Posts Tagged: All Star
STAR Award nomination deadline extended to Friday, April 17
The deadline to nominate staff for a STAR Award has been extended to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, April 17. This is in response to requests from a number of managers and supervisors whose workload is impacted by the COVID-19 situation and other competing priorities. Please use this extra time to recognize and nominate staff who have achieved great things during the last year, including those who have stepped up during the current emergency.
The program provides one-time $500 cash awards to eligible staff in recognition of outstanding achievement. Managers may nominate individuals and teams demonstrating exceptional performance, creativity, organizational abilities, work success and teamwork.
Policy-covered ANR staff and members of the Clerical Unit (CX) are eligible to be nominated for STAR awards. Staff in other collective bargaining units, academics and members of the Senior Management Group are not eligible to receive STAR awards.
Nomination forms and program guidelines are available on the UC ANR Human Resources website.
Send your nominations via e-mail to humanresources@ucanr.edu by Friday, April 17, 2020.
STAR Award winners will be celebrated during an ANR recognition event on June 18, 2020, even if it's a “virtual” Zoom event.
A 'Star' Is Born and Then....
We rarely see an adult praying mantis until late summer or fall. Their offspring are out there,...
First-instar praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, as identified by UC Davis praying mantis expert and entomology student Lohit Garikpati. Photograph taken May 13 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How tiny is the first-instar? This tiny. And that's a red spider mite that crawled onto the dime. Note the chunk of abdomen missing on the first-instar--probably due to sibling cannibalism. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This was a very gravid mantis, Stagmomantis limbata on Sept. 24, 2018. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mama mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, depositing an ootheca or egg case on a redwood stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Strawberry Fields Forever
As a Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems student at UC Davis, I love having the opportunity to visit farms and ranches that are putting what I am learning in my classes into real practice. Pacific Star Gardens exceeded my expectations. Located near Woodland, CA Pacific Star Gardens is a diversified farm that offers a variety of fruits and vegetables for u-pick and also offers egg subscriptions for on-farm pick up by subscribers.
We were greeted by Robert Ramming at Pacific Star Gardens. He was more than happy to give a tour of the cultivated land. We toured the greenhouses where transplants are grown not only for Pacific Star Gardens but also for other farms and seed companies. Ramming also showed us a piece of land where he was growing Triticale and Rye as chicken scratch and feed. He explained how this is a financially better method than continuing to solely buy feed. Although he still purchases grain from feed stores to compensate for what he has not grown, his goal is to eventually switch to a full self sustaining method. We then passed by the tomatoes and apricots on our way to the berries which Ramming explained were the best crop to grow for a beginning u-pick farm.
Throughout our walk Ramming also shared some of his experiences being a small scale farmer. Pacific Star Gardens used to sell at local farmer's markets. Unfortunately, due to family changes, they had to stop farmers' market sales and subsequently withdrew from their organic certification because the cost was unaffordable without the farmers' market as a source of income. Despite not having organic certification, Pacific Star Gardens still maintains all organic practices to ensure the quality of product and trust of consumers. Pacific Star Gardens direct marketing sales currently include u-pick, some farm stand sales and egg subscriptions. Ramming mentioned that roughly 80 percent of sales are from people living close by and the other 20 percent of sales are from visitors coming in after seeing their Facebook page or through word of mouth.
This visit would have not been complete without a bag of strawberries to take home. Before leaving us, Ramming showed us to the farm stand where we grabbed a clean picking bucket and headed out to the strawberry field. I picked two pounds of yummy strawberries which cost $3.50 a pound. They accept either cash or PayPal/Venmo.
Blackberry u-pick will be coming up soon, so keep your eye out on Pacific Star Garden's Facebook page for more information to visit. https://www.facebook.com/pacificstargardens/
Nominate exceptional staff for STAR Awards
Nominations are being accepted now for the annual UC ANR Staff Appreciation and Recognition (STAR) Awards. The deadline for submission is April 5, 2019.
The STAR program is your opportunity to celebrate and reward the great contributions of ANR's people. The program provides one-time cash awards to eligible staff in recognition of outstanding achievement. Managers may nominate individuals and teams demonstrating exceptional performance, creativity, organizational abilities, work success and teamwork.
Policy-covered ANR staff and members of the Clerical Unit (CX) are eligible to be nominated for STAR awards. Staff in other collective bargaining units, academics and members of the Senior Management Group are not eligible to receive STAR awards.
Nomination forms and program guidelines are available on the UC ANR HR website.
Send your nominations via e-mail to humanresources@ucanr.edu by April 5, 2019.
STAR Awards will be celebrated during an ANR recognition event at the Second Street building in Davis on June 18, 2019.
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
Still Time to Plant Onions in Napa County.
By Helen Dake, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Many of you know that Master Gardeners share...