NEWS

Eye on the Environment

Museum’s new space to bring education and beauty from compost and stones

by David Goldstein

This summer, the Museum of Ventura County will have a new, outdoor exhibit and gathering space in the formerly empty area facing Santa Clara Street. On Monday, Vincent Amorosino, a local stone mason and artist, lugged into place the last of a pile of scattered boulders, most of which he had previously formed into large, raised bed planters.

The planters, filled with a blend of native soil and compost supplied by Agromin and enhanced with compost tea provided by Ojai’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture, will grow the Native American “three sisters” crops. Some of those three crops, consisting of corn, beans and squash, will eventually be replaced by perennials and medicinal plants traditionally used by the Chumash.

Amorosino and fellow artists on the project, Jason Brock and Kevin Carman, work for Art City, a stoneyard, sculpture studio, art gallery and garden on Ventura’s Westside, owned by renowned local artist Paul Lindhard. Lindhard produces stone installations on a monumental scale across the United States, but his latest vision, coming into formation this week at the Museum of Ventura County, uses stones, some of which were originally part of the Ventura Mission orchard walls, to frame plants. In addition to the raised bed crops, sunflowers will line the south wall of the museum and squash plants will flow from conical-shaped planters.

Art City Studios and the Ventura County Compost Network partnered with the museum to coordinate this display, originally envisioned as a contest, wherein nine contestants would vie for a prize by growing the biggest sunflowers. As the project developed, organizers realized a cooperative, community workforce, including volunteers closely supervised by experienced gardeners, would be more appropriate. Gardeners will continue to follow organic growing methods.

Denise Sindelar, deputy director of the museum, said the museum worked with these community groups to initiate this project as part of an effort to turn a long-neglected space into an educational attraction and community resource. She said outdoor areas of the museum will open June 3, and the interior galleries are expected to open July 1.

Central to this exhibit is the soil itself, as the compost is derived mostly from Ventura County’s own yard clippings. Receiving yard clippings from curbside carts collected by E.J. Harrison and Sons and other recycling haulers, Agromin turns these discards into mulch and compost at sites near Oxnard, Simi Valley and locations outside the county. Using the compost, blended with native soil and other material to create crops and beautiful flowers, makes the activity not just an artistic statement, but also an opportunity for community education and enjoyment.

In addition to promoting compost with this activity and exhibit, the Museum of Ventura County makes compost from food scraps at their Santa Paula branch, the Agriculture Museum. “We have three composting bins (two plastic, one straw bale) where we recycle much of our vegetable garden clippings as well as our clippings from our native gardens,” said Elena Waller, the Agriculture Museum manager. Additional yard clippings from museum grounds are collected by Athens Services in Santa Paula and hauled for composting elsewhere.

The Agriculture Museum also has a worm box, purchased through the city of Ventura’s vermicompost bin discount program, and uses it to turn food scraps from their break room into a high-quality soil amendment. “University of California Master Gardeners are responsible for feeding our squirmy friends” in the worm box, according to Waller. The Master Gardeners also tend the vegetable garden and maintain 13 raised beds of plants at the Santa Paula site.

As the museum reopens in June, staff and docents will be available Wednesday mornings at the Santa Paula site for questions about the gardens. Currently, the Master Gardeners work Wednesdays, 8-11 a.m., and during the pandemic people have been coming to the museum gate to ask questions while observing social distancing requirements. On June 16, 9-10:30 a.m., a workshop at the Agricultural Museum (926 Railroad Ave., Santa Paula) will focus on how to maintain a vegetable garden, including information on composting. Reservations through the Master Gardener website are required; visit ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=34927.

Resources: www.mastercomposter.com/worm/ wormcomp.html ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=34927 David Goldstein is an environmental resource analyst with the Ventura County Public Works Agency and may be reached at 805-658-4312 or david.goldstein@ventura.org.

In Brief

County promoting protection of monarch butterflies

Last month the Ventura County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a policy protecting monarch butterfly habitat and promoting the planting of their main food source, native milkweed, on county-owned properties.

The item was brought forward by Board Chair Linda Parks (Dist. 2). In a written statement, she said the policy is consistent with recent revisions the board made to zoning ordinances that “require, among other things, use of pesticide-free, native plants, and planting of flowering plants that support pollinator insects such as bees and butterflies.”

An emphasis on native milkweed is important because non-native varieties flower at different times and can interrupt the patterns of pollinators.

“Ventura County is really important for the recovery of western monarchs. The planting of pesticide-free native milkweed in our area is vital to their recovery,” said Dr. Catherine Darst with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The county is one of several coastal areas that provide winter respite for the monarchs and population counts have been declining. Two decades ago, the population was estimated to be about 1.2 million; today it’s stated at about 2000. The board also will be adding protection of western monarchs to its state and federal legislative agenda.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently labeled the western monarch as a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Public comment on oil well stimulation phase-out

The California Department of Conservation, Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGem), the state oil and gas regulatory agency, has released draft regulations that will end permitting for well stimulation treatments by 2024.

The public comment period on the draft regulations is active now through July 4, 2021.

Written comments can be submitted to CalGEMRegulations@conversation.ca.gov. Those with questions regarding the comment period can call 916-322-3080.

The draft regulation language is online at www. conservation.ca.gov/index/ Documents/Discussion%20 Draft-WST%20phase-out%20 final.pdf.

California State Parks studying sea level rise adaptation

The California State Parks system has released a guide on how the department will approach coastal management as climate change brings sea level rise and extreme weather events.

Initial funding and implementation of the plan is going to the San Diego region, but the Parks department reports that the “vulnerability assessment template” in the guide can be applied to all coastal districts in the State Park System.

“Like many places along California’s coastline, several coastal park units have already experienced the impacts of severe erosion and flooding,” said Armando Quintero, director of California State Parks. “State Parks views these impacts as an opportunity to learn more about sea level rise now and adapt future actions to help preserve our treasured public lands so future generations can enjoy them.”

The guide lays out methods for the department to incorporate sea level rise issues into ongoing department planning and project development. The strategy of the parks department says “holistic” assessments that examine public access, recreation, natural and cultural resources must be part of responding to sea level rise issues at sites under the department’s jurisdiction.

VC COVID-19 Update

On May 24, Ventura County reported 53 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend and 9,444 new tests. According to county reports, 67% of those in the county 18 and over, and 63% of those 12 and over, have received the first dose of the vaccine.

Vaccinations are now available without an appointment. All residents 12 and over are eligible to receive free vaccinations. A large vaccine clinic welcoming walk-ins is still active at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura. Other sites are listed online at www. vcrecovers.com. Appointments can be made at myturn.ca.gov or by calling 833-422-4255.

— Kimberly Rivers

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