Santa Clara County Agriculture, Food & Gardening Digest

The Elmore Desert Ranch gets 22.5 billion gallons of water from the Colorado River, almost as much as is cleared for Scottsdale, Ariz. And that’s just a fraction of the 386.5 billion gallons from the river going to 19 other families in Imperial Valley.

In a study published in Nature Sustainability, scientists assessed the potential for wide-scale synthetic production of dietary fats. The raw materials are the same as those used by plants: hydrogen in water and carbon dioxide in the air.

The acquisition includes the Daou brand, Daou Mountain Estate, four luxury wineries, and around 400 acres of vineyards in Adelaida District of Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County.

Janice and Joseph Gali of Gali Vineyards in Watsonville still have fruit hanging. There’s good news and bad news, as with anyone trying to ripen coastal syrah this season.

Angelo Heropoulos, owner of Hero Ranch Kitchen and Flowers Restaurant in Saratoga, has taken over the storefront most recently occupied by Pasta Armellino, which shuttered in October.

Hundreds of wells in Tulare Lake aquifer are at risk of going dry. Today's recommendation is the first time that state officials have moved to crack down on local plans that fail to stop excessive groundwater pumping.

Water providers say rebates for residential areas are costly and residents may refuse to remove their lawns. The rules aim to save enough water for more than a million households a year.

The European Union has banned certain additives that are used in American candies and baked goods. California is on the cusp of prohibiting their sale by 2027.

Milpitas has announced a new location where city residents can grow organic vegetables while making new friends.

Using intricate infrared images captured by airplane over California's Central Valley, researchers were able to distinguish Cabernet Sauvignon grape vines that were infected but not showing symptoms.

Parts of Santa Clara County have been placed under quarantine after invasive oriental fruit flies were detected in cities such as Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, county officials said.

Inadequate housing and resources have plagued local farmworkers for decades. That might take a favorable turn if Santa Clara County officials prioritize their needs.

With all his varied interests, it is surprising that Toney Canty is able to contain himself within the confines of his food truck. But the Hollister-based chef is content to serve up his fare at events all over San Benito and Santa Clara counties.

From the 1850s to the 1970s, Santa Clara Valley was the center of apricot production. Today, city-owned heritage apricot orchards are remnants of a history that has been preserved.

Many farmworkers in Coachella Valley lack legal status as citizens and don't qualify for most federal and state disaster aid. Even a new $95 million storm assistance program for immigrants that Governor Gavin Newsom recently touted is out of reach because it pertains to the winter and spring storms and floods.

As growers and consumers look to sustainability, indoor agriculture is expected to revolutionize farming over the coming decades—and Silicon Valley’s XtremeLUX makes the most advanced and efficient LED lighting system for industrial indoor growing.

Office parks, corporate campuses, strip malls would have to remove grass, or face fines of up to $500 a day.

One of the hidden gems of the summer curriculum in the Santa Clara Unified School District is the Farm to Table Camp, a program on the district’s farm behind Peterson Middle School.

Twelve years ago, Thomas Bray inherited San Benito Gold Honey, the business his father Leon Bray founded 40 years before. These days, he sells his honey and pollen from a little trailer on Hwy 25.

An affordable housing development where residents can grow their own food is slated to begin welcoming tenants. The development, Agrihood, will include 160 mixed-income apartments, 165 homes for low-income seniors and veterans, and 36 townhomes on 5.8 acres.

Roughly $1.1 million will be paid by two developers to replace several hundred trees that will be ripped up to make way for their industrial developments. But critics worry the city can’t replace its lost trees fast enough.

Plans to revamp the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds into a sports and recreation facility have been progressing for more than a year, but it's unclear when shovels will hit the ground.

In April, Santa Clara City Council Member (District 5) Suds Jain took swapped out his City Hall responsibilities for his role as a certified UC Master Gardener at the Santa Clara County Master Gardeners’ Spring Fair. “We sold about 20,000 plants and about 3,000 people come to the event,” said Jain.

Filipino students at San Jose State University said honoring a key leader in the farmworkers rights movement is long overdue—and they staged a rally to make their intentions known.

California has given the federal government its own counterproposal for apportioning reductions of Colorado River water, saying a plan offered by six other states would disproportionately burden farms and cities in Southern California.

Shootings, wildfires, the pandemic and other challenges have tested these communities, but many of its farmers aren't going anywhere.

As winter storms rage across California, water-saturated ground and high winds are putting vulnerable trees at risk.

Stanford scientists have genetically re-programmed plants to grow roots that change how they gather nutrients or water.

In the fall, rice fields in the Sacramento Valley usually shine golden brown as they await harvesting. This year, however, many fields were left covered with bare dirt.

Drought, human-caused climate change, invasive species and a “legacy” of environmental issues are permanently altering California’s landscape and placing some communities and ecosystems at increasing risk.

Linda and Stewart Resnick have donated $50 million to UC Davis for an agricultural research center—the largest donation in the campus’s history—but the couple’s Wonderful Company is the state’s single biggest water user.

For the first time, members at the California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting will be able to sell goods from their farms and ranches. Called the California Marketplace, this interactive event will be held Dec. 4—one of several new features of the meeting, taking place Dec. 2-7 in Monterey.