Si! Se Puede! provides after-school homework help, snack and fun for 40 children living in the Villa Luna complex in Hollister. San Benito Bounty’s Grow Gardens! program is helping them develop a garden.
With generous a donation of lumber from McKinnon Lumber Company and compost coming soon from Quicksilver Farm, the physical location was celebrated in an Opening Ceremony attended by Hollister Mayor Victor Gomez last Friday.
Today Nants took a tray of seedlings she has been tending lovingly here at Quicksilver Farm. Among the offerings were heirloom tomatoes, peppers, butternut squash, Italian squash, watermelon, green beans, Hidatsa shield beans and marigolds. She spent a happy couple of hours with the children. First they learned about plants in general, then their plants in particular. The best location for each plant within their garden was discussed.
Finally, the kids got to get down in the dirt, and isn’t that what it’s all about? Nants had brought sunflower seeds from her plants last year and a seed tray with 36 cells. Each child selected a seed, planted it and noted its location on a planting chart. The tray was covered to create a mini-greenhouse. May the entire Villa Luna apartment complex be awash in cheerful sunflowers this summer!
Charles Miller is in charge of this afterschool program. He is part of Americorps, and is a wonderful person with whom to work. Nants and he will be keeping the garden growing assisted by the enthusiastic kids. This is a fun way to start spring! Later this year, these kids will come for a visit to Quicksilver Farm to see the animals and adventures there.

We got word from our friends at the Pinnacles Partnership that biologists at Pinnacles National Monument have verified the first California condor nest in the monument in over 100 years. Condor 317, a female released at the monument as a 1 ½ year old bird in 2004, has paired with a nearly seven year old male, Condor 318, originally released along the Big Sur coast by Ventana Wildlife Society. This is the first breeding attempt by either of the condors. The adult condors were tracked using radio telemetry and global positioning technology to their nest site. They were also observed performing courtship behaviors for nearly a month before an egg was confirmed. At least 317 can’t be accused of being easy.
“We are thrilled that after being involved with the Condor Recovery Program since 2003, the park has its first nest in over 100 years,” said Park Superintendent Eric Brunnemann, “and conveniently Condors 317 and 318 chose a nest cave that can be easily viewed by the public from the Scout Peak bench on the High Peaks Trail.” Although the areas directly around the nest cliff will be closed to public use during the nesting period, public viewing is still possible. A strenuous hike to the viewing area is approximately two miles from the parking areas. The Visitor Center will have more complete directions to the viewing area.
Biologists will be closely watching the nest to see if the new parents succeed in incubating the new egg and rearing a young bird to fledge from the rocky cliff. Condor eggs take an average of 57 days to hatch. Nestlings remain flightless for an additional 5½ to 6 months. So Park Service biologists expect that if the new parents successfully rear a young condor, it would take its first flight in early October. How cool will that be?
Pinnacles National Monument was selected as a California condor release site because of historical documentation of condors in the area, fabulous cliff nesting opportunities and large expanses of intact habitat in the region. There have been six groups of condors released at Pinnacles National Monument, bringing the current total to 26 free-flying condors. A Pinnacles released condor nested in 2009. Condor 313 paired with Condor 303 who laid an egg in a rocky outcrop at the RS Bar Guest Ranch in southern San Benito County. Although Condor 303 died before her nestling took his first flight, the juvenile survived and continues to fly over San Benito County. With the approval of the National Park Service and others involved in the condor recovery effort, the owners and operators of the RS Bar Guest Ranch formed an unprecedented relationship with the Pinnacles Partnership, a nonprofit organization supporting the monument, so visitors could have the opportunity to take guided trips to the remote nest site, where the nesting pair and their offspring could frequently be viewed for extended periods.
National Park Biologists are working with partners at the Ventana Wildlife Society and community volunteers to build a self sustaining population of condors in central California over the next several years.
Condors maintained a strong population in the American West until the mid-19th century, when shooting, poisoning from lead and strychnine, egg collecting, and general habitat degradation began to take a heavy toll.
Between the mid-1880s and 1924, there were scattered reports of condors in Arizona. But by the late 1930s, all remaining condors were found only in California and the mid 1980s, the total population had dwindled to just 22 birds.
The California condor was placed on the federal endangered species list in 1967. In the early 1980s, an intensive captive breeding program rescued the species from extinction and in the 1990s reestablishment efforts began in southern California. Since that time, release sites have also been launched in northern Arizona, along the Big Sur coast, at Pinnacles National Monument, and on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.
The current world population of California condors numbers 348. Ninety-five birds are flying free in California, eighteen in Baja Mexico, and seventy-four in Arizona. An additional 161 are in captive breeding centers.
This wonderful picture of Bird 318 on the nest was taken by John Maio. We love the picture, but we’re not too keen on the names of the condors! Oh, well.

