Volume 1 Issue 12
December 2025
The RECap
A newsletter from South Coast Research and Extension Center
and UC Cooperative Extension Orange County
| | South Coast Research and Extension Center will be closed for winter curtailment from December 24, 2025 through January 1, 2026. | | South Coast REC's GROW Program | | South Coast REC's GROW Program, our agriculture education and workforce development program, made possible by support from the Orange County Farm Bureau, is wrapping up its Fall Field Days. These field days bring hundreds of high school students to South Coast REC for a morning of hands-on learning experiences, shown in the photos below. | | A staple activity at the field days is a seasonal produce tasting where students have the opportunity to taste fresh produce grown right here at South Coast REC. During the fall field days, students get to taste different varieties of citrus, persimmons, guava, apples, avocados, and more. Some students are tasting these fruits for the first time! While tasting they get to learn about the different varieties, growing seasons, marketing strategies, and the importance of plant breeding. | Students worked with the UC Master Food Preservers to make fresh guacamole using avocados grown on site at South Coast REC. The Master Food Preservers rounded out the activity by teaching the students about safe food handling skills and flavor profiles, giving students the option to kick it up a notch and customize their guacamole with additional spices. | | Students had the opportunity to work in the greenhouse with our Urban Agriculture Technology Advisor Grant Johnson. Grant set up an activity where students could make their own Kratky hydroponics tray, a low-input method of growing plants hydroponically. Students learned about fertilizers, potting media, and proper seeding methods, and helped Grant every step of the way, whether it was filling the tray with water, testing the pH of the water, adding fertilizers, or placing the seeds in the different media types. | Rotating through three different stations, students interacted with the Orange County Master Beekeepers and learned about pollinators and pollinator-friendly plants (pictured above) as well as bees and common bee pests. They also had the opportunity to taste three different kinds of honey! | | |
"Is that the fescue?"
Earlier this week our Community Education Specialists hosted a group of students from the Fullerton College Horticulture Department. The students were starstruck when they visited our CIMIS station, the very station where they get evapotranspiration data for their landscape irrigation class.
| Orange County Master Beekeeper Program | | |
The Orange County Bee Team is now offering Nosema testing!
Nosema is a disease that affects the digestive system of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Nosema spp. are spore-forming microsporidia. Nosematosis is an important factor that leads to a weakening of the defenses of hives and, together with other factors, to their collapse.
| | |
You can drop off samples every Tuesday from 8am to noon at South Coast Research and Extension Center: 7601 Irvine Blvd. Irvine, CA 92618 in the Main Office.
Blue arrows in the map below indicate the entrance off Irvine Blvd. and where you can park in front of the Main Office, which is indicated by the red rectangle.
| | |
Book Drive
A big thank you to all who dropped off new books in the donation bin at SCREC. The CHOC patients and their families will certainly appreciate having some new books to choose from in their library. We are grateful for your generosity.
| | | | | |
Happy Holidays!
What a great year 2025 has been! We thank all who participated in our program! Keep an eye out for so many great events ahead in 2026! We welcome new families and can always find work for willing adult volunteer hands, so if you are looking for something new in 2026 – think of 4-H! Come join us!
| | |
Pro Tips
Tips, tricks, and advice from our program experts
| | Host Healthy: Food Safety & the Holidays | | |
As Master Food Preservers, we take our responsibility to food safety seriously. As the holidays approach, I wanted to share some helpful tips for how to properly present and store food at your next holiday gathering.
- Keep food refrigerated until it is time to eat, and keep food at 40 degrees or colder when serving.
- Perishable food should be refrigerated or tossed after 2 hours.
- If you plan to leave food out longer than 2 hours, place perishable food on top of containers filled with ice.
- Hot food should be presented in slow cookers, chafing dishes, or warming trays AND kept at a temperature at or above 140 degrees F when serving.
- Keep serving sizes small on buffet tables. If you’re expecting a large crowd, refrigerate additional serving dishes and restock the buffet as needed.
- Bring take-home containers with you to the gathering. Most hosts are thrilled to see leftovers go home with guests. It’s a way to help clean the kitchen without getting your hands wet!
Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday season!
Jennifer Borges and the Master Food Preservers of Orange County
| | Jennifer Borges is the new Program Coordinator for the Master Food Preservers of Orange County. She can be reached with questions or inquiries at jhborges@ucanr.edu. For quick answers to your food preservation and safety questions, contact the MFP Helpline: uccemfp@ucdavis.edu | | |
UC ANR’s Before You Buy Webinar Pt. 3:
Financial Practicalities of Owning Forestland
| | |
Are you interested in buying forestland in California, but have questions about the cost of ownership? Join a panel of forestry experts and landowners to learn about options for affording management activities, fire insurance, and more. Get equipped with the knowledge you need to make informed buying decisions.
Webinar Details
When: Thursday December 11, 2025. 6:00-7:30 PM.
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free!
This is the final part of a 3-part series on what Californians should know before buying forestland. Watch the first two webinars on forest stewardship and living with fire on the Before you Buy webpage here.
| | |
UC ANR Forest Stewardship Workshop:
San Diego and Surrounding Counties
| | |
Join UC ANR’s team of forestry experts online and in-person at the San Diego Forest Stewardship Workshop, starting January 2026! Get equipped with the knowledge to understand forest management in California, and earn a free site visit with a Registered Professional Forester, CA Range Manager, or Burn Boss (an $800 value).
If you live in the forest, near a forest, or are interested in trees, this educational opportunity is for you. Learn about forest ecology, methods to reduce fire risk on your property, forest management planning, and more. Participants in this nine-week workshop series will gain the skills to identify their forest management goals and draft a forest management plan.
Workshop Details
When: Tuesday evenings (6:00-7:30 PM) January 27-March 24, 2026
In-person field day February 28, 2026
Where: Weekly meetings over Zoom, in-person field day in San Diego County
Cost: $60, need-based scholarships available by request. Please reach out to Kim Ingram (kcingram@ucanr.edu) to request a scholarship.
| | | | |
