Celebrate California’s bounty and 100 years of UC Cooperative Extension in Alameda County at the free event, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday at Fruitvale Village at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland.

If you grow or just eat food, join the UC Cooperative Extension’s (UCCE) first annual Fall Harvest Festival to celebrate 100 years of UCCE in Alameda County.

The free event takes place Sat., Sept. 20, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fruitvale Village at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland.

There will be fun activities for the whole family, including the Crop Swap, where you can exchange your homegrown produce with crops from other gardeners. You’ll find healthy food demonstrations and an urban farming puppet show/rap skit for kids, as well as several contests (preregister online to enter):

• Veggie Produce Contest, where you can show off that prize-worthy tomato or other vegetable you’ve grown in your backyard or community garden.
• Bountiful Basket Contest, which will judge creative arrangements of five or more different homegrown vegetables in a basket.
• Creepy Critters Contest, where children ages 12 and under can create creatures out of seasonal vegetables.

“For the past century, UC Cooperative Extension specialists and advisors have been educating Californians in their communities, at their places of work and even sometimes at their own homes,” said Barbara Allen-Diaz, UC vice president for Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR).

Thanks in part to UCCE’s support, California today produces about 400 agricultural commodities, valued at roughly $44 billion last year. UCCE’s network of researchers and educators extends statewide to address local economic, agricultural, environmental, youth development and nutrition issues and use science to solve community problems. Its presence includes 4-H youth clubs, local nutrition educators and master gardeners who share advice on growing food and safely managing pests.

For more details, visit the ANR website or call (510) 567-6812 (English), (510) 639-1339 (English/Spanish) or (510) 777-2482 (Spanish).

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