Summer is in full-swing! In this month's enews, read about several farm dinner fundraisers happening this season, as well as workshops for beginning farmers and recaps of what our regions have been up to lately.
Remember to like us on both the CAFF: Santa Clara Valley and the CAFF: Central Coast Facebook pages to stay updated about CAFF news and events!
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Taste of Santa Clara Valley-October 17
Early bird tickets available for a limited time!
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Coke Farm Tour with Food Service Staff
In June, food service managers from San Jose Unified, Oak Grove, Ravenswood, Sunnyvale, Monterey Peninsula, and Gilroy Unified School Districts visited Coke Farm to learn more about local sourcing opportunities. Coke Farm works with several distributors that serve the region's school districts. CAFF works with food service directors to direct purchasing towards local farms. The field trip included a tour of Coke Farm's post-harvest handling center and cold storage, as well as some of the fields. Thanks to everyone that attended and especially Christine and Dale Coke for being such great hosts!
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CSA Workshop
CAFF will be partnering with UC Davis for a series of CSA workshops taking place on the Central Coast, Davis, Sonoma, Chico and Visalia. Researchers from UC Davis will be presenting the results of a survey of CSA farmers, with a discussion to follow. We will also be discussing the future of CSAs and will have an update on CAFF's CSA network. The first workshop in the series will take place on Tuesday, August 18th at Live Earth Farm in Watsonville from 10am-3pm. Read the agenda for the workshop on the event flyer. RSVP by contacting Rosemary Quinn: [email protected] or (831) 761-8507.
Read more about our work with CSA farmers on our website.
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New Member Profile: One Acre Farm
Owners Michelle Lieberman and Gal Mariansky started One Acre Farm in 2010 in Morgan Hill, CA after years of visiting and learning from other farmers, starting urban gardens, eating fresh veggies, and dreaming of starting their own farm. The farm is primarily a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, serving the local Morgan Hill and San Martin area. The farm is located just outside the city limits and features a wide variety of vegetables and fruits throughout the spring, summer, and fall. CSA members can pick up their produce from the farm directly, or by home delivery to Morgan Hill and San Martin residents for an additional fee. There are still spots available for their summer CSA; sign up on their website.
If you a Morgan Hill business that would be interested in setting up a One-Acre Farm CSA worksite drop-off for your employees, please contact Rosemary Quinn at [email protected] or (831) 761-8507.
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Help Fund Harvest of the Month
Next month kicks off another year of Harvest of the Month (HOTM) in schools throughout the Central Coast and Santa Clara Valley. We've been hard at work throughout the summer creating new materials and resources, including a book of lesson plans, so teachers are able to expand on food and farming education in the classroom. We're excited to share everything that we've been working on and hope that you'll join us to provide students with 9 months of engaging, hands-on, taste-on lessons.
To sign up to participate in HOTM please visit our application.
To help fund HOTM so we can provide the program to more low-income schools, please visit our crowdfunding page.
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Events and Workshops
FarmLink Fundraiser Dinner Aug. 16
Lonely Mountain Farm in Watsonville will be hosting a fundraiser dinner benefiting California FarmLink on Sunday, August 16th from 4:30-8:30pm. Chef Santos Majano from the Kitchen at Discretion Brewery will prepare the dinner, with beer provided by the brewery as well. Purchase tickets here.
Irrigation Distribution Uniformity and
Wise Water Use for Small Farms
Aug. 17
In this workshop geared toward beginning farmers and managers of demonstration and teaching farms, instructors Jim Leap and Darryl Wong will lead participants in learning how to accurately assess irrigation distribution uniformity and system output (drip and sprinkler) to better inform their irrigation design and operation decisions and better instruct their students, interns, and co-managers about wise water use. Read the flyer for more information. RSVP by contacting Melissa Betrone, 831.502-8079 or email [email protected].
Central Coast Organic Strawberry Field Tour
Aug. 20
UCSC, SJSU, and UCCE will be hosting a free tour of three organic strawberry farms on the Central Coast on Thursday, Aug. 20th from 8am-1pm. At each farm, there will be presentations on the outcomes of the 4-year organic strawberry/vegetable crop rotation trials, the results of recent studies on pest management strategies in organic strawberry/vegetable production and a presentation on the effect of organic production on soil carbon sequestration. Contact Joji Muramoto at [email protected] or call 831-247-3804 to RSVP or if you have any questions. Seats are limited to the first 40 people.
Homeless Garden Project Sustain Dinner
with Deborah Madison
Aug. 22
Tickets are now on sale for the Homeless Garden Project's Sustain Dinner, a fundraiser for the non-profit. Acclaimed chef and write Deborah Madison will be the special guest, with four local chefs each preparing a course for the dinner.
HGP is currently recruiting volunteers for the dinner on the 22nd and for another Sustain Dinner on Sept. 19th. Contact their volunteer coordinator, Jes, if you have questions or want to sign up! Her email is [email protected].
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