Quaker Oaks Farm

Kiosk Update Part Two: Thanks for following along as we celebrate our progress. We've now raised $3,500 to install our new educational signs. Thank you! All Our Relations Share This Land: Our second sign shares stories about our latest efforts to restore and heal the land as well as the People and Animal Beings who share it. Will you help us install our beautiful educational signs? Every contribution makes a difference! Donate online at bit.ly/QOFdonate

Our new kiosk signs are the culmination of a three year project to restore the Tule Tract and share what we are learning with others. Follow along as we share a month-long series of posts! We'll be offering a glimpse of our new signs and offering fundraising updates. Will you help us install these beautiful educational signs? We are halfway to our goal and every donation makes a difference! Donate online at bit.ly/QOFdonate

At Quaker Oaks Farm, we're partnering with experts in traditional ecological knowledge and contemporary practices to use fire as part of healing the land and healing relationships. This article shares how UC Davis, in partnership with tribes in Mariposa and Yolo counties, has a hands-on Native American Studies course called Keepers of the Flame." It sounds a bit like the university level version of QOF's 2019 joint Spring Youth Camp with the Wukchumni Tribe where our theme ...was 'Fire': we learned about cultural and prescribed burning on the land and took an overnight field trip to Wishtoyo in Malibu, where we learned from Chumash relatives about fire in their chaparral and coastal ecosystem. "... Historically, wildfires in California tended to burn frequently but at lower temperatures that maintained healthy soil, water and forests. Prescribed fires and cultural burns both serve to mimic those conditions, but they are not the same. "Similar to how the shift of one consonant transforms what was scared into sacred, so resembles the distinction between prescribed and cultural burns. "Culture means ‘to cultivate,’ Goode told the group following a morning blessing and before the day’s work begins. There’s a difference between cultural burning and just setting fire on the land. We use fire as a tool.... https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/news/rethinking-wildfire/

Mary & Steven Lee have been central to our vision for the past five years. We wish them well in their new home in WA and want to thank them for all they have contributed to Quaker Oaks Farm. Will you help us raise $5,000 to honor their five-year legacy? Donate now at bit.ly/QOFdonate to contribute to our ongoing restoration and education projects in their honor. Read our full tribute to the Lee Family at bit.ly/QOFLeeTribute.

Quaker Oaks Farm was established to support and strengthen our community by providing a learning environment for acceptance and tolerance, an appreciation of our many local cultures, and the stewardship of our shared land. Let's connect! Visit our website at www.quakeroaksfarm.org for more info and updates.

Tribute to Graciela Martinez: We are all deeply saddened by the August 1st, 2020 death of our dear friend Graciela Martinez, and grateful for her life filled with love and service to others. Graciela served on the board of Quaker Oaks Farm for many years until 2018, including acting as Board Chair from 2014-2016 and supporting our annual Spring Youth Camp on the land. She also lived at the farm, first at the Sanger House and then across the street in the Farmhouse. She loved ...the natural environment and, from her porch, watching nature in early mornings and hosting friends and neighbors in the evenings. Graciela was born in Texas and moved to California as a child. Her family worked in the fields and she spent her life advocating for and supporting farmworkers. Over the course of her life, she worked with the American Friends Service Committee’s Farm Labor Committee, Proyecto Campesino, Cesear Chavez and the United Farmworkers, and Self Help Enterprises, which built homes for farmworker families. Graciela was a fierce advocate for the most vulnerable among us, especially farmworkers, many of them undocumented immigrants. With great compassion and determination she strove to meet their immediate needs for survival while simultaneously working to change the systems that created such desperate conditions. We are so grateful for Graciela and her years of service to Quaker Oaks Farm, her friendship, and her life dedicated to supporting farmworkers, immigrants and the poor here and throughout the Central Valley. We send love and condolences to her children and grandchildren, the lights of her life. (Also posted on our website at https://www.quakeroaksfarm.org/)

