Posts Tagged: small

UC Cooperative Extension invites community to California Regional Agritourism Summits

The University of California Small Farm Program and UC Cooperative Extension advisors in four California regions are working with local partners to organize Regional Agritourism Summits for everyone involved in California agritourism. The Summits will be occasions for farmers, ranchers, county planners, the tourism community and others involved to share, learn, and plan together.

Regional Agritourism Summits 2017

Agritourism operators, tourism professionals, county, city and state staff and officials, community organizations, agricultural organizations, tour organizers and all others who are connected to California agritourism are invited to join the conversations. Presentations and discussion topics will include county regulations; marketing plans; social media and event organizing training sessions; itinerary development; liability; financing ideas for agritourism development; and more.

Each summit was planned by a local team to best reflect the needs of the region, so each will be unique. Each summit will be a participatory, all-day session with lunch provided.

Participants are invited to bring marketing and organizational information to display and share.

To register and learn more, please visit http://ucanr.edu/summits2017. A registration fee of $25 is requested, payable online or by check.

• Yolo/Sacramento/Solano Agritourism Summit: Monday, February 13, 2017
  UC ANR Building, 2801 Second Street, Davis CA 95618
  
• Sonoma/Marin Agritourism Summit: Thursday, February 16, 2017
  Petaluma Community Center, Lucchesi Park, 320 N. McDowell Blvd, Petaluma CA 95954
  
• Stanislaus/San Joaquin/Merced Agritourism Summit: Thursday, March 23, 2017
  Stanislaus County Agricultural Center, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Modesto, CA 95358
  
• Riverside/San Bernardino/San Diego Agritourism Summit: Wed., March 29, 2017
  La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Pkwy, Riverside, CA 92505

UC Small Farm Program Agritourism Resources
The UC Small Farm Program has been working for more than 15 years with UC Cooperative Extension advisors and others to develop resources and connections for California agritourism operators. The UC agritourism website hosts useful factsheets and research.  The online agritourism directory and events calendarhelps visitors find farms and ranches to visit. And, the monthly California Agritourism newsletter shares news and resources for the agritourism community.

Funding for this project was provided in part by the USDA Farmers' Market Promotion Program.

More Information: Penny Leff, UCCE Agritourism Coordinator, paleff@ucdavis.edu, 530-752-7779.

What Are Those Red and Black Bugs on Milkweed?

Got milkweed? Then you probably have milkweed bugs. All summer and into fall, we spotted the...

Yule ornaments? No, just milkweed bugs about to reproduce. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yule ornaments? No, just milkweed bugs about to reproduce. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the Small Milkweed Bug, Lygaeus kalmii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the Small Milkweed Bug, Lygaeus kalmii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Seed pod of the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Seed pod of the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A milkweed bug and a buffet of seeds from the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A milkweed bug and a buffet of seeds from the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Customer Engagement: Garlic Braiding Party at Eatwell Farm

Nigel and Lorraine of Eatwell Farm in Dixon go an extra mile to share a taste of real farm experiences with their 500 CSA members and their friends and relations, partly for increased understanding about the farm by their customers and partly to build loyalty and attract new CSA members.

Eatwell Farm is a certified organic, diversified farm of about 100 acres, selling at farmers' markets, through a CSA and to wholesale customers. My wife and I were lucky enough to join the Garlic Braiding Party at Eatwell last Saturday with a small crowd of delighted CSA members and their friends, mostly families with children. For only a fifteen dollar ticket price, we were invited to set up tents to stay overnight, tour the farm, join a potluck dinner, roast marshmallows at the campfire, enjoy coffee and breakfast in the morning, and just relax on the farm. And we learned how to harvest and braid garlic! And we got to keep the garlic! And we got to bring home some strawberries!

After arriving and getting settled, we all walked out to the garlic field, where we learned how to pull up the bulbs with the stem still attached. We got the hang of garlic harvesting quickly, as the soil had already been loosened around the bulbs, making pulling pretty easy. We picked and pulled and shook off the dirt and piled our findings into harvesting trays to bring back to the packing shed.

After we'd filled a dozen or so trays with our harvest, Connie and Eric, our hosts for the afternoon, let us loose in the next field over, the most beautiful abundant strawberry patch, with instructions to taste and pick what we wanted. No prices, no weighing, just picking and eating of the most delicious ripe and sweet berries. Smiles were everywhere.

On the short walk back to the packing shed we wandered out to visit some of the hundreds of chickens housed in movable coops around the farm, passed through a field of fragrant lavender and couldn't resist a taste of a sweet berry or two (or three) from the mulberry tree.

Then it was time to learn how to braid. First a little instruction in cleaning off the outer layers of skins, then a short demo on how to braid, and we were ready. We all made a few braids, or tried to make braids. Although the farm sells garlic at their farmers' markets, Connie and Eric again let us know that we could take home as much as we wanted! We felt royally gifted with kindness.

Finally, dinner was ready. The main course was farm-raised chicken, prepared by Lorraine. Rounding out the delicious meal were potluck salads, sides and sweets brought by the visitors. Dinner was followed by a campfire, complete with marshmallows and all the makings for classic s'mores.

We didn't stay overnight, as we only live twenty miles down the road, but we left our new friends to enjoy a Solstice evening on the farm, a night under the stars, and a good rooster wake-up in the morning. Thank you, Nigel, Lorraine, Connie and Eric, for a memorable experience! We'll tell everyone we can about your CSA and hope to come back to make tomato sauce in August.

www.eatwell.com

camping

tents and people in the field

Another Unwelcome Intruder

California's beekeepers not only worry about the varroa mite (aka Public Enemy No. 1), but the...

The small hive beetle (black insect at left) spells trouble in a bee hive. The major problem here, though, is the larvae of a wax moth. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The small hive beetle (black insect at left) spells trouble in a bee hive. The major problem here, though, is the larvae of a wax moth. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How Small Is Small?

Sometimes in a world of towering skyscrapers, jumbo jets and warehouses big enough to hold a small...

A lady beetle, a monarch caterpillar and an infestation of oleander aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A lady beetle, a monarch caterpillar and an infestation of oleander aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An oleander aphid on "the nose" of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An oleander aphid on "the nose" of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An oleander aphid on the back of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An oleander aphid on the back of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An oleander aphid crawling on a tentacle of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An oleander aphid crawling on a tentacle of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)