Santa Cruz County Agriculture, Food & Gardening Digest

There’s a new wine tasting room in Scotts Valley called Inversion Wines, featuring wares from very small vineyards in the far reaches of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

As the first organic farming specialist hired by the University of California system, Dr. Joji Muramoto is uniquely positioned to help growers expand their organic capabilities. But he also understands the practical challenges facing growers.

The Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Market board will vote soon on whether to move forward on an agreement with the city to relocate the downtown market. The timing—just a month before Santa Cruz voters decide on Measure O—is raising concerns.

Photos from Stanford University’s Ernesto Galarza collection documenting the bracero program were on view at the Salinas Sports Complex. Now county leaders hope to find a permanent place for the display, but until then the photos can be seen at the Monterey County Historical Society.

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.

It’s not always easy to know which wineries are practicing eco-conscious farming and operations. Edible Silicon Valley gathered various tips and things to look for when deciding which corks to pop.

Nesh Dhillon has managed Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets for more than 20 years. During that time there has been an expansion of markets from Felton to Live Oak and the inclusion of ready-to-eat food.

First, there were clean beauty products, then clean cleaning products—and now clean weed. It’s about to be everywhere in the Golden State. So what, exactly, is clean weed?

Santa Cruz County has announced the launch of a pesticide notification program in South County. Created by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, it is one of four pilot collaborations aimed at residents close to land where agricultural pesticides are used.

Winemaker/restaurateur Mark Bright and his partners at Saison in San Francisco decided to create Saison Winery to showcase Santa Cruz Mountains wines. Now, the wines can be purchased at the new Saison Cellar tasting room in Los Gatos, located in the former home of Left Bend Cellars.

A proposal in the state Senate would spend up to $1.5 billion to buy “senior water rights” that allow farmers to take as much water as needed from the state’s rivers and streams.

Too many coastal Californians are buying plants wrong for our climate and installing gardens more suitable for conditions east of the Mississippi, says Martin Quigley, director of UC Santa Cruz’s Arboretum & Botanic Gardens.

Maria Ana Reyes began working in the fields when she was eight years old. Now, at 49, she cultivates 11 acres of her own in San Juan Bautista and Watsonville. She is a core contributor to Tera Farm—a produce box program with distribution points from Carmel to Menlo Park.

While Watsonville voters decide whether to extend Measure U, which would limit development of farmland, Watsonville native Stephen Rocha is working with DeBernardo Realty to convert his family’s 150 acres into a multi-use compound.

Winery owner and UC Santa Cruz chemistry professor Phil Crews teamed up with a group of researchers to conduct a study on how the taste of wine was affected by wildfire smoke.

With her ag tech startup, FarmX, Maria Fernanda Reyes wants to empower growers. FarmX is a cloud-based e-commerce platform that lets farmers to sell their products directly to grocery chains, restaurants and other buyers.

In a preview of the EcoFarm conference, taking place virtually March 9-18, food journalist Mark C. Anderson interviews Mark Arax, who will present a keynote speech on “Water, Land and Power in the Central Valley: Towards an Ecologically Sound and Just Agriculture.”

For most people, fog is a nuisance. But Dr. Daniel Fernandez at Cal State Monterey Bay has been working with fog for nearly 20 years, using nets to collect tiny fog water droplets.

The Ag Commission has released Santa Cruz County’s 2020 crop report, showing the successes and failures of agriculture that struggled through fires, COVID, and more.

Volunteers worked to landscape areas of Aromas Sports Park in a project supported by the local Rotary Club.

About 50 people gathered Nov. 14 in Watsonville to explore ways to phase out toxic farming chemicals and convert Pajaro Valley farmlands to organic and regenerative farming. The forum was hosted by the Campaign for Organic and Regenerative Agriculture, a newly formed group.

In the Nov. 2 election, voters in the city of Santa Cruz overwhelmingly supported Measure A, which will establish a permanent Children’s Fund and boost the percentage of revenues from the city’s cannabis business tax to 20 percent.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will phase out the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and other small off-road engines. According to the Air Resources Board, an hour’s use of a gas-powered leaf blower produces the same emissions as a drive from Los Angeles to Denver.

A state bill was recently signed into law allowing consumers to bring their own wine bottles to be refilled at participating tasting rooms. “The new legislation allows wineries to reduce packaging waste and cost,” said Heather Brand, owner I. Brand & Family Winery in Monterey County.

The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is fully reopening its exhibits to members and the general public this month, after a hiatus due to the pandemic.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Sept. 27 that is designed to decrease farmworkers’ exposure to wildfire smoke by giving them access to the state’s stockpile of N95 masks. Assembly Bill 73, authored by Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), designates agricultural laborers as “essential workers.”

Eight family-owned farms—seven in Santa Cruz County and one in San Benito County—are part of this year’s Open Farm Tours, which takes place Oct. 9-10.

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors is hitting the pause button on new cannabis cultivation licenses within 500 feet of residences—a move spurred by conflicts on such issues as odor, noise and security. The supervisors will look at the issue again on Nov. 9.

Most tomato lovers find Love Apple Farms by word-of-mouth. Owner Cynthia Sandberg and son Zachary Geske founded Love Apple Farms in 2000. Their retail greenhouse is located at Ivy’s Porch in Scotts Valley.

The upcoming Bonny Doon Art, Wine + Brew Festival is a quaint community event that helps support Bonny Doon’s elementary school art and science programs.

Over the summer, California made big changes to how cannabis is regulated, with Gov. Gavin Newsom merging three agencies into one new Department of Cannabis.

The Farmworker Wildfire Smoke Protections Act seeks to build on the California Occupational Safety and Health program’s standard for protecting farm workers and address issues like unhealthy air conditions. The bill would also provide education on hazardous conditions.