Please join FoodLink and your local Agroecology network to find out how we're working to create a healthier and more resilient local food system for all. We've ...been working hard for the past year, researching and connecting with farmers and programs throughout the state to plan for an Agroecology program that will support local farmers, agriculture workers, and anyone who wants a deeper connection to their food and community. It's FREE and there will be raffles for all who register at https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSfdzsDguVdRThF2AB/viewform #BeTheLink #TulareCountyFoodCollaborative See more

New life on the farm. #peacocks #organicfarmer #organicfarming #organicfarm

Major funding for our Tule Tract Restoration project at Quaker Oaks Farm has come from the USFWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. Many individuals are also helping us by donating to our fundraiser to complete the interpretive signs for our nature trail that describe the project and educate visitors about the land. You can read more about our restoration project and find the link to donate here: https://mailchi.mp/50e50e655e2f/kiosk-fundraiser We're about half-way to our $5,000 goal already! Can you help us get across the finish line? Be sure to check out this video of another USFWS partnership project. Maybe we'll have something like this to share soon, too!

Be our neighbor!

Will you help us restore this land and educate the next generation? - *|https://us7.campaign-archive.com/ |* To see photos of our educational kiosk and restoration project, read more, and donate click the link above.... At Quaker Oaks Farm we are learning to see the land, plants, animals and people as one, inextricably interconnected. We are learning from and working with the Wukchumni Yokutch, the traditional caretakers of this land, to understand these interconnections and improve the quality of the land for all. We are now in the final stages of our multi year habitat restoration project in the Tule Tract. The next step is to build four educational kiosks along our nature trail to engage visitors in learning about the native plants, animals and people of this area. We need to raise $5,000 to cover the costs of four kiosks. Will you donate to help us restore this land and educate the next generation? We have used fire, a traditional indigenous management tool, to remove invasive plants and nourish the land. We were excited to see native tobacco plants return on their own after the fires for the first time in years! We planted many native plants with a special focus on plants that have cultural importance, such as basket making or traditional medicine, in addition to providing habitat for endangered species such as the red legged frog and tricolored blackbird. The Wukchumni people are here on this land as their ancestors were before them, and their presence and perspective will be highlighted on the kiosks. Tules are a reed that grows in wetland areas. Indigenous people throughout the Central Valley of California have traditionally used the Tules in many ways including to make homes, mats and boats. This area was once a wetland and produced Tule reeds in abundance. When the rivers upstream were dammed, this stopped the seasonal flooding that brought nourishing sediments and water that the Tules need. Extended drought has caused the water table to drop further and even the mighty Valley Oaks have suffered severely. There is much more to be done. Our restoration work will continue. We need your help to make it possible. Please make a donation today to support restoration and education projects at Quaker Oaks Farm. Donations can be made at our website https://www.quakeroaksfarm.org/donations-page/ Or mailed to Quaker Oaks Farm, 17216 Ave 296, Visalia CA 93292. Thank you for your support!

To sign up for this free series, contact Darlene at her Central California Environmental Justice Network email or phone number posted at the bottom of this flyer.

Summertime bouquet!

QOF has gratefully received funding from QEW in the past. Sharing in solidarity!

Spring Youth Service-Learning Camp at Quaker Oaks Farm April 6-10 * Registration Open * Donations requested * - https://mailchi.mp//qof-spring-youth-service-learning-camp

I liked the first workshop because I learned a new way to look at the land and plants, and that it’s important to listen to the land because it will tell us how to care for it. - Alex, 13 years old We are so grateful for everyone who joined us for our first Peace Garden workshop of 2020! The youth had the special opportunity to learn from a certified Permaculture Instructor and spent some time establishing their own connection to the land. Hutwima (Thank You) to the Wukchumni Elders for spending the day with us and sharing the history of the land. It was truly a wonderful day full of love and light. We look forward to our next workshop on Sunday February 23, 2020, and we invite all to join us!