Serving Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito and San Luis Obispo Counties
Agri-Culture gets $2 million from Lakeside Organic Gardens
February 2016
Meyer Tomatoes building to become a farmworker housing facility
Agriculture Learning Center in the works
By SAMANTHA BENGTSON
Staff report
Of the Land
WATSONVILLE — The Peixoto family of Lakeside Organic Gardens contributed $2 million to Agri-Culture for the development of an organic and sustainable agriculture learning center. “Dick Peixoto’s dream of having an educational facility to showcase organic farming is closer to becoming a reality,” said Katie Bassmann, spokesperson for Lakeside Organic Gardens. “Dick and this center will be a resource for people interested in starting an organic farm, learning about organic farming or those just interested in seeing how their food is grown organically.” The facility, which is still in the planning stages, will incorporate education, history, techniques and future innovations of organic farming. All aspects of organic and sustainable agriculture will be benefited, including careers in organic farming. Lakeside will be working directly with Agri-Culture, Inc. to facilitate the development of the fund and learning center.
One stop on the EcoFarm Tour led guests through the many greenhouses at Whiskey Hill Farms on Calabasas Road. Photo by Tarmo Hannula/The Land
Organic conference draws hundreds
Event includes farm tour By TODD GUILD and TARMO HANNULA Of the Land
WATSONVILLE — Approximately 150 people from around the world boarded three busses Jan. 20, and then traipsed through rows of fertile soil saturated by weeks of rain, greenhouses
bursting with fresh produce and working farms. The tour of four organic farms was part of the annual EcoFarm Conference, a three-day event at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove. The conference is a brief epicenter of the organic farming industry; a
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Red crabs wash ashore in rare appearance By TARMO HANNULA Of the Land
Thousands of pelagic red crabs recently washed ashore in Monterey as a result of El Nino and changing water temperatures. Photo courtesy Monterey Bay Aquarium, Patrick Webster
MONTEREY — Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium have recently observed Pelagic red crabs —also know as tuna crabs or langostilla—washing up along Monterey Bay beaches. Pelagic red crabs are in the squat lobster family—a group of crustaceans midway between true lobsters and true crabs. While their “pelagic” description refers to their life in the open ocean, the largest and oldest crabs (about two years old) appear to be found only on the deep sea floor of the continental shelf, MBA officials said. “The pelagic red crabs are usually found off of the Baja in Mexico in open waters,” said Dan Albro, senior trainer at the MBA. “They have a beautiful red color. Their presence here is definitely an indicator that El Nino is indeed happening in full swing.” Albro said the crabs began appearing in October in the thousands. “They made a reappearance closer to shore this week,” Albro said. “And that means we’re seeing greater numbers of western and Heermann’s gulls because they feed on them.” Albro added that with the rising temperature of the sea, experts are keeping an eye on water temperatures and the health of the animals in the bay. “We’re seeing all kinds of different patterns,” he said. Pelagic red crabs tend to mate in the winter and mass stranding events like the recent ones don’t closely correlate to the breeding season. MBA officials said the crab strandings are a rare sight in the area. The last time they made their way this far was in 1983. The arrival of the crabs has also brought a few of their close associates to the area, including the first bluefin tuna to come into the Monterey Bay in a decade.
KING CITY — Farmworker housing is being considered by King City and the Meyer Tomatoes building is a big part of that conversation. King City is an agricultural community and as a result having affordable housing for farmworkers is a problem and source of sleepless nights for agricultural businesses in the area. To offset this problem a proposal came before City Council to allow temporary farmworker housing at the Meyer Tomatoes building at the end of Broadway and First Street. “The city has been working diligently to identify feasible locations and projects to increase farmworker housing and I think we’ve been successful in identifying some very promising prospects for the future,” said Steve Adams, city manager. “But we have not been successful in identifying that would work in the short term basis.” The proposal comes from David Gill, resident and business owner, and would modify the building and change it into a temporary H2A farm worker housing facility. Gill is pushing to get the project up and running in the next few months. The City Council were presented with an expedited process that would involve rezoning and a conditional use permit to allow Gill to begin construction for the project. The temporary use that the city is looking at would cover five years in a barracks-style arrangement. The project proposal has been submitted to the department heads at the city and in the public safety aspect, Interim Police Chief Anthony Sollecito pushed for a security plan and supervision or a caretaker for the property year-round. The agricultural workers would be in the facility from April to end of October. “I definitely support this concept,” said Mike Lebarre, council member. “I’ve long been advocating for the need of the agriculture employee housing here in South County.” Please turn to Page 4
Inside ... Fungus Fair
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Science Workshop
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King City 4-H
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Farm loans
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