- Author: Chris M. Webb
Our UCCE Master Gardeners have several education opportunities scheduled throughout the county. Most classes are offered at no cost. All classes require registration.
There will be a series of free classes held Wednesday evenings at the Camarillo Library from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.
- April 4, Growing Vegetables in the Garden
- April 11, Steps to Sustainable Yard & Garden
- April 18, All About Tomatoes
- April 25, Seed Collection
At the ARC-Ojai Enrichment Center you can learn about The Science of Soil on Saturday, April 14 from 9:00 to 11:00 am. There is no cost to attend this event.
On Saturday May 19 from 8:15 to noon, join UCCE Master Gardeners at the beautiful UC Hansen Agricultural Center. Scheduled topics are “Growing Terrific Orchids” and “All About Succulents". There is a $25.00 fee to attend this Home Garden Workshop.
The Simi Valley Senior Center will hold a series of free gardening classes. (You do not have to be a senior to attend.) Classes will be held on Tuesdays from 1:30 to 3:30 pm.
- May 1, Introduction to Gardening
- May 8, California Natives & Waterwise Gardening
- May 15, Mysteries of Gardening
- May 22, Tomatoes
- May 29, Container Gardening
- June 5, All About Roses
- June 12, All About Citrus
The Goebel Senior Center in Thousand Oaks will hold a free All About Roses class on Saturday, June 23 from 9:30 to 11:30 am. (You do not have to be a senior to attend.)
Please remember all education events, regardless of cost, require registration. Registration is easy and can be completed by following the link for each class. Space is limited, so please register early!
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Persistence and collaboration often make success possible. Ventura County 4-H All-Stars Savanna Stanley and Dayle Morris have used both to keep their All-Star project at Ormond Beach moving forward.
Despite many obstacles, they have kept working together with the community to make their goals a reality. Quang Tong, former California State 4-H Program Representative, was quoted in a December 28, 2011 Ventura County Star article as saying…
“Both young ladies have demonstrated what is best about the 4-H program: commitment to the local community, hard work and a hands-on approach to solving problems. Instead of complaining about an issue, they went out, brought people together and made an impact to deal with the issue. Their initial work has grown to involve some serious stakeholders in the community, including local as well as state and national agencies.”
The 4-H program has many positive opportunities for youth and adults too. To find out more, please contact our office!
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Later this month, local area youth will be joining other 4-Hers from the southern section of our state for a Teen Involvement Conference. At the conference youth will gain leadership and teamwork skills while participating in community service activities. This year those attending the conference will be putting together care packages for our troops overseas.
Ventura County 4H participants are currently requesting donations and could use your help. Items requested are as follows:
- Hotel/travel size gel deodorant, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, mouthwash
- Toothbrushes, dental floss, brush-ups
- Disposable razors
- Eye drops, nose drops
- Unscented baby wipes, wet wipes, small bottles of hand sanitizer
- Small Kleenex packages, q-tips (large or small packages)
- Anti-fungal cream, band aides, foot powder, sunscreen
- Ziploc bags of all sizes
- DVD’s, Cd’s, batteries – AA & AAA
- Phone cards, puzzle books, paperback novels
If you are able to donate, please bring the items to our office by January 18. Our office is located at 669 County Square Drive, Suite 100 in Ventura.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Written and submitted by Santa Rosa Valley 4-H
Santa Rosa Valley 4-H is a diverse club with members ranging in age from 5 to 19 years old. It is fun to see the older kids come home from college to go to the fair. And it is fun to see the younger members get excited with their first animal project of guinea pigs, rabbits or chickens. Our club has offered our members so many different types of projects. One of our biggest is the equine project. We had about 20 members riding or learning to harness horses with carts.
Another active group is our backpacking project that went on hikes or backpacking trips nearly every month. Our cake decorating group and cavy project entered projects at Super Field Day. Our photography and jewelry making projects entered their pieces to the fair. New this year was a blanket making project that offered younger kids an opportunity to learn this new skill. Our poultry project once again formed a team and won awards at the Avian Bowl. We made bread and butter on a cold afternoon in January and canned blackberry jam in June. Another new project was the mini-cattle. Project members learned to halter break and groom steers and cows and even watched the birth of a new calf!
At the fair we had projects entered in the youth building. And in the livestock dept, we had our lamb, pygmy goat, beef, swine, rabbit, cavies and poultry projects entered. It was fun to see our kids running around the livestock area with their club members and their friends from other clubs. It is rewarding to see our club members meeting up with their friends from 4-H clubs around the county. Everyone helps each other with their animals and cleaning stalls.
Our club also works to make sure we all participate in community service. Each year we participate in California Coastal Cleanup, Trick-or-Treat So Others Can Eat and Operation Gratitude.
We end our 4-H year with our annual pool party and potluck. This is a chance for all our members to have fun, get to know each other better and eat some great dishes. We also give out our club awards at this fun event.
Each year we try to make our club a little bit better. We enjoy hearing how other clubs work so we can learn from them. This coming year our goal is to become a closer group and share among our projects. We hope to see the other clubs at the county events this year. It is going to be another great 4-H year!
This article is part of our Featured Club Happenings series in our Ventura County 4-H Clover Lines newsletter. These newsletters and others produced by our office can be found on our website.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Written and submitted by Somis 4-H Secretary Hannah Gregson
In the beginning of the 2011-12 Somis 4-H year, we had about 30 members join our club. As a great kick-off to the year, we started with the Ventura County Fair! A handful of our members entered an animal project, poultry, swine, lamb, and beef! A couple of our members also entered in the horse fair! We all did a fantastic job and one of our members even won Grand Champion Barrow and overall Swine Grand Champion!
Somis 4-H has a variety of projects. Projects range from community service to animal projects. Community service is a big thing to Somis 4-H. Every month we volunteer at the Oxnard Rescue Mission, we have beach clean ups, and we also have a graffiti task force. Some other projects that will be offered this year are cooking, sewing, and gardening.
This year’s calendar is full of exciting activities. Some of the activities that we all look forward to are the fair in August, TOTSOCE in October, and December is Christmas Caroling for the elderly.
This article is part of our Featured Club Happenings series in our Ventura County 4-H Clover Lines newsletter. These newsletters and others produced by our office can be found on our website.