Serving Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito and San Luis Obispo Counties
New attractions, old favorites at Santa Cruz County Fair
Agriculture the next great technology frontier By SAMANTHA BENGTSON Of the Land
SOLEDAD — Food and water are the two most important elements to live from day to day. By 2050 there will be a huge gap between population of the world and the production of food. “At this point we are increasing food production by 1.4 percent and to actually meet that growth curve we need to be increasing food production by 1.75 percent per year,” said Jess Martin, director of research and operations at AgTech Insight. “Even though right now ag is extremely efficient in what they do we need to find more resourceful ways of developing and understanding the land.” With the advancement of technology, Martin said agriculture could experience its next big wave of innovation. “We are at an interesting time now where tech understands that they are looking at agriculture in a way that they haven’t in the past,” said Aaron Magenheim, chief executive officer. “A lot of other industries’ tech has gone and just changed them significantly but agriculture has been one of the few that really hasn’t been touched by technology.” Growers have made upgrades to tractors, GPS or different technologies that help them to plan their crop cycle to buyer needs. Magenheim, Martin and the team at AgTech Insight said that growers and technology are going to have to blend together to be able to meet the growing demand of a growing population. “One of the biggest problems with technology in the field is it just doesn’t quite fit into the operations seamlessly,” said Martin. “Everything is fragmented and Please turn to Page 4
October 2015
By TODD GUILD and ERIK CHALHOUB Of the Land
Jonathan Pilch (left), director of operations in restoration for Watsonville Wetlands Watch and Murray Fontes, principal engineer for the City of Watsonville, inspect Upper Struve Slough during a major restoration project. Photo by Tarmo Hannula/The Land
Restoring Watsonville’s wetlands Project under way along Struve Slough By TODD GUILD Of the Land
WATSONVILLE — A stretch of Struve Slough along Main Street is getting a makeover, part of a twoyear restoration plan by Watsonville Wetlands Watch and the City of Watsonville. The multi-phase project will include removal of pesky invasive plants, and replanting native ones. Organizers say the work, which is funded by a grant from two state organizations, will help keep local ecosystems healthy. It will also include several opportunities for community volunteers to come lend a hand. The seven miles of trails that meander through Watsonville’s slough system are abounding with wildlife, from squat
black-crowned night herons to shy, swift foxes. After nightfall passersby might catch a glimpse of a great-horned owl sailing on broad, silent wings on its hunt for rodents scurrying among the underbrush. The Watsonville wetlands are the third largest freshwater wetland system on the California Coast. They are home for hundreds of resident and migratory bird species, serve as natural filters for the water draining to the ocean and act as a buffer between nature and the city. It also offers miles of walking trails for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of urban life, with an estimated 10,000 people visiting every year.
WATSONVILLE — From a passel of pint-sized piglets to dozens of deepfried delicacies to megalithic monster trucks, this year’s Santa Cruz County Fair brought its usual eclectic mix of displays and activities. New this year was a monster truck show, a 110-foot drop tower ride and two new food booths offering Greek and Italian food. In addition, a new corn dog vendor offered a two-foot long monster jalapeño corn dog. Fairgrounds Manager Dave Kegebein said the fair now boasts an expanded midway with a bigger kiddie land. “We’re always really busy at the fairgrounds, but this is our big show,” Kegebein said. “We’re excited. It’s amazing the amount of volunteer effort it takes to put this on.” Dozens of people on Sept. 14 were putting the finishing touches on exhibits throughout the sprawling fairgrounds, as teams of judges gave their final inspections of baked goods, homegrown produce and art. Allen Morgan of Soquel will be displaying a mix of his homegrown habanero peppers, which he describes as some of the spiciest non-hybridized peppers in the world. Morgan was in the Harvest Building, representing Seed Savers Exchange, an organization that collects heirloom seeds from around the world.
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New outdoor garden debuts at Georgia Brown Garden features native plant landscape and walking path By BETH BOLYARD Of the Land
Georgia Brown’s new outdoor garden features California native plants, raised vegetable planters and a walking path. Photo by Beth Bolyard/The Land
PASO ROBLES — Students at Georgia Brown Elementary School got a chance to walk through the school’s new native plant garden after an official ribbon cutting ceremony finally opened the garden, which is complete with a walking path native California plants and raised vegetable garden boxes. The project, an ongoing effort since April of this year, is a part of One Cool Earth’s initiative to bring gardening and conservation education into local schools through hands-on activities, composting and a variety of gardens.
The garden, situated at the school’s north entrance, is unique according to One Cool Earth’s Greg Ellis, one of the project’s main facilitators, because of the combination of vegetables and native plants, which will bring in a variety of useful insects to the garden. “I’ve done gardens that were just veggies before and gardens that were just native plants,” Ellis said. “I think the combination of the two is the highest form of a garden because you get a lot of benefits from the native plants to the veggies, it actually brings in a lot of beneficial insects, and it just makes the veggie beds more Please turn to Page 4
A young denizen of the livestock display stares through the bars of its cage at the Santa Cruz County Fair. Photo by Todd Guild/The Land
Inside ... Ag tour
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Condor Experience
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Beekeeper
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Drought at camps
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School orchard
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