Santa Barbara Blueberries is on Restoration Oaks Ranch which is 955 acres of woodlands and grasslands. In addition to the Upick berries, there are other branches: Wild Dirt, an events space, vacation rental and grass fed beef as well as the non-profit Wild Farmlands Foundation which supports agroecology and smaller farmer advocacy . Part of their educational outreach is a tarantula walk in the fall and a toad walk in the spring. In May, my family walked with a group in the farmland behind the blueberry farm to visit the toads. Ed and Shay Seaman, who are managers of the farmland and the non-profit, lead the walks along with their son or another ranch hand.
We walked from the barn out to a pond with nets. Ed, Shay and their son used the largest nets to look for toads, tadpoles and froglets as well as water bugs. Kids held the smaller nets and looked (less successfully) for them as well. There are occasionally snakes on the walk but none when we were there. After about an hour, we headed back to the barn to look at the creatures we had found as well as pass around a toad for people to gently hold.
It was a fun afternoon and probably especially good for kids between 4 and 8. It was a little slow for my 10 and 13 year olds, but we still enjoyed it. To find out about the open dates, sign up for the SB Blueberry email. The toad walk happens in May and signups are in late March early April.
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| Toad Walk Pond (View 1) |
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| Toad Walk Pond (View 2) |
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| Nets to Catch Frogs and Toads |
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| Nature Talk |
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| Holding the toad |
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