ricetastic Day was only possible through the support of the community. Butte County Farm Bureau and Natural Resources Conservation Service staff helped kids make art with colorful dyed rice; neighboring farmer Tinker Storm described how the harvester and “bankout” wagon work; and rice farmers Shelley Beck and Sue Orme read aloud “Daddy's Got Dirt: A California Rice Story,” a children's book written by a local rice grower.
With rice at the center of physical activities, arts and crafts, and science lessons for the day, the students learned a lot to take home.
“It's nice that the kids got these hands-on learning experiences,” said Ryan Schohr, “so they can go home tonight and, at the dinner table, talk about it with their parents or brothers and sisters, over dinner or over homework – and share what they learned here on the farm and about their community.”
Rebecca Christy, a first- and second-grade teacher at Biggs Elementary, said she is excited to return to the classroom and hear from her students about all that they learned during the day.
“Every morning right now I'm seeing the big trucks going by our school, and so I'll be able to point that out to them, ‘Where are they going? What are they doing?'” she said. “I can't wait to get back to school and let them tell me about all of this.”
One of her students, Ximena, was finishing her brownbag lunch as the group watched one of the Schohr Ranch harvesters rumble over the field. Despite enjoying a rice cake and a rice cracker earlier, she said her meal was missing one thing.
“Where is my rice, Miss Christy?” she said. “I want rice!”
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