Upland USD’s School Gardens NUTRITION SERVICES
“At Upland Unified School District, we take pride in nourishing both the minds and bodies of our students.”
Dragon Fruit | Pomegranates
Medjool Dates | Rainbow Carrots
Farmer Al
Farmer Neva
Farmer Lee
Dragon Fruit
California’s southern climate ideal for growing dragon fruit.
The darker the dragon fruit, the sweeter it is.
Dragon fruit is a blooming plant.
Types of Dragon Fruit: 1. Red skin/white flesh 2. Red skin/red flesh 3. Red skin/purple flesh 4. Yellow skin/white flesh
California’s peak dragon fruit season is August through September
Dragon fruit plants grow to be up to feet
Dragon fruit taste like a mix between a kiwi and a pear.
Dragon fruits with red skin & white flesh are the most common.
Old Grove Farms
Old Grove Farms is a group of 15+ small family farms in Southern California.
Farmer Neva provides Old Grove Farms with dragon fruit Fun fact…
Farmer Neva is an Olympic
Farmer Neva grows many kinds of dragon fruit.
Farmer Neva & her team hand pollinate all their dragon fruit by hand with paintbrushes.
Farmer Neva’s fruit is all organic.
Farmer Neva’s farm is located in Bonsall, CA.
Pomegranates
95% of all pomegranates grown in the U.S., are grown in California.
Pomegranates grow well in California’s hot, dry summers & mild winters.
Wonderful pomegranates are the most commercially pomegranate
The majority of California’s pomegranates are grown in the San Joaquin Valley.
There can be anywhere from inside one pomegranate.
Pomegran ate seeds are called “arils .”
Pomegranates are often called “nature’s jewel” because of their ruby-red seeds. trees can grow to be 1220 feet tall.
Some pomegranate trees can live for over 200 years!
Old Grove Farms
Old Grove Farms is a group of 15+ small family farms in Southern California.
Farmer Al provides Old Grove Farms with pomegranates & a variety of citrus fruits.
Take a closer look at Farmer Al’s farm!
Farmer Al decided to start growing pomegranates because they are drought resistant & can survive on very little water during dry years.
Farmer Al grows 4 kinds of pomegranates: Granada, Pink Satin, Wonderful & Eversweet.
Eversweet pomegranates are Farmer Al’s favorite!
Farmer Al’s farm is located in Calimesa, CA.
California grows 95% of the dates grown in the U.S.
Types of
Dates:
1. Ajwa dates 2. Noor dates 3. Medjool dates
Medjool
In California, dates are harvested in the September, October & November
Date Palms were first planted in the Coachella Valley of California in the 1890s
Dates are a stone fruit. Dates are naturally dehydrated.
Dates are chewy & sweet.
Dates are grown on date palm trees
Dates are harvested by hand
Date palm trees can grow to be up 75 feet tall!
Old Grove Farms
Old Grove Farms is a group of 15+ small family farms in Southern California
In addition to growing Farmer Lee & his team grow a wide variety of other fruits & vegetables.
Farmer Lee provides Old Grove Farms with medjool dates
Farmer Lee’s farm abides by the motto, "We believe that we borrow the earth from our children - we do not inherit it from our ancestors."
Farmer Lee’s dates are 100% organic.
Farmer Lee farms alongside the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians in Thermal, California.
Rainbow Carrots
Rainbow carrots are a mix of colorful carrot varieties that are harvested early. 85% of all carrots grown in the U.S. come from California.
Carrots are 88% water.
California harvests around 61,000 acres of carrots each year.
Carrots are the second most popular vegetable in the world.
Carrots thrive in cooler temperatures. Carrots can survive entire WINTERS underground!
The world record for the longest carrot is over 19 feet!
Carrots are biennials, which means they have a 2-year life cycle.
Old Grove Farms
Old Grove Farms is a group of 15+ small family farms
Farmer David provides Old Grove Farms with rainbow carrots
Farmer David & his son Nico work on
Farmer David grows over 35 different varieties vegetables.
All of Farmer David’s vegetables are organic.
Farmer David is known as a ”master veggie farmer.”
Farmer David’s farm is located in Thermal, CA.
California is the number 1 milk producing state in the U.S.
46% of California milk goes into making California cheese.
Cows:
Brown Swiss
California is home to 1,100+ dairy farms.
Nearly 98% of U.S. dairy farms are family owned & operated.
Milking Shorthorn
1 cow produces around 6 gallons of milk per day. Holstein cows all have a unique pattern of spots!
Cows can SEE almost 360 degrees and SMELL up to 6 miles away!
ALL 50 states have dairy farms! Milk is the source of ALL products!
The U.S. produces ~21 BILLION gallons of milk each year.
Driftwood Dairy
Driftwood Dairy all started with Pat J. Dolan starting a dairy business in 1918.
Florida is ranked the #1 state for growing fresh tomatoes.
Delivers milk to 2,500 schools each day.
Driftwood Dairy is the milk provider to schools in Southern California.
Driftwood Dairy is a member of CDI –California Dairy, Inc.
300+ CDI dairy farm members.
17 BILLION pounds of milk produced/year by CDI dairy farms. Driftwood Dairy’s 5 Core Values:
