Focus on Agriculture

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...

CENTRAL COAST—Pandemic-related losses to California farms, ranches and agricultural businesses will range between $5.9 billion and $8.6 billion this year, according to an economic study released June 23. The analysis says the state’s $50 billion agricultural sector has already suffered $2 billion in losses so...

Ranked 11th by last year’s U.S. food and wine festival calendar critics, the 2017 Paso Robles Wine Festival is scheduled for May 18-21 and will feature four days of dinners, tastings and educational seminars fit for both experienced and inexperienced pala

WATSONVILLE—For more than 20 years, Watsonville-based organization Wild Farm Alliance (WFA) has aimed to find a sustainable balance between conservation and agriculture. Established by a like-minded group of wildland proponents and ecological farming advocates, WFA’s primary goal is to bring nature back into the industry. “As...

WATSONVILLE—For years the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau (SCCFB) and the Agri-Culture organization have hosted the National Agriculture Day Spring Luncheon. However, due to the current COVID- 19 pandemic, the March 18 event was postponed, and its future remains uncertain. Despite this, the two groups...

MONTEREY COUNTY—Monterey County agriculture’s gross production value bounced back by 4.8% in 2021 to just over $4.1 billion, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that also resulted in supply chain shortages. This increase represents a $190 million rise from 2020, when the gross production value was...

Some agriculture, farm and food events happening this month throughout Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

June 10 marked the 17th annual release of Bargetto Winery’s “La Vita” wine.

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...

Turning onto Bonny Doon Road from Highway 1 north of Santa Cruz, one can expect a number of different sights and smells. Wildflowers flank the paved road at first, pushing out onto the pavement persistently. Then there are damp, cool redwood groves. After