Yucaipa-Calimesa JUSD is proud to be the first official school district to partner with our local farmers at Old Grove Farms for nearly 20 years.
Our Farm to School program and partnership has been a cornerstone of our district and in the past 3 years we are proud to have increased our fresh fruit and vegetables options to be approximately 40% locally grown and sourced. Our partnership has flourished as Child Nutrition was a grant recipient of the California Department of Food and Agriculture Farm to School Incubator Grant which allowed us to expand and fund our program with 3 main farmer-led activities between 20222025 through the following activities:
1.Old Grove Farm Field Trips for all 2nd-5th grade students.
2.Mini Farmers Markets for all TK-1st graders.
3.Harvest of the Month Education program for all students.
These initiatives were designed to enhance our students' understanding of local agriculture and healthy eating. This month we celebrate Farm to School and showcase some of the fresh fruit and vegetable options your students will get to enjoy this month!
Pomegranates | Dragon Fruit
Medjool Dates | Milk
Farmer Neva
Farmer Lee
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.
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.
California
Dates
California grows 95% of the dates grown in the U.S.
1. Ajwa dates 2. Noor dates 3. Medjool dates 3
Types of 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 dates are 100% organic.
Farmer Lee farms alongside the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians in Thermal, California.
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."
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.
