It has been a wonderful spring at Elkus. School field trips have been booked to capacity, our Sheep to Shawl event and all summer camp sessions are full (sorry if you missed out). We will welcome back Range Camp and Tinkering Camps starting in June and are thrilled to have them returning!

We are currently planning our schedule for fall, including Preschool Days (dates tbd). October school groups will have the option to purchase pumpkins. Reservations for summer and fall are filling up so contact us if you want to book a date. Our Fall Camp will be happening again, November 21-22^nd, with a notice being sent as soon as registration is open. MORE PICS...

On May 15th and 16th, (2) groups of participating youth from the Alameda County 4-H Water Wizards Program had the opportunity to visit Elkus Ranch as part of their program and experiential learning experience.

This in-school pilot program is an 11-week science education program teaching middle school students about water and its importance in our environment. READ MORE...

On April 9, 2022, the UC Master Gardeners of San Mateo and San Francisco Counties, hosted their annual Spring Garden Market & Educational Fair. 120 volunteers grew veggies, prepared talks, and participated in the market that was widely publicized through UC MG social media channels. 

Live presentation topics included: Controlling Gophers, Success with Tomatoes, Irrigation, Enjoying Herbs, Edible Pest Control, and Planting Young Trees. UC MG partners also set up information tables: Each Green Corner, Lyngso Garden Materials, San Mateo Consolidated County Fire Department, UC Master Food Preservers, The Office of Sustainability, and the San Mateo County Event Center. Other informational tables provided by our Master Gardeners included: Growing Tomatoes, Gopher Control in the Garden, Seed Starting, IPM/Plant Diagnostics, Roses, Native Plants, and Herbs. Approximately 700 people attended this event. More pics...

On April 22, 2022, CalFresh Healthy Living Educators are happy to have resumed in-person programming in San Mateo County school cafeterias. They offered students at Sunshine Gardens Elementary School in South San Francisco tastings of yellow, green, and red bell peppers. After trying the peppers, students were given the opportunity to “vote” on the bell peppers by placing their empty cup in one of three buckets labeled “Loved It,” “Liked It,” or “Not Today.”

Before trying them, many of the students were concerned that the peppers might be spicy and were pleasantly surprised to find that they were very sweet! Many said they would like to eat the peppers again, and results showed 74 “Loved It,” 70 “Liked It,” and 27 “Not Today” votes. All the students walked away happy with the sticker they received for trying a new produce item. MORE PICs...

Public schools – and school meal programs, in particular – seem to generate a lot of food packaging waste but little has been done to reduce it and measurement is the first step. In this paper, researchers from UCCE, UCANR, and UC Berkeley

reviewed existing methodology for assessing food packaging waste in school food service and found large variation in the settings, participants, designs, and methodologies. Lack of standardization was observed even within each methodology (e.g., waste audit).

The paper also proposed and shared a new instrument to support comprehensive and replicable data collection, to further the understanding of school foodservice food packaging waste in the U.S., and to reduce environmental harms. In California, more students are expected to participate in the school meal program as all children can now eat for free, and understanding the scope and impact of packaging waste is more important than ever. Laura Vollmer is the Nutrition Family and Consumer Sciences Advisor for San Mateo, San Francisco, and Santa Clara Counties.