Community

Education is key at Farm Discovery. Over the years, the Watsonville nonprofit organization, held at Live Earth Farm, has offered a number of programs, camps and events to inspire youth and their families to learn about agriculture.

After 133 people died in Santa Cruz County in 2023 after overdosing on Fentanyl, the Sheriff’s Office has launched a new way to address the problem, with a special focus on the people who deal the dangerous drug. The Fentanyl Crisis Response Team includes five...

WATSONVILLE—About two dozen farmworkers settled in on picnic tables at a Lakeside Organic Gardens field Wednesday for a fresh, healthy lunch featuring the very crops they harvest.  The meal was prepared by Charlie Hong Kong, a Santa Cruz Asian fusion restaurant that was Lakeside’s first...

WATSONVILLE—Thick fog rolled in and blanketed Crystal Bay Farm Wednesday morning, but the fields of the farm were teeming with life. A group of kindergarteners from Valencia Elementary School in Aptos, along with parents and teacher Karen Richmond, were visiting the organic farm  just off...

Three years ago, 18-year-old Cesar Mendoza walked into the El Pajaro CDC Kitchen Incubator with a group of his peers. They were there for a workshop to make vitamin water and to learn how the kitchen ran.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The annual Open Farm Tours will return this weekend—albeit in a different capacity. Pre-registration is now required for small, socially-distanced outdoor tours at the following farms: Thomas Farm and Luz Del Valle Farm in Aptos, and GroundSwell Farm in Santa Cruz. Additional participating...

WATSONVILLE—Heavy-duty earth-moving equipment rumbled into gear at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds over the past week, reshaping a chunk of land at the Agricultural History Project to make way for the expansion of the Living History Farm. Situated near the entrance of the fairgrounds, the...

The record-breaking 2017 rainy season gave rise to many challenges and opportunities for California farmers. Some crops were waterlogged, unable to thrive in such wet conditions. But as for the Pajaro Valley’s primary crop — strawberries — this past winte

Strawberry season in the Pajaro Valley is in full swing, and experts are reporting that demand has steadily increased despite a difficult kickoff. As the Covid-19 pandemic hit the California region in mid-March, strawberry producers initially saw a spike in sales. But it was soon...

According to the California Strawberry Commission, about 90% of all strawberries in the U.S. are grown in California. The fruit thrives in the state, due to its need for year-round moderate weather, which allows its roots to grow strong and stable.  On the Central Coast, consistent...