For the past couple of months, I’ve been meeting with colleagues with the goal of designing and 3D printing electric motors in my classes. This is a collaboration between Sonoma State professor Daniel R. Soto, Lawrence Livermore Lab test engineer Jacob Aman, and Roblox software engineer Alex Katz. Jacob designed a working model using FEMM (Finite Element Method Magnetics), and Apple Blossom School is letting us use the 3D printer in their makerspace.

Eventually, the goal is to have students build stuff with the motors they design, such as a device for a solar oven to track the sun.

Jacob explains how electric motors work in this video:

Science camp (AKA Eco Kids) at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts featured solar oven building (https://solarschoolhouse.org/solarcooking/). We had a competition like this: https://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/jose-andres-top-chef-solar-power-clean-cookstoves The camp was a chance for me to try out some lessons I’m planning for 6th grade science at Orchard View in the fall.

We designed and built fog catchers similar to these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4GHGBov15U&list=PL6-8azVpUKW4TJG-pbf7Wl9HIqajRCiwk&index=4

We played ecology bingo, in which students observe and sketch parts of an ecosystem on bingo cards: https://www.mcguffey.k12.pa.us/Downloads/Bingo%20Card.pdf

Audubon Canyon Ranch shared their mountain lion curriculum with us, and we learned about our wild neighbors. Check out this activity book

Additional resources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbwliZJiHe8

Mind of a Scientist is a partnership with the Sonoma County Library and librarian Rosalie Abbott. The program features live presentations with scientists and engineers each week.

Here’s our page on the Sonoma Library site with all our videos, worksheets and answer keys: https://sonomalibrary.org/mind-of-a-scientist

We have featured Sonoma State, UC Davis, Sonoma Water, Dow Labs, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Bodega Bay Marine Lab, plus Medtronic and Keysight engineers.

Recently we’ve had climate scientists Rob Nelson and Katherine Wentz (From NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and Remote Sensing Systems respectively). NOAA marine biologist Steven McKagan Zoomed in from Saipan. Laguna Foundation wildlife biologist Shelly Spriggs presented as well as data scientist Shawn Boye and NOAA meteorologist Zach Tolby.

I’m grateful for the support of the Sierra Avalanche Center and the Shasta Avalanche Center for our series on snow science.

Roblox engineer and Orchard View alumni Alex Katz gave a fascinating talk, followed by Jacob Aman from Lawrence Livermore.

Recently, I have been creating decision making scenarios with our speakers for students to work on. Here are a few examples:

Conservation Biology Scenario: Imagine you are an environmental scientist developing a conservation plan for a preserve on a North Coast estuary. You have been asked for your expert opinion on the best approach to trail access along the estuary and how to minimize impacts to natural resources. State which option you recommend and why, and identify one method of minimizing – or mitigating for – that option’s impacts on wetlands  or wildlife.

Electric Motor Scenario: Imagine you are a car company executive in charge of launching a new line of electric trucks. You must choose a motor that will please customers as well as be practical and efficient. It’s important that a lot of people buy the truck, but you also face fierce competition from other exciting models. After discussing, choose which type of motor to use in this new truck.  

We recently rennovated our vegetable garden at Orchard View. After new cobblestones were installed, agro-ecology students have been working on rebuilding the raised beds along with benches and trellising.

Bermuda grass remains a formidable foe, but the cobblestone patio now prevents it from spreading from the nearby field in the beds from below. Bermuda is still trying to creep in, so it still needs to be managed.

This year, we will be adding several new raised beds on either side of the picnic table pictured above. Right now we have cover crops of favas beans, crimson clover and mustard growing in the beds.

I recently helped CAFF (Community Alliance with Family Farmers) stage a Farm Invasion at Analy High School in Sebastopol to raise awareness about the importance of healthy local food in schools. Katina Connaughton and her husband Kyle (owners of Single Thread restaurant) generously donated their time to help me prepare roasted squash for the event. After an initial roasting, and adding butter, brown sugar and toasted pecans, Kyle used a torch to brulee the tops and create a caramelized crust. My sister Sarah and her boyfriend Ty grew the Delicata (which they donated to the event) at their farm in Sebastopol.

Our table in the Analy Quad.

When we got to Analy, I joined Heather, Susan and Danielle from the Sebastopol CAFF office, and Gayle Dyer, director of food service at all three West County high schools and we handed out samples of the roasted Delicata during school lunch. The roasted Delicata turned out to be a hit with staff and students alike. The kitchen manager liked the dish so much that she decided to put it on Analy’s menu for next week and I made my first delivery of Delicata to her the next day.

On Tuesday, we staged similar Farm Invasions at Laguna and El Molino high schools. For these events we added sliced Fuyu persimmons from Rancho Pillow.

Max and Katina thin beets in the new Zazu beds. Behind them is Webb’s Wonderful lettuce, and Kosta Browne winery is in the background.

The Barlow decided to convert part of its events lawn across from the Skatepark into a produce garden for Zazu Restaurant, shown above. Katina and Max have helped me direct seed the beds with lettuce, beets, carrots, arugula, and radishes. We used an Earthway Seeder, which worked quite well. We’ve been thinning each week, and bringing the thinnings to the Zazu kitchen for use as microgreens. Its fun and nostalgic working so close to the skate park. When I was a kid, my skate buddies and I worked tirelessly organizing and raising money for a skatepark so we’d have a place to skate legally. We formed the West County Skate Park Association with community leaders like Jeff Weaver, who is now the chief of police, and Star Hergenrather, director of the Analy Drama Department. When my generation of skaters went off to school, my uncle Bill Cole and a few dedicated skate moms picked up the torch and after ten years, the skatepark was finally built.  Before the skatepark was built, that area was an unofficial community garden, and I used to have a plot there during summers home from college. At that time, Taylor Maid was roasting coffee across the street in the old Barlow, where Spiritworks distillery is now. I have so many memories from the Barlow growing up; from climbing on the old stacks of apple boxes, to canoeing through it during a flood. It feels like I’ve already sprouted some roots in the ground we are working.