When not on the farm, Tim and Nants are usually busy working on San Benito Bounty, a nonprofit they founded with some friends to celebrate, brand and promote the produces, people, places and products of the county.  Current projects include Harvest of the Month, a partnership with California Alliance with Family Farms (CAFF) and the San Benito County Farm Bureau.  Each month, boxes of fresh local produce are delivered to the school and afterschool sites of the YMCA and Si! Se puede!  along with lesson plans for the adults and Spanish/English newsletters for the families.

San Benito Bounty also is working with the San Benito Medical Society to create a Food Revolution Ten Healthy Meals program.  Based on the wish of Jamie Oliver, 2010 TED Award winner, this program will offer cooking classes free for the participants which will show people, young and old alike, how to prepare some basic healthy meals quickly and inexpensively using local produce.

In teamwork with Pinnacles Partnership, a series of education tours are being planned for the Highway 25 corridor leading to Pinnacles National Monument.  Such wonders to behold:  Wildflowers in the spring, grazing animals, evidence of the San Andreas fault , bat caves and birds of every sort including the mighty condor.   We hope to encourage people from near and far to explore our wonders.

We are slowly developing the organization’s website. With the generosity of both Teknova and Schipper Design, we hope it will one day be a powerful hub of news and activity for the San Benito County populace.

We’re going to be hosting a luncheon soon at Quicksilver Farm for Congressman Sam Farr to discuss San Benito Bounty:  its goals, progress and needs.  We know he is considered a major friend of the farmer, having introduced HR 4333 to promote farm to school programs, among other things.

San Benito Bounty thanks the vision and the generosity of the Community Foundation for San Benito County, the San Benito Medical Society, Calera Wines and Josh Jensen, Schipper Design, Teknova and Ted Davis, Kathleen and Graham Wright, Jeannine Bogard, Millard Strohn and Quicksilver Farm and Tim and Nants Foley. 

So it’s busy times with the denizens of Quicksilver Farm, but it’s a good life!

Finally, a day of sunshine! Our “lake” is back…one day of sunshine will not be enough to make it disappear, but at least the gloom has been dispelled. Last night it rained so hard it seemed like hail, but the blossoms on the apricot trees are still attached. Let’s hope the bees can get out and have a few drinks of nectar during this respite. This picture is a quick snap with the phone’s camera, but can’t you just see how the raised beds are begging for plants? Unfortunately our tomato and pepper seedlings look a bit bedraggled from lack of sunshine and fresh air. They’ve been stuck in the house for days because the pelting rain would just smack them down. We’re hoping they pick up a bit by the end of today.

The 23rd California Small Farm Conference was held February 28 through March 2, 2010 in San Diego, CA. The breakfast Keynote Address was offered by Rayne Pegg, an administrator of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Then there were breakout sessions in five tracks: Resource Conservation and Management Strategies; Marketing and Business Practices for Successful Small Farms, Building your Bounty: Production Strategies for Small Farmers; Strategies for Successful Farmers’ Markets; and Hot Topics in California Agriculture.
Tim and I chose to attend mostly the marketing and business practices track, though we also attended a session in Hot Topics which discussed increasing profits by adding value to products.
We also attended a roundtable discussion on agriculture-based education hosted by the California Alliance with Family Farms, our partner in San Benito Bounty’s Harvest of the Month program introduced this year in local schools and after-school care sites.
A second Keynote Address came at the Awards Banquet Dinner. Russ Parson, food columnist for the LA Times was amusing and warm. The 2010 Tom Haller Award Winner, recognized for exceptional and exemplary commitment to helping small farms sstrive and excel, went to Pompea Smith for her creation of the non-profit Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) following her creation of the Hollywood Farmers’ Market. She has opened the Farmer’s Kitchen, a 1500 sq. ft. community teaching and retail kitchen to provide job training for residents while delivering farm fresh food to the community with a retail café and innovative marketing programs.
The final Keynote Address was held at breakfast the following day. Josh Viertel, the President of Slow Food USA entertained us with his thoughts on fixing the food system.

