Marin County Farm Day Tomorrow!!

Marin County Farm Day is a fun, child oriented event that is coming up tomorrow, Thursday, March 20th. 

Held at the Marin Civic Center, 9 a.m. to noon,  this free event provides hands-on educational experiences outside the classroom for school children of all ages.  Over 30 Northern California ranchers, growers, producers and educators provide interactive exhibits on agriculture, health, farm animals, gardens and environmental education.

If you come by, make sure to stop by and say hi to me at the Tri-Valley 4H and Marin County Farm Bureau tables where we'll have rabbits to pet and calves and sheep to visit.  

The photos below are from a previous year's event to give you an idea what it's all about! ........

Our friend, Derrick, with his bunny at the Tri-Valley 4H table.....

Paige and her cousin, Leila, holding Cinnamon and sharing him with kids who came by the 4H table.

Lots of 'hands-on' happens at Marin County Farm Day......the kids LOVE it.

My nephew, Gavin, answering questions about the dairy calves......

There's also quite a few interactive tables set up where kids can learn about insects,

maybe do a little gardening,

and create some art work.

There are many demonstrations to view as well.  Last year the 'Loomers' were on hand to answer questions and show their skills.

But for my little girl, the vaulting experience was a favorite.....she only wished it had been done a real horse!

You never know what new experience you might encounter at Farm Day.......nature at it's best.  Hope to see you there!

Farm Day is a collaborative effort of the following agencies: Marin County Department of Cultural and Visitor Services, Marin County Farm Bureau, Marin County Office of Education, Golden Gate Farmers Market, North Bay Dairy Women, Marin Farmers Markets, Marin County Department of Weights and Measures, and the University of California Cooperative Extension/Master Gardeners/4-H.

Driving directions to Marin Civic Center


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Marin French Cheese Picnic Grounds

I so love the Marin French Cheese Company.  It's about five minutes away from our house and it Rules for picnics on a nice day. 

The kids and I paid them a visit today.

Before we headed over to the pond, we stopped in the store so Bryce and Paige could say 'hi' to the cheese makers/wrappers.

A full house in the cheese wrapping room.  They also give tours of the facility but I think you need to sign up in advance for those.....maybe next time.

The store has all the necessities you need for a great picnic.

All sorts of flavored pepper jelly.  Can't you just taste this on a cracker or french bread with some cheese?  YUM!

A variety of flavored Champagne vinegar and tapenades.

Kozlowski Farms jams, jellies and chutney.

O'Niell honey

One serving, mini bottles of wine.

And regular sized bottles as well.

For our afternoon refreshments, I decided on this....

Bryce decided on a lemonade.....

And Paige on chocolate milk.

After sitting in the shade for a bit, the kids picked some little flowers for me.  Oooh, that reminds me, they're still in the pocket of my purse.

Then they preceded to throw pebbles into the pond.  You can also fish at this pond as well and as a matter of fact there was a man there with his three boys fishing.  I saw them catch and release 3 or 4 tiny fish...how fun is that?!

We'll be visiting again real soon.  Next time I'm going for the cheese, pepper jelly and mini bottle of wine!

Happy Friday!  Cheers! Pin It

Our Earth Day Activities & McEvoy Ranch

For Earth Day, the little one room school house that Bryce attends along with the second one-room school house in the area (there's 3 total) took a field trip to watch the movie Oceans by Disney.  Disney comes out with a nature film annually on Earth Day.  Nearly three quarters of the earth's surface is covered with water and oceans and the movie Oceans chronicles the mysteries that lie beneath.

It's amazing how these creatures under the sea can be captured on film in their natural environment in such an undisturbed light.  It was captivating enough to keep both my three and five year old entertained throughout the entire film.



On the drive home while we were playing the "who can be the quietest" game in the car, I was able to stop and take a few photos of the only modern day windmill in Marin county.

The windmill belongs to Nan McEvoy of McEvoy Ranch, a 552 acre olive oil ranch in Marin County, which at one time was a dairy ranch, and sits just over the hill from us.  The structure has a 97 foot tower with three blades, each 50 feet long, a total height of 147 feet.  The windmill is powerful enough to generate enough electricity to power a dozen buildings and the olive oil processing plant on the 552 acre ranch.  The project was built by Sustainergy Systems of Inverness, CA.

The system will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 110 tons per year and fully pay for itself in 16 years.

