Backyard Orchard News
Kearney has a new irrigation water management specialist.
Khaled Bali, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in irrigation water management is now at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Bali has been with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources since 1992 and served in different capacities as UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Imperial County, irrigation and water management (1992-2016), UCCE county director in Imperial County (2009-2016) and two years as interim director of the UC Desert Research and Extension Center in Holtville (2012-2013 and 2014-2015). He received his doctoral degree in soil physics from UC Davis (1992), master's degree in irrigation and drainage from UC Davis (1987), and bachelor's degree in soils and irrigation from the University of Jordan (1984). He is responsible for designing, implementing, and conducting educational and applied research programs in irrigation, drainage, water management, water quality, soil salinity, waste management, reuse of wastewater for irrigation and nonpoint source pollution control practices. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Jordan (2006-07) and conducted research on reuse of wastewater for irrigation and constructed wetlands to treat wastewater.
Moths! Moths! Moths! Can You Identify Your Moths?
So you have this significant garden pest--a caterpillar eating your cabbage, lettuce, tomato,...
This moth is the Tobacco Budworm (as identified by Lepitopteran Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology) It's shown here on a blanket flower, Gaillardia. Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's Bugged! And You Won't Want to Miss It!
It's bugged. Yes, bugged. And you won't want to miss it. If you head over to the 69th annual...
Gloria Gonzalez hangs a needlepoint fan, the work of Laura Ryan of Benicia. Note the blue butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Rebecca Banducci (left), part of the McCormack Hall crew, and superintendent Gloria Gonzalez of Vallejo, show a display board crafted by Ryan Anenson of the Tremont 4-H Club, Dixon. It won a best of show. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This "best of show" is the work of Laquita Cumings of Rodeo. Butterflies abound! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Beverly O'Hara of Benicia appliqued this quilt, titling it "Ant-titude." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is a close-up of a butterfly on a quilt made by Celia Weller of American Canyon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Have you ever seen a honey bee on a rock? You have now! This painting is the work of Andrew Donato of Vallejo, entered in the 9-10 age category. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kearney gets a new agricultural and biological engineering assistant advisor.
Alireza (Ali) Pourreza is a new UC Cooperative Extension assistant advisor at UC ANR Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, agricultural engineering. His research and extension area includes spray technology, precision agriculture, automation and robotic control, sensor design, geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing, computer vision, spectroscopy, machine learning, and big data. He completed his graduate studies at the University of Florida and obtained his Ph.D. degree in Agricultural and Biological Engineering under the advisement of Wonsuk “Daniel” Lee, professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Florida. Pourreza also received an interdisciplinary certificate in GIS and Remote Sensing. Ali holds a master's degree in Mechanics of Agricultural Machinery and a bachelor's degree in Farm Machinery Engineering.
Pourreza's doctoral dissertation was focused on interdisciplinary research in citrus diseases detection using computer vision, and machine learning. He developed two real-time, vision-based sensors for citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) disease detection for laboratory and field experiments. He also developed an autonomous field inspector robot and a vision-based sensor for on-site diagnosis of citrus diseases.
Alireza Pourreza, UC Cooperative Extension assistant advisor in agricultural engineering.
Customer Engagement: U-Pick Membership Programs
The people of Suzie's Farm, diversified organic growers in San Diego, have explored many ways to connect their customers to the farm and the good food growing on the farm. They offer regular farm tours, a CSA program, strawberry U-Pick days, farm dinners and other events. About a year ago, farm manager Lauren Gagliano Saline and her staff noticed that some of their customers wanted more chances to get their hands dirty, maybe to harvest their own CSA.
Suzie's staff tried an unguided vegetable U-Pick, letting customers pick vegetables from the fields. That didn't work out so well. Many people didn't know how to walk in the fields without trashing the beds, and didn't know how to harvest the different crops, and the random picking adventures tied up staff time. So Lauren and the team created a guided U-Pick option, and the U-Pick Harvest Club was born.
Now about fifty U-Pick Harvest Club members pick their own CSA every week. They join and prepay for four, eight, sixteen or more "picks". Each "pick" is a varying list of eight items with a set quantity of each item, designed to be approximately equal to a CSA share. Harvest Club members are told the times each week that they can pick their shares, on Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday. The picking times are when farm staff are leading their regular farm tours, so Harvest Club members join any of the tours and are supervised in their picking by the tour leaders. Of course they are not charged for the tour, which usually costs $10 per person.
Another advantage the U-Pick Harvest Club members enjoy is the chance to customize their pick, an option not available to regular CSA members. Rather than picking a set amount of each of the eight items, they are allowed to substitute more of one crop if they prefer. For example, they can pick eight melons one week if melons are one of the listed items, and take none of the other things on the list. And some people, Lauren explained, just prefer to pick that perfect bunch of kale. Harvest Club members are also allowed to bring along up to three people to "help" them pick - which includes the free farm tour.
The first year of Suzie's U-Pick Harvest Club has been a success, seeing steady growth and renewals for the second year. For more information, see Suzie's Farm website.
About four years ago, the Olsons set up a "U-pick/CSA Member Program," and now reserve the u-pick experience for farm CSA members. The price of membership is a case of Gabriel Farm's organic juice. For $36, customers get three gallons of juice and the ability to pick and purchase whatever is in season. Once they had the membership program established, Lucy and Torrey felt comfortable in opening up the U-Pick options to their full range of crops - from apples, pluots, berries, Asian Pears, tomatoes and flowers in August through persimmons and pineapple guavas in November.
Membership in the U-pick CSA program at Gabriel Farm averages about 500 families. A membership is good for a family or for a group of four people. Most customers are families with young children who want their children to learn where their food comes from and to be able to experience the farm. Most drive an hour or two from the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Lucy and Torrey are happy with their program. They have found that most people who make the membership commitment are supportive, kind and respectful of the farm.
Most U-Pick CSA members only come out to the farm once a year, as they are very busy people, Lucy explained, although she encourages all members to experience the apple harvest at least once if they start in a different season. Turnover in the program is about 80 percent, but enough new members join each year to maintain the average membership numbers.
The Olsons are not trying to grow their U-Pick program. They tried a hay pyramid one year for the children to play on, but decided that they didn't want to be in the agri-tainment business and did not repeat the experiment. They plan to continue to use the U-Pick membership program to limit the number of customers and to make more of a connection with people who enjoy and respect Gabriel Farm. For more information, see gabrielfarm.com/portal/u-pick