Add in a silent auction, vendor booths and raffles, plus a beautiful ride through the blooming orchards of the Central Valley of California and a stop at Balboa Island on the way home, you can imagine we enjoyed the conference!

Today we celebrate the birth of Angelina’s beautiful doe, an adorable kid with moon spot markings and what almost looks like a question mark on her face.  However, Angelina was also carrying a buckling, but he was dead when we went out and found the doe.  So while we rejoice for the one, we mourn a little for the lost one.  However, the sweet little kid is such a delight.  She has found the food source, and Angelina seems to be a good mom.  We look forward to sharing the days to come with her!  For now they will stay in the barn, awaiting the return of the warm days of spring.

A fabulous day at Quicksilver Farm! The first of the apricot blossoms shyly came forth, white faces upturned toward the gray, foggy sky. The contrast of the white against the green of the grass, the rich umber of the trunk and the red of the soon-to-blossom buds is a palette to delight the eye. Ut Hmmm…we’ve been looking for a color scheme for painting the house and maybe that’s it! It was also a good day because Tula the Lamb continues to thrive under Nants’ nurturing care. She likes to walk at Nants’ feet, and has learned to gambol and frolic. We brought her over to the herd, hoping her mother would come out and claim her. But despite much visiting with resultant sniffing and snuffling, no one claimed her. When the herd moved on, she remained behind. We’re taking that as a sign that she’s the sheep we have been waiting for to add to our menagerie of people pets. Like the goats and donkeys, she’ll be kept like a princess. No doubt she will delight countless visitors to Quicksilver Farm with her loving ways. Oh…about her name! Naming rights were given to Ila, who has not seen her in person. But with her brown furry body and black spindly legs, Ila thought she looked like a Tarantula. Nants has overcome many of her squeamish city-girl notions but still has not gotten warm-and-fuzzy about large spiders or tarantulas. So a compromise was made, and the little one became Tula. (Pronounced Two-La). She is still taking Land of Lakes lamb milk replacement, about two pints per day. She is right on schedule. Other things are flourishing as well. The small seedlings continue to peep through the soil of the pepper and heirloom tomato trays. We take them out into the sun each morning, and bring them into our kitchen at night. We are experiencing a good germination percentage, which is really gratifying. The only thing that would make this day any better would be if Angelina gave birth to her kids. We’re looking forward to the baby goats. Each day we think she can’t get any bigger….and the next day there are still no babies and darned if she isn’t just a little bigger! Nants can relate…Ila was two weeks overdue!

Last year Nants bottle-fed a little lamb (really little!) that was ill-formed at birth. Though her care and attention was lavish for several months, the lamb simply was not viable and had to be put down. Chance the Lamb was buried with great ceremony and rests in the apricot orchard. Her spirit was invited to remain forever. She was a sweet lamb, and played well with the cat and dog. Yesterday, a lamb was born. A little too small, her mom was anxious over her but could not get her to keep up with the herd. Tim brought her to Nants, and she is now under a bottle-feeding regime. She is brown with black points and a dipped-in-ink white tail. She is much more likely to be able to achieve maturity than Chance, since she is small but well-formed. Nants had the dubious honor of getting up for a mid-night feeding! The lamb is doing well, and is outside right now for a little sun and exercise. We hope she will become big and strong. She may return to her herd, or remain a pet and live with the goats. We have to see what Mother Nature has in store for her. No matter what, a bummer lamb (one that is born small and has to be tended with a bottle) is a delight. She loves to be held and nuzzled, and drinks with slurpy gusto. She has no name yet…she will let us know what her name is soon enough.

Our niece, Susie Cranston, works for McKinsey, the world-renowned consulting firm.  Over five years, a team conducted research among many of the top female leaders in the world.  The culmination of this effort was analyzed, and traits and practices were woven into a model.  It identifies the qualities and traits of these women and suggests practical ways to implement them in everyday life.  Called How Remarkable Women Lead, it is authored by Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston.  It is available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble and most book stores.  Nants has an MBA from San Francisco State University, and has read tons of leadership books.  She found this one to be well-written, insightful and compellingly useful.

We were told almond blossoms were incredible…and now we know it’s true.  The first ones burst into pink orbs today.  This is the third year we have had them planted.  They were put in to replace three walnut trees which had died the first year we were here.  We hope to have our first crop of almonds for the Nuts About You party this fall!