It’s all about supply and demand in the wonderful world of avocados. Despite a large amount of foreign imports, demand has exceeded supply this year. That means higher prices at the grocery check-out for North County consumers raising the price of guacamole, and such, to record levels this season. As more people are drawn to avocados for their flavor and health benefits, consumption of the…
Montado Farms in Santa Ysabel, operated by Kevin Muno and partners, also known as The Land of Milk and Honey, is on the frontier of a new farming technique dedicated to using soil to remove carbon dioxide from the environment and help reverse the effects of climate change. With a grant administered by San Diego Food System Alliance, Montado Farms is the southernmost outpost in this…
Skimming much worse than swimming in the ATM and gas tank pool With summer in full swing and travel on the rise, visits to the ATM and gas pump are increasing, and if you’re like most of us, debit and credit cards are the way to pay. But you want to make sure you don’t fall victim to credit card skimming. That’s one of the…
North County San Diego and Temecula account for one-third of all avocados grown in California. The state produces 95 percent of all avocados grown in the U.S. Over the last 10 years, avocado acreage in the county has dwindled from around 30,000 acres to 18,000 acres. and expected to drop to 15,000 acres in the next two years. Total avocado crop value was nearly $198…
Selling directly to shoppers—and meeting face-to-face with chefs and other buyers—is helping keep San Diego farmers afloat amid economic downturns and historic droughts. When Dave Heafner and Leslie Pesic started their DA-LE Ranch in 2003, they were raising hens, pigs, and rabbits and selling to a few customers by pre-order, delivered once a week to the parking lot of the DMV in Santa Ana, California. Now, they…
Flowers, avocados, citrus, tomatoes and strawberries are leading San Diego County crops. But carbon? Apparently so. Carbon Farming, a whole-farm approach implementing on-farm practices that increase the rate at which plants transfer carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to the soil, is about to meet its maker at a Santa Ysabel farm. San Diego Food System Alliance (SDFSA) this week announced a grant that paves the…
Stone Brewing Co.’s latest sudsy creation earned a quick nickname: “Toilet to tap.” That’s because the Escondido brewery’s new craft beer is made with treated wastewater. The brave souls who taste-tested the Full Circle Pale Ale on Thursday were flush with excitement, calling the beer “delicious,” “hoppy” and “outstanding,” according to local media reports. “It is fantastic,” San Diego Mayor Kevin Falconer said after sampling it. “There’s no…
It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. Encinitas leaders this month cleared the way for a commercial marijuana growing industry intended to cater to recreational marijuana users allowed to do their thing this January thanks to passage of Proposition 64 last fall. Recreational marijuana is now the lay of the land. Starting in January, pot and it’s varied forms no longer will…
Escondido got the world’s largest something this weekend, so that’s something big. Let us introduce to you the world’s largest lithium-ion bayberry presented Saturday by San Diego Gas & Electric. It’s online and humming, officially unveiled by the utility following a fast-track procurement process that began less than a year ago. The 30-MW, 120-MWh system supplied by AES Energy Storage, a Virginia-based company was built…
(Editor’s Note: The Escondido Grapevine last year was admitted to the Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION) den. Matt DeRienzo recently was named the group’s first full-time executive director. Kristen Hare of the Poynter Institute, one of journalism’s leading think tanks, today posted a Q&A with DeRienzo in the “innovation” section of Poynter’s online journal discussing LION and the future of independent online journalism like that presented…