My kids love when we drive over Red Hill on our way to Petaluma to see who will be the first to spot the windmill and to check if the blades are spinning.

Happy Thursday!

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Marin County Farm Bureau's Annual Dinner & What is Wordles??

Last night we attended Marin County Farm Bureau's (MCFB) Annual Dinner. Over 100 attendees, a great turn out. My husband, Dominic is the current President and has been for the last three years and has sat on the Board for the past 6 years. It seems as though he is following in his father's footsteps in many ways. George, my father in law sat on the MCFB Board from the mid 70's to the mid 90's and acted as President for two of those years. My mother in law, Annette also chaired the Women's Committee for six years back in the 70's. A little of what Farm Bureau is about~ The California Farm Bureau Federation is a non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary membership California corporation that’s purpose is to protect and promote agricultural interests throughout the state of California and to find solutions to the problems of the farm, the farm home and the rural community. One of the issues that Marin County Farm Bureau is dealing with is the update of the Local Coastal Plan. This is a huge process that my husband and other Farm Bureau volunteers are working on with county staff planning commissioners and the Board of Supervisors. Updating the Local Coastal Plan in a way that helps protect and preserve agriculture in Marin County is vitally important. The county will eventually have to get this approved by the California State Coastal Commission. There are numerous issues within the Local Coastal Plan such as, wind energy, water quality, environmentally sensitive habitat areas, wetlands protection zones, and trails policies along with other issues, that will have dramatic impacts on agriculture. There are a couple of awards that are given out each year at the annual dinner. One of them being the Farm Bureau Lifetime Achievement Award. This year's recipient is Earl Dolcini. Dominic gives Earl a grand introduction..... Supervisor Steve Kinsey presents Earl with his award... The recipient for the Friend of Farm Bureau Award goes to Ellie Rilla. Ellie is being presented with her award by Supervisor Steve Kinsey..... MCFB is also working on a national level to change the language within the Clean Water Restoration Act to help benefit agriculture and maintain clean water nationwide. Brad Goehring, who is a candidate for the 11th Congressional District Seat was our guest speaker. He spoke to us about the Clean Water Act.... A fun night for everyone! _______________________________________ What is Wordles? Well, I just found out and wanted to share this information with you. I just discovered this fun toy, word art or 'Wordles' on a friend's blog, Chronicles of a Country Girl. How Creative! Wordles can create a word painting from words used on your blog OR using words that you provide. You can change the color scheme, font and layout. These are the words I use most frequently on my blog. The larger the word, the more frequently it's used....... Try it out here Happy Saturday! Pin It

The week after Christmas Break

The two week Christmas school break is up this morning for Paige, my 3 1/2 year old. Both kids were up at 7:15 a.m.(Bryce goes back to kindergarten tomorrow). Breakfast was a bowl full of mush for Paige and a banana for Bryce, coffee for me. Not sure what Hubby had this morning for breakfast before he was off to feed the calves.....maybe some Honey Nut cereal or a leftover chocolate chip cookie. Chloe, the puppy, eats a little later in the day. Off to pre-school at 8:45 a.m. Paige was excited to go back. Bryce was excited to hang out with me, without his sister, for the morning. Not sure if it's because he enjoys his alone time with me or that I promised him we would make a stop at the donut shop. After dropping off Paige, Bryce and I head to the donut shop where he picks out his chocolate donut and an orange juice....the sugar high is just around the corner, I'm sure. We drive down to the mall, The Village, to pick up a couple of knobs for a cabinet, to the Apple store to upload any updates on my Ipod Touch....they load much faster at the store versus our home where our satellite service is just a step up from dial-up. After all our errands, we head back to pick up Paige at 11:30 a.m. Back at home, Hubby is at the house for lunch. As I noticed a few specks of manure on his face, he tells me he just finished scraping out all barns of manure with the tractor...a dirty job. Tri-tip sandwich for Hubby, he makes his own, salami sandwich for Bryce, PB&J for Paige and I have a frozen chicken and broccoli lunch. As for Chloe, she still decides to wait on eating but needed to go out for a potty break....and out emerged the red crayon that was eaten yesterday! Thank goodness crayons are non-toxic....Chloe seems to eat one per week. Makes for a colorful potty time anyway :) The afternoon was pretty mellow. A little bit of puppy training, tried to keep the kids busy without any conflicts and thinking about fish for dinner. Pin It