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Welcome to our new Environmental Science Educator After a long search, and funding from the Peninsula Community Foundation/Bob Dean Endowment we were thrilled to add Kathi Baxter to our staff. Kathi started at the Ranch in May of this year, and has been very busy revising our curriculum to better fit the California Educational Standards. Don’t think she is at her computer all day though! She is out on the ranch with the rest of the staff teaching programs, tending the garden, feeding animals, and mucking out stalls.
Kathi has a M.A. in Education, and a B.A in Science Education. She brings with her plenty of experience, including ten years of classroom teaching and five years of teacher training. She is the leader of the local Jr. Master Gardening program for 4-H. She also sits on the board of a local non-profit agency.
Kathi is a California native, growing up in San Jose. She has been living on the coast for the past ten years, with her husband Dennis and their two children Jenna, 9 and Braden, 5. Dennis is the owner/captain of the New Captain Pete, a sport fishing charter boat in Half Moon Bay. Jenna and Braden have been great volunteers at the ranch, especially when it comes to Glory our horse and our burro Lucy. Our equines have never looked better with all the grooming and treats they have been getting from the Baxter siblings!
University of California Cooperative Extension Richard J. Elkus Ranch
Advisory Board Diane Brosin
Chair Carolyn Battaini
Tracey Walsh
Staff
Marilyn Johns Director
Leslie Jensen Coordinator Kathi Baxter
ESE Augie Aguilar
Manager
Program Staff Sherri Ballew Denise Kelly
Amy Kruckewitt Julie Mathiasen
In This Issue • Kathi Baxter, New Environmental Science Educator • Newest Ranch Resident, Wilbur the Pig • Workability/Therapeutic Horticulture • Search for NEW Board Members • Master Gardener Update • Summer Camp 2006 • Strategic Planning • Flora & Fauna of Elkus Ranch • Elkus Ranch Conference Center • Donor Request • Calendar of Events • Wish List
Navajo Weaving
The Ashtl’o Weaving Guild invites you to join us and share the art of weaving the Traditional Navajo Way. Ashtl’o meets at 1:00 PM on the second Sunday of the month at Elkus Ranch. Membership is $10/year. Membership includes the Ashtl’o Newsletter, published quarterly. Visit us at: http://www.ashtloguild.org/ashtlo.html
Winter 2006
80 Stone Pine Road, #100 Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
Phone: 650-712-3151 Fax: 650-712-3153
Introducing Wilbur the Potbellied Pig
We have a new resident at Elkus Ranch! “Wilbur” is a full grown potbellied pig, who was donated to Elkus Ranch earlier this spring, by Timmy Soares. Potbellied pigs come from Vietnam and China. The potbellied pig has only been in this country since 1985. Potbellied pigs are highly intelligent, sensitive creatures. The life span of a potbellied pig is 12-15 years. (Although there are a few who have lived to be 19 or twenty years old.) They can range in weight anywhere from 100 to 250 pounds. Wilbur eats a high fiber pellet and also enjoys fruits and vegetables from leftover school lunches. He especially likes bananas and apple cores. You can find Wilbur sitting in his favorite mud hole on a warm day to cool off. He also has a silver ball that he pushes around his pen. Wilbur is kind of shy but he is slowly warming up to having visitors. A big welcome to Wilbur and a big thank you to Timmy Soares!
Article written by Julie Mathiasen, Elkus Program Representative
Workability/Therapeutic Horticulture We’re back! Students and staff from the San Mateo County Office of Education are back from summer break. We’re so pleased to return to the beautiful Elkus Ranch for more therapeutic horticulture and animal care. Where else can we get real experiences on a working ranch right here in the Bay area? Two afternoons a week, students with challenging disabilities and those from the inner city - all en-joy the unique opportunities for learning about our natural world. These are often students who might not succeed so well in educational settings, but who really shine at the ranch. Thanks, all you folks at Elkus! It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work!
Searching for NEW Advisory Board Members!
Are you or do you know of someone you would recommend to be considered for an Elkus Ranch Advisory Board position? We’d like to strategically increase the size and scope of the Board and are looking for new individuals to add to the ALREADY GREAT and passionate current members. The PURPOSE of the Advisory Board is to provide input regarding the operation, planning, development, funding, and use of the Ranch. The Ranch was established and continues to provide learning experiences through projects, camps, and train-ing sessions with special emphasis on disabled, urban and disadvantaged youth. Regular MEETINGS generally include four per year. The TERM is three years. We're searching for YOU if you are interested in providing your personal and professional wisdom/counsel to staff, will advocate for the Ranch and its outreach, are willing to give time and self-initiate assistance with Board and Ranch activities/planning. We expect financial/fundraising assistance and a commitment to the Ranch, which is typical of these types of positions. Interested yourself or want to recommend someone? Contact Board Chair, Diane Brosin at [email protected] or Elkus Ranch Director/County Director, Marilyn Johns at [email protected].
