Editor – March 2010

The third annual UCCE Grafting and Scion Swap was a rich success. We invited seasoned working experts to teach, and more importantly, to give one-on-one hands-on assistance as more than 150 apple and pear trees were born to populate Marin County and beyond. Mike and Sally Gale of Chileno Valley Ranch, once again the workshop hosts, opened their beautiful ranch and apple orchard to the participants.

Providing workshop assistance were our two new interns, Bonnie Nielsen and Jenna Brager, who were grafted into the UCCE Marin operation from Conservation Corp North Bay and Indian Valley College. Jenna is already on the editorial staff here and contributed the lead article on the grafting workshop. Bonnie has begun organizing an exciting new project that UCCE and its partners are about to reveal. (See Preparing Marin agriculture for the next decade for a hint.)

Several photos taken by Nina Zhito (www.ninazhito.com) at the grafting workshop appear on page 2.

Ellie Rilla, former UCCE Marin County Director, has not been idle during her one-year sabbatical, and it looks like she has spent her time surfing (the internet). She has given us a great summary of what’s up with social media marketing. More farmers than you think are getting linked in. -- Steve Quirt, editor