The outdoor seating area at the new restaurant. Alex, the Foodish Boy, is working in the background. In the foreground are Padron peppers and heirloom tomatoes. Pictured above is the new dining room and bar.

Zazu is now open for lunch and dinner wednesday through monday in the Barlow, a food and wine center in Sebastopol. The roadhouse on Guerneville Rd. is now closed. The new location will be open for lunch and will have a full bar! We also have a lot more space for food processing and preserving, so we’ll be able to produce a lot more pickles, syrups, jams, etc. Already, the new kitchen has made several batches of pickled Armenian, lemon and puna keena cucumbers. The kitchen will serve food late- till 11pm on fridays and saturdays, and there will be small dishes served at the bar from 3-5pm as well.

Alex Nazaruk, a British food journalist, came and stayed with us as part of his mission to work 52 food related jobs around the world. Alex spent a day cooking at zazu and worked with me for a couple days on the farm.

Day old triplets roaming around in the cover crop at Rancho Pillow. A week later, two black lambs were born.

The plum trees and flowering quince are starting to bloom, coastal wildflowers are popping up, and lots of lambs have appeared. While the mushrooms have suffered, our recent spell of dry, warm weather is ushering in an early spring. I wrote a blog back in march of 2010 about some of the wildflowers you find this time of year in Sonoma County: Spring at Last.

Caring for five lambs born in the span of two weeks has been a joy. The lambs are so cute and incredibly fast. Julian and I had to run as fast as we could to catch them for the vet. Even at one week old, they can leap high into the air.

After so many long dark nights and slow to arrive dawns, these early signs of spring are most welcome, but I expect we still have plenty of cold and rainy weather to come.

I’ve been busy making holiday gifts using what I have growing as much as possible. One of my favorites is pickled beets. To make them you start by roasting the beets. You could just coat them in olive oil and roast them in a foil packet, but I like to add some orange juice, bay leaves, and fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme as well. Next you peel the beets in cold water and slice them thinly and place them in small jars with spices like fennel seeds, coriander seeds and peppercorns. Then boil apple cider vinegar mixed 1:1 with water and pour this over the beets. Seal the jars and place them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, then put them on a dish towel and do not touch them for 24hrs. You can use this recipe to pickle lots of other stuff from the garden too, like baby carrots and chard stems.

Dried persimmons are not just delicious, they are beautiful.

Another great gift to make is dried Hachiya persimmons. These trees are abundant in Sonoma County and most people don’t know how to eat them. Unlike the squat and crisp Fuyu, the acorn shaped Hachiya are ripe when soft and mushy, and otherwise are very astringent. It turns out that when you dehydrate them, they lose their astringency. So you can slice the Hachiya when they are orange and hard, around a 1/4in thick, and then dry them in a dehydrator or in the oven. They are addictive!

I’ve also been making syrups with fresh herbs like Pineapple Sage and Lemon Verbena. You simply steep the herbs in a simple syrup of water and sugar 1:1, then water bath can them. Check out this blog friend Amy wrote about making these syrups: AmyEats.com

Lastly, I’ve been making hot sauce with a variety of different chiles. For a basic spicy vinegar I de-stem and roughly chop the peppers, then simmer them in vinegar, salt and water for about 10 minutes. Let this cool on the stove then strain it into jars or bottles. I like to buy the Tapatio bottles for 89 cents each and use them.

For hot sauce, I puree the peppers first, then add them to the vinegar. I also add add Xanthan Gum as an emulsifier plus garlic and salt.  I use different types of vinegar depending on how spicy the peppers are and what sort of flavor I’m after. For milder peppers, I use apple cider vinegar. For Thai chiles, I use rice vinegar. If you are making large batches of spicy sauce you may want to blend rice vinegar with distilled grain vinegar to save money.

For more gift ideas such as Limoncello, Quince Paste, Sauerkraut and Strawberry Jam, check out this online show about making edible gifts from Make Magazine: Food Makers

Padron and cayenne peppers for hot sauce. I also use jalapenos and a small fiery chili called Apache. I use a mini Cuisinart to puree the peppers, before straining them into jars or bottles.

Over the fast few weeks we’ve been harvesting, pressing and processessing Gravensteins, the sweet and tart apple that made Sebastopol famous. I’ve teamed up with local cider brewer Isaac Alexander to develop several styles of Gravenstein hard cider. Together we have started the Sebastopol Apple Project (SAP), which is dedicated to preserving hertitage apples and apple culture. I’ve also been making lots of apple syrup, delicious on pancakes, ice cream, or in cocktails and smoothies. Our favorite Gravenstein cocktail is the Gravito.

Isaac picking Gravensteins at Felton Acres. This tree had large, beautiful fruit despite no thinning. We realized it is just below where the chickens were processed for 2 years, so it got fertilizer and water every time the chicken processing area was sprayed down.

The easiest way to make syrup is to fill a crock pot with fresh cider, then leave it uncovered on high till it is 1/7th of its original volume. Use a clean ruler to measure the depth of the juice. The syrup can be used instead of cider in cocktails like the gravito. We water bath can this syrup in small jars for use year round.

I picked up a copy of “Cider” by Annie Proulx, which covers both the history and the making of sweet and hard cider. I highly recommend the book. It contains lots of good advice plus amazing facts like this: “John Adams, second president of the United States, drank a tankard of cider every morning before breakfast, and lived to the age of 91.” (Cider, Storey.com)