Scott is unloading pumpkins for the Elkus Ranch pumpkin patch
Master Gardeners
Master Gardeners are continuing to work on their demonstration garden at Elkus and were present on Sheep to Shawl Day to greet visitors. The Master Gardener Training class (the first one offered for San Mateo/San Francisco counties) is well underway. By mid October they will have received instruction in botany, soil and fertilizer, water
management, weather, plant disorders (biotic and abiotic), vertebrate pests, vegetable culture and weed management.
Elkus Strategic Planning Underway A core team of management, advisory board members, and program staff are working together to create a stra-tegic roadmap for the next 3-5 years. We are a center for environmental education whose programs are highly visible in the greater bay area. This plan will help guide Elkus Ranch to fulfill our mission to the communities we serve. The plan will be used in many ways, one of which is to familiarize our many constituents with our goals and objectives. We wish to continue to build on important relationships with the community. We would like to work more closely with service organizations that can support the work of the Ranch while fulfilling their missions, such as the 4H, Rotary Club, Optimists, other service clubs, and organizations that manage volunteers. We continue to reach out to our donors to provide the best use of their charitable contributions, with a goal of providing the most impact for the children and youth served by Ranch programs.
Summer Camp 2005 “Camp Rocks” claims camper Laurel Hinshelwood. High praise after a morning spent cleaning animal pens, sifting compost and planting peas. This summer, Elkus Ranch again hosted 4 weeks of Discovery Day Camp for children ages 6 to 11. Children and their parents were greeted each morning by a group of noisy goats and chickens demanding breakfast. After feeding all the ranch animals, including our new pig, Wilbur, there were a mountain of chores need-ing campers’ attention. Armed with wheelbarrows, rakes
and shovels some campers cleaned up after our sheep in the barn while others gathered mulch for the garden. New straw was spread in the nesting boxes for the chickens and water troughs were scrubbed. The garden was weeded, vegetables harvested, and new plants were transplanted from the greenhouse. Lunch was a welcome break! The afternoon included a craft – sheep made from wooly yarn wrapped around a wooden silhouette, clay models of ranch animals, decorated seed packets full of flower seeds from the garden – or a hike. This year campers and staff hiked to the top of the ridge to find fossils and, on the hottest days (rare here on the coast), down to the creek to splash and cool off. We also did some cooking – baking buttermilk biscuits topped with edible flowers and zucchini bread with zucchini from our gardens. At the end of the day, with chickens and rabbits tucked in for the night, our weary, dirty, and happy campers returned home to rest up for an-other day at the ranch. Winter discovery day camp will be held this year on December 27 and 28. Watch our website (http://cesanmateo.ucdavis.edu) for registration informa-tion.
Flora and Fauna of Elkus Ranch One of our favorite flowers at Elkus Ranch is the Calendula Offincinalis or Pot Marigold. This cheery little orange flower continually blooms throughout the year. It is a prolific, self-sowing plant with healing powers (excellent for skin irritations). Calendula Offincinalis is edible, can be used as a dye, and it looks great in a bouquet! The seeds are big which makes them easy for children to col-lect and sow. The plant is very easy to grow in our coastal climate, and because of that, some consider it to be a weed. But remember, a weed is just a plant growing in an undesirable location!
RanchTalk 80 Stone Pine Road, #100 Half Moon Bay CA 94019 (650) 726-9059 Phone (650) 726-9267 Fax [email protected]
University of California, in compliance with Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex mental or physical handicap, or age in any of its programs or activities, or with respect to any of its employment policies, practices, or procedures. Nor does the University of California discriminate on the basis of ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, medical condition (as defined in Section 12926 of the California Government Code) or because individuals are special
Please do not overlook the donor envelope. Your generous donation helps to sponsor camperships, underwrite programs, purchase needed equipment and contribute to the General Fund that enables the Ranch to host more than 6,000 children annually. Please make your tax-deductible contributions payable to UC Regents. Thank you.
Did you know? Elkus Ranch has a beautiful Conference Center nestled in the rolling hills of Purisima canyon. Perfect for meetings and retreats, the conference room can seat up to 80 dining guests, or 120 assembly style. The Board Room is available for smaller groups, up to 12. The commercial kitchen is available with the above rooms or can be rented separately. All are extremely reasonably priced. For more information please phone 650-712-3151 or e-mail [email protected]
Calendar 2006/07
December 16 Winter Family Day
December 27 & 28 Winter Discovery Day Camp
March 14, 15, & 16 Pre-School Days
June 9 Sheep to Shawl
June 17-22 Range Camp
June 25-29 Discovery Day Camp
July 9-13 Discovery Day Camp
July 23-27 Discovery Day Camp
August 9-13 Discovery Day Camp
August 23-27 Discovery Day Camp
Elkus Wish List
• Craft supplies • Watering cans • Garden tools • Back issues of Ranger
Rick • Paper cups
