#california cows

[californiastatelibrary]

Happy National Cheese Lovers Day to all who celebrate

Below is a c. 1915 photo of the Orland Cheese and Butter factory in Orland, California. The image shows a creamery operated by the farmers of The Orland Project, which transformed the area’s soil.

What was The Orland Project? Expand for more details:

The Orland Project, in north-central California, is located about 100 miles north of Sacramento. The project incorporates parts of neighboring Glenn, Tehama and Colusa counties. The hub of the project, the town of Orland, is in northern Glenn County.

One of the smallest projects ever tackled by Reclamation, the project irrigates 1 percent of the Sacramento Valley’s total irrigable soil, 20,000 acres. The project, one of the oldest federal reclamation projects in the country and one of the first undertaken in California, was authorized by the Secretary of the Interior in October 1907 after a finding of feasibility by a board of engineers.

Water was delivered to the first farm units at the beginning of the 1910 growing season. The project is irrigated by Stony Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River. Flowing northward, the creek gathers water drained from the surrounding slopes of the Coast Range Mountains. The collected water irrigates lands on both sides of the creek near the town of Orland.

The Orland Project comprises two main dams to store water, East Park and Stony Gorge, two diversion dams, almost 17 miles of canals, and 139 miles of laterals. Orland has some of the best conditions for agriculture. The growing season lingers over 262 days from March to November. The project’s soil is considered some of the richest and most productive in the nation. Orland, and the Sacramento Valley, is warmed by a thermal belt, with very few frosts. Average rainfall is 17.99 inches, most of which is measured between the first of November and the first of April. With hardly any snow, winter runoff occurs almost immediately after precipitation. The project has an average annual runoff of 410,000 acre feet.

[Description from usbr.gov]

[califarmer831]

Bullet the Bull

[emaadsidiki]

Cows by the Coast 🌊🐮

[meifyoucare]

Santa Cruz, CA 2020

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News - August 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my new(ly repurposed) Patreon!

1. Zoo hails birth of 'one of world's rarest animals'

“[Jasper] the Persian onager was born to mum Azita after a year-long pregnancy. […] Conservationists at the zoo said there are less than 600 surviving wild onagers[, … which] only survive in two small, protected areas in Iran, a Chester Zoo spokesman said. […] Mike Jordan, animal and plant director at Chester Zoo, […] said Jasper is "doing very well" and added that "mum Azita is doing a fantastic job of nurturing and bonding with her new charge". "He’s full of energy and enjoys playfully kicking up sand as he races around his habitat", Mr Jordan added.”

2. Charity creates 50 community orchards in city

“Community orchards are returning to Birmingham, with the aim of teaching people how to grow their own food and be part of the solution to climate change. […] Once established, the long-term aim is to distribute the produce to those most in need, but local people are also invited to pick the odd bit of fruit. […] By planting trees and plants and encouraging biodiversity back to these areas the charity is also doing its bit to help climate change. They even use locally sourced wood chip which helps to put carbon back into the soil. […T]he hope is that these edible landscapes can also be enjoyed by local people for years to come.”

3. Farmer-led badger vaccination could revolutionize mission to tackle bovine TB

“[… T]he results of a four-year pilot badger vaccination program co-managed between farmers, scientists, and conservationists […] show the percentage of badgers testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in the study area dropped from 16% to 0%[….] While most bTB incidents in cattle are caused by transmission between herds, transmission from wild badgers plays a role in the persistence of the disease. […] Blood sampling showed that the proportion of badgers with bTB fell even though overall badger numbers remained high[….]”

4. Every Colorado Anti-Trans Ballot Initiative Fails To Collect Enough Signatures

“Anti-transgender politics are becoming increasingly unpopular in polls. […] A recent LA Times/NORC poll found that 77% of voters believe elected officials use transgender debates to divert attention from more pressing issues. The poll also showed significant opposition to forced outing policies. […] A Gallup poll published in June revealed that while Americans have mixed views on the morality of transitioning, the majority oppose bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth. […] “The fact that they could not get enough signatures, barely half, to be placed on the ballot shows they lack support from everyday voters.”

5. In a fight to save a rare bird, Indigenous communities in Guyana are winning

“The partnership [between Indigenous communities and Smithsonian researchers] sparked a decades-long community-led conservation movement that has protected the red siskin and helped locals reconnect with nature. [… T]he South Rupununi Conservation Society […] established one of the country’s first conservation zones to protect the species, covering 75,000 hectares (185,000 acres) of Indigenous land. […] To plant the seeds of conservation, they’ve implemented an after-school program in more than 16 communities, [introducing children] to ecological research and surveying, and also [teaching] about Indigenous culture and tradition, including fire management skills.”

