Nov. 11 Chipping Day produced mulch for gourd farm

FALLBROOK – The Fallbrook Fire Safe Council sponsored a "chipping day" on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Welburn Gourd Farm in the DeLuz area of Fallbrook from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The event was offered to residents of Fallbrook, Bonsall, DeLuz and Rainbow.

The goal of the event was to provide a centralized location for the residents to have branches, (less than six inches in diameter), trimmed brush, palm branches and other cut vegetation from their properties chipped/shredded into mulch. This is the fourth event sponsored by the Fire Safe Council in the last 14 months.

The previous three events were conducted in the southern, central and eastern portions of the community and were received with great responses. The event was supported by a grant from the San Diego Fire Foundation and SDG&E.

Throughout the event, more than 16 community members brought more than 24 loads of material to the site producing over 30 cubic yards of untreated mulch. The mulch was spread on site and will be used by the Welburn Gourd Farm for future gourd crop production.

Support for the event came from the San Diego County Fire Community Risk Reduction unit in conjunction with CalFire. The CalFire team was led by Captain Stuart Sharp and four members of the local CalFire "strike team."

The council will be planning future chipping day events in the mid-winter and early spring of 2024 to help residents dispose of cut/trimmed vegetation and help make Fallbrook fire safe.

The Fire Safe Council is a nonprofit organization that meets the first Thursday of each month at the North County Fire Protection District's offices at 330 Main Ave. at 9 a.m. Visitors are welcome. They can also follow the council's events at https://fallbrookfiresafecouncil.org/.

Submitted by the Fallbrook Fire Safe Council.