Backyard Orchard News
A UC Davis Soakfest That's 15 Minutes of Aim
Take one distinguished professor and one undergraduate student. Be sure it's a warm summer day....
Scene One: UC Davis undergraduate student Andrew Kisin of the Aldrin Gomes lab, charges toward distinguished professor Bruce Hammock. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Scene Two: Student Andrew Kisin finds his target, Bruce Hammock. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Scene Three: Bruce Hammock is feeling the effects. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Scene 4: The water slides off of Bruce Hammock. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Proving himself an elite water warrior, Bruce Hammock nonchalantly empties a bucket of water on his doctoral student, Cindy McReynolds. "I thought I dodged it," she later said. She did not. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gotcha! Hammock lab researcher Christopher Morisseau (right), who coordinates the annual Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle, scores a direct hit! Bruce Hammock smiles. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The water warriors pose for a group photo, marking the finish of the 15th annual Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bohart Museum Open House: Let's Celebrate Moths!
National Moth Week, July 21-29, celebrates the beauty, life cycles and habitats of...
Standing in front of the blacklighting, Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas talks to moth enthusiasts at the 2017 Bohart Museum of Entomology Moth Night. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the butterfly and moth display at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, shows Los Altos residents Prerna Jain and her son Prakrit Jain part of the collection. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Independence Day for a Monarch
Have you ever seen a monarch butterfly eclose? It's a magical moment. First an egg, then a...
The monarch chrysalis bulges, a sure sign that eclosure is imminent. At right is a newly formed green chrysalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Out it slides. Swoosh! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Time to wiggle around. Welcome to the world! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Time to pump up the wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Just you wait, soon I'll be a familiar looking butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
I'm swinging and swaying. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ah, as soon as I dry, I'll be off and long gone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bugs and Beat: Talented UC Davis Graduate Students Form Insect-Themed Band
If you missed hearing The Entomology Band performing in front of Briggs Hall during the recent UC...
Yao-“Fruit-Fly”-Cai has been playing drums since age 17. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Entomology Band performing in front of Briggs Hall. From left are Jill Oberski, Zach Griebenow, Brendon Boudinot, Yao Cai, Wei Lin, Jackson Audley and Christine Tabuloc.
Group photo: In front is Yao Cai. The three in the second row are (from left) Jill Oberski, Brendon Boudinot and Christine Tabuloc. In back (from left) are Zachary Griebenow, Jackson Audley and Wei Lin.
Year One: Organizing the first annual Nevada County Farm Trail Weekend
Nevada County Grown board member Sammie Bass is coordinating the event. Today, a few days before the big weekend, she shared a little bit about the process and challenges of organizing something never done before in Nevada County.
Organizing participating farms and ranches: Sammie started planning the July event in April and May, so, understandably, communication with potential participating farmers was a major challenge. It was difficult to get clear answers from farmers about what tours, product sales and activities each would be offering to visitors, and to make sure that each participating farm was appropriately safe and prepared. Sammie visited each of the farms and worked with the owners to plan parking and safe access. Would room for ten cars be enough? Is the turn into the driveway from a busy road safe enough? She had no way to know.
Permits needed? Nevada County recently adopted new zoning ordinances that clarified that agritourism activities including tours, farm dinners and U-Pick are allowed by right on agricultural zoned lots over five acres. To make sure that all interested farms and ranches qualified under this zoning, Sammie shared her list of fifteen potential participants with the county agricultural commissioner. The Commissioner rejected several on the list as being less than five acres or zoned rural residential rather than agricultural, so not eligible to host visitors on their land without an expensive conditional use permit. However, as a work-around, these few farms are allowed to have farm stands and to sell their products during the event, but not host tours or other activities.
Day-of ticket sales? The Passport Weekend ticket (actually a wristband) is priced at $20 for advance sales and $25 on the day of the event. It was tough to organize enough volunteers to staff check-in and ticket sales tables at each of the twelve participating venues. Therefore, four visitor check-in hubs will be set up at four of the venues. If visitors show up at the other locations without wristbands, the participating farmers and ranchers will include them in tours and activities and instruct them to check in and pay at one of the four check-in hubs for their next stop.
Food? Lunch stop? Since this is the first-ever Nevada County Farm Trail Weekend, and since most of the farms and ranches are not set up to cater food for guests, Sammie investigated inviting a food truck to feed the guests. However, she could not promise more than 150 - 200 visitors total, which is not enough to pay for a food truck's time, labor and travel costs. Instead, the Nevada county Food Bank, one of the stops on the trail, will put on a barbecue, offering lunch for a donation (on Saturday at least) and giving tours of the Food Bank Garden. Farm Trail visitors may want to bring along a picnic this time.
Promotion: Good Day Sacramento came out and took videos, as did CBS13, helping to promote the event. In addition, local newspaper, The Union, interviewed organizers and wrote an article showcasing participating farms and ranches to local readers.
Sponsors? Maybe next year.
Sammie Bass and other Nevada County Grown organizers are expecting about 150 to 200 visitors for the first annual Nevada County Farm Trail Weekend. This will definitely be an adventure. If you see Sammie on the trail, be sure to say hello and thank her for her hard work. Learn more: nevadacountygrown.org/