More than 100,000 students have participated in activities at UC’s Elkus Ranch
The Elkus Ranch Environmental Education Center has provided experiential learning opportunities for Bay Area youth and their chaperones since 1975, touching thousands of lives with educational school field trips, small group tours, day camps, lunchtime events, community service days and more.
Located on 125 acres of coastal grassland just south of Half Moon Bay, Elkus Ranch offers research-based learning opportunities in food and fiber production, natural ecosystems and nutrition in a beautiful, accessible setting.
In just the last 25 years, over 100,000 students have participated in activities at the ranch, operated by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Students from across the Bay Area come to Elkus Ranch on organized field trips, often chaperoned by parents who remember coming to Elkus when they were in school. Elkus educators lead lessons on gardening, environmental science and sustainable agriculture through hands-on activities and interactions with Elkus goats, donkeys and sheep.
“For many of these students, a visit to Elkus is the first time they pulled a carrot out of the ground, looked a goat in the eye, or even entered a barn,” said Igor Lacan, UC Cooperative Extension county director in San Mateo and Elkus Ranch director. “Teachers, who return year after year, recognize that our setting and our educational programs play a critical role in enhancing school-based learning and offer a unique experience for students in the urban Bay Area.”
To celebrate five decades of service to the community, Elkus Ranch staff held a fun-filled event on Sept. 6. UCCE San Mateo County staff and volunteers headquartered at the Ranch provided information about gardening, food preservation and youth development.
UC Master Gardeners handed out pots to paint and fill with succulents and showed off their demonstration gardens. UC Master Food Preservers shared kits for making dried citrus. Other activities included a 4-H Water Wizards interactive display for young people to learn about the water system and stations for making yarn, face painting and making compost tea bags out of coffee filters, compost and string that can be placed in water to make concentrated liquid fertilizer or placed directly in soil as root zone feeders.
“Elkus Ranch provides our UC Master Gardeners a garden space to demonstrate simple and sustainable horticulture, a commercial kitchen in which our Master Food Preservers hold their training course and public classes, and a secure location for our 4-H youth to engage in archery and drone projects,” said Lacan. “Elkus Ranch is thus a center of our Cooperative Extension activities in San Mateo County.”
Also on display was a joint resolution from state Sen. Josh Becker and Assemblymember Marc Berman honoring the 50th year milestone.
The beloved animals that live at Elkus Ranch were part of the fun as well, with attendees happily learning about and brushing the goats, cats, donkeys, sheep and chickens. Two bands – Fret & Fiddle and Field Trip (an all-teen band) – provided entertainment while people engaged in activities and enjoyed the barbecue lunch fare.
Participants also explored the garden research beds demonstrating the uses and benefits of biocontrol – using living organisms to reduce damage from harmful organisms, such as beneficial insects and intercropping.
Several attendees shared that they had come to Elkus Ranch as children and now take pride in sharing it with their own families.
“Our educational programs were created to connect the public to the work of the University of California,” said ranch coordinator Amy Bono. “We are dedicated to educating people about the production of food and fiber, the interrelationships of plants and animals, and the importance of environmental stewardship.”
“The team put together a fantastic event to honor this important anniversary,” said Brent Hales, UC ANR associate vice president for research and Extension. “I’m so proud of the work they do to serve the Bay Area community.”
To learn more about programs and events at Elkus Ranch, visit https://ucanr.edu/site/elkus-ranch-environmental-education-center.