Rotary Club’s Pioneer Series kicks off
On March 29, the members of Watsonville Rotary and guests gathered at the Watsonville Elks Lodge for the first in a series of special monthly meetings.
A chat with Integrity Wines’ Mark Hoover
Integrity Wines, located at the Watsonville Municipal Airport, has been in Watsonville for two years.
Farmworker communities applaud chlorpyrifos cancellation
On the morning of Aug. 14 the Gavin Newsom administration filed accusations against Dow and other manufacturers of the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos.
50 years at the UCSC Farm & Garden
Orin Martin says his favorite thing about the Alan Chadwick Garden at UC Santa Cruz is its diversity.
National Agriculture Day scholarship, contest winners announced
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...
USDA announces increase to CalFresh benefits
WATSONVILLE—Starting on Oct. 1, anyone receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, known in California as CalFresh, will see a slight increase to the amount they receive each month.
The changes to the federal Thrifty Food Plan comes thanks to the U.S. Department of Agriculture...
Auction raises $2.1M at Salinas Valley Fair
With the theme “Cowboy Up and Wind Down,” the 2017 Salinas Valley Fair brought thousands of visitors to South County and featured the annual Junior Livestock Auction, which raked in $2.1 million from the sale of 950 animals.
Ag History Project works on newest restoration
In a barn tucked away in a corner of the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, volunteers from the Agricultural History Project are hard at work restoring a piece of the past.
Open Farm Tours to return this weekend
PAJARO VALLEY—Open Farm Tours returns this Saturday and Sunday to the greater Pajaro Valley, with eight local farms participating in two days of events.
Originally started in 2014 as the Corralitos Open Farm Tour, the event has continued to grow and add more farms from...
Strawberry Commission reports healthy fruit, high demand
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...
How Farmworkers Outlawed ‘El Cortito’ 50 Years Ago
For decades in the Salinas Valley, the short-handle hoe, known as “El Cortito,” was used for weeding and thinning rows of crops that kept...
