Safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving
Early-season Santa Barbara fire unexpected
UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension fire ecology specialist Max Moritz told a Bloomberg.com reporter that the wildfire raging in Santa Barbara County caught forest experts by surprise.
“It is very early, the plants still appear to be quite full of moisture, and when you look at the ferocity of this wind condition, that’s when you say it is surprising,” he was quoted in the story.
Moritz said overzealous fire suppression cannot be blamed for the devastating inferno that has already burned 75 homes and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents.
“There isn’t any such thing as a low-severity fire in the shrub lands,” Moritz said. “The hot, dry wind event has opened the door to what looks like a catastrophe.”
UC studies the use of compost to restore burned areas
Scientists at UC Riverside will apply compost to wildfire-ravaged land after the flames have been doused to determine whether it helps reduce erosion and water pollution and restore vegetation. The project is one of several to be undertaken with funding from the California Integrated Waste Management Board aimed at finding uses for what is expected to be an abundance of compost made from organic waste diverted from landfills, according to a story in the April issue of BioCycle.
The Waste Management Board plans to cut the amount of organic materials now going to landfills by half in the next 10 years. Meeting that goal will require an additional 15 million tons of organic materials to be recycled annually.
The Riverside scientists will quantify the benefits of compost on fire-damaged land by absorbing water, thus reducing surface flow, and by dissipating the energy of rainfall. The study will also attempt to quantify the ability of compost to promote the growth of micro and mesofauna (microbes, worms, insect larvae) in the fire-damaged soil, the BioCycle story says.
Another UC Riverside study funded by the Waste Management Board is focused on using the compost in strawberry, lettuce and tomato production.
Developing crop-specific compost specifications helps farmers avoid using mismatched or poor quality composts, which could result in lower crop yields, according to the article.
Valley strawberry farms get a publicity boost
The second best thing about May -- the first being Mother's Day, of course -- is sweet, fresh and flavorful Central Valley strawberries, especially those purchased at a roadside stand next to the field where they were grown. Even as the number of small-scale strawberry growers dwindle, the extraordinary fruit is getting some ink in Valley newspapers.
Today, the Sacramento Bee ran a business-section article about Southeast Asian farmers featuring Lo Saetern, who has grown "impossibly sweet strawberries" on 25 acres south of Sacramento for 11 years.
The article was prompted by a UC press event slated for 10 a.m. tomorrow at Saetern’s strawberry stand, corner of Florin and Elk Grove-Florin roads, Sacramento. The media are invited to taste fresh strawberries and hear about University of California and Farm Bureau efforts to support local farms, according to a UC news release.
The Sacramento Bee story said a research team, led by UC Berkeley's Jennifer Sowerwine, is seeking new ways to bring Mien- and Hmong-grown berries to market, including a pilot program to provide berries to Sacramento City Unified School District's lunch program. The program will serve 19,000 schoolchildren fresh local strawberries once a week.
Many Hmong and Mien immigrants were farmers in their homeland and have translated their knowledge to their new world.
"Under the radar, through family connections, the farm became the primary means for information and for the transferring of cultural institutions," Sowerwine is quoted in the story. "They're finding patches of land that are close to roads, at the threat of development and maintaining a bit of green in places that were once agricultural."
This week the Fresno Bee ran a follow-up to an April article on finding local, environmentally green strawberry stands. Food writer Joan Obra devoted her Tuesday column to reader feedback on the green strawberry story. As Obra often does, she sought assistance from the UC Cooperative Extension office in Fresno. Agricultural assistant Michael Yang was able to help her determine where certain preferred strawberry varieties are being grown.
UC researchers work with a Southeast Asian farmer.
Cooperative Extension system suggested for health care
Since imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, the nation's Cooperative Extension service got a tremendous compliment in an article that outlined a plan by UC San Francisco physician Kevin Grumbach.
He told a Washington gathering of family physicians that the federal government should establish a cooperative extension service modeled after the one created nearly 100 years ago by the USDA. The new system, administered by HHS, would help primary care physicians transform their practices into patient-centered medical homes, according to a story posted yesterday on the American Academy of Family Physicians Web site about Grumbach's April 23 presentation.
Grumbach's idea has "the real action" taking place at the local level, with county extension office personnel working directly with medical practices.
"(Local agents) would create a sense of local learning communities among all primary care practitioners in a county, or a group of counties, or in sparsely populated rural counties," Grumbach is quoted.
In his presentation, Grumbach noted that CE agents (in California, "advisors") are placed in every county to serve as "coaches" helping farmers adopt new technologies and new methods of farming. The agent also helps facilitate the sharing of best practices and the exchange of information.
"At this point, we know what a high-performing, advanced primary care medical home looks like," Grumbach is quoted. "The problem is, change is hard, particularly in primary care. While you are on that hamster wheel running as fast as you can, it is very hard to step off and engage in the process of practice change."
Grumbach's idea speaks to the genius of the cooperative extension model as it is currently offered to the agricultural industry, and the importance of ensuring it is not dismantled.
Kevin Grumbach
Fresno's Hmong farmer outreach on California Gold
The tireless efforts of UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Richard Molinar and agricultural assistant Michael Yang to aid Fresno County's immigrant farmers are featured on the PBS program "California Gold" this month.
The program was previewed in the Fresno market in April, and will be aired statewide as follows:
KPBS - San Diego 8 p.m. May 7 5:30 p.m. May 9 |
KVIE - Sacramento 9 p.m. May 7 7 p.m. May 19 |
KVPT - Fresno 9 p.m. May 7 7 p.m. May 18 |
KEET - Eureka 12:30 p.m. May 10 |
KVCR - San Bernardino 9 p.m. May 7 |
According to the California Gold Web site, the program's host, Huell Howser, visits "two farms that are growing some of the most interesting and unusual produce in California. From a small family farm to the largest Hmong farm in the county, it’s a wonderful day."
The show is currently only available for purchase on the Web site (about $30 for video or DVD), but it appears Howser is beginning to post some of his programs for free viewing online. I'll post a link when one becomes available.
Richard Molinar, left, and Michael Yang, center, with farmer Ka Neng Vang.