6. North Adams hospital gets federal designation which pays for health care in rural areas

“[The hospital] received a federal designation on Wednesday that is key to its long-term financial stability. […] The designation pays for staffing regardless of the number of patients[… and] “works to resolve stark inequities in rural and underserved communities as it relates to our nation’s health system."”

7. Andrea Vidaurre: Leading the clean transportation revolution

“Thanks to Vidaurre’s relentless advocacy and strong community support, these regulations introduced the first national standards for train emissions and set a groundbreaking goal for all freight trucks to be zero-emission by 2036. This initiative promises cleaner air for Californians and paves the way for a zero-emission vehicle future across the country. Studies predict these measures will prevent thousands of respiratory illnesses and save countless lives in the coming decades.”

8. Boston announces a new climate resilience office

“Through its Climate Ready Boston initiative, the city has worked to […] design creative adaptation plans with community input[, …] includ[ing] everything from redesigning waterfront parks and planting more trees, to modernizing the city’s underground sewer system[….] The Office of Climate Resilience will be in charge of coordinating work across city departments and with community groups[….]”

9. Combining Green Thumbs and Sustainable Fashion in a Swap Event

“This unique plant and clothing swap event in NSW is championing both environmental and fashion sustainability through native plants and preloved clothing. […] To participate in the plant swap, attendees brought their environmental weeds in a bag to the Council stall and exchanged them for free native plants. […] The event sparked valuable community conversations about the benefits of plant and clothes swaps, the impact of textile waste[, …] support a circular economy and combine a love for nature with practical, eco-friendly practices.”

10. Growing Green Spaces to Protect the Endangered Regent Parrot

“On Schools Tree Day, celebrated on 26 July, students from a local NSW school planted trees and shrubs to create crucial forage habitat for the endangered Regent Parrot, enhancing local biodiversity. […] Approximately 50 [… plants of] native species were chosen for their ecological benefits, helping to attract native birds, bees and butterflies while providing essential habitat and food. […] They [also] raise awareness about the regent parrot, encourage conservation efforts and emphasise the importance of protecting local wildlife. Additionally, conserving [the regent parrot] supports the health of their ecosystem by helping with in [sic] seed dispersal and maintaining plant diversity.”

July 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[i-am-trans-gwender]

How are there dinosaurs, bears and cattle in the Cars universe?

[catfindr]

[fawnvelveteen]

Cats Blackie & Brownie Catching Squirts Of Milk During Milking At Arch Badertscher's Dairy Farm In Fresno, California, 1954

[more-relics]

Pink Floyd The Cow Palace, Daly City, San Francisco, CA 12-13 April 1975. © Larry Schorr  

[skullsemi]

She got mooves! (get it? cause-

Had to sketch her dance moves at the disney california adventure event, just too good

[nr1-logo-design-inspiration]

Creative "goat" wordmark

Your brand starts with the signature (logo).

Limited inquiries this week ✉🔄

[mur-art]

Two sides of the same coin. 

The king of diamonds is a symbol for those who have an inflated sense of themselves, always looking down at others.*

Last week I drove from NorCal to SoCal and back again (an 8-hour drive, y’all) to visit various family members. There was lots of fog covering the highway (specifically tule fog, a weather phenomenon common in the Central Valley in winter) and this idea popped into my head. 

This drawing is brought to you by my road trip jams, “California” by The Airborne Toxic Event and “Pacheco/Redtail Hawk” by Kate Wolf. 

*At least according to this random tarot reading website I found; don’t @ me, I googled it, so it must be true. 

[califarmer831]

Play chase with the baby bull 🐂😭

[somethingfromnothingsuddenly]

Winchester, California

[thechembow]

Morning Bathed in Fog

Dec. 7, 2023

The rain missed our mountains but we were in the clouds this morning as an OR transmutation produced fog. The fog poured in over the mountains as central and northern California received rain.

[taibhsearachd]

Hey does anyone remember how when you were in elementary school they used to try and gauge your intelligence with like. 3D computer puzzles and tangrams? Your ability to rotate a 3D shape in your head?

Please tell me this wasn’t just me. I swear it was just like a secret juvenile IQ test my school was doing without telling us they were doing it, and I don’t believe in IQ at all these days, but. They didn’t tell us why they were doing this so it was just so fucking weird to me as a child when they’d drag you out of class to do a little computer test and also do a stupid little wood puzzle. Did anyone else get taken out of class to do dumb puzzles at least once a year or so was it just me/my school? I legit do not know.