John Van Doorn, former business editor of the North County Times, managing editor of the New York Post and a New York Times editor, among other avocations, had this thing about rain. “Wet stuff,” Van Doorn would say. “If anybody around here uses the cliche of ‘wet stuff,’ for any reason, under any circumstances, they’re fired.” With that in mind, Escondido, North County and the…
At war with the Asian citrus psyllid since it was found in North San Diego County in 2008, California citrus growers and packers have had unprecedented success in slowing the spread of the tree-killing bacteria the psyllid can carry. People in the citrus business say part of that success relates to the testing and distribution of clean citrus plant material through the University of California,…
Spanning the grove to bring you the constant variety of avocado news… the thrill of guacamole .. and the agony of spoiled fruit… the human drama of creating great avocado marketing…This is The Grapevine’s Wide World of Avocados! — Escondido-based Henry Avocado expands to Charlotte, North Carolina — Avocado importers weigh in on NAFTA — Mexican avocado volume up North County San Diego and Temecula account for…
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…
Free seeds were all the rage last week at the Dos Valles Garden Club Plant Sale and Seed Swap. The Club, as usual, hosted the event at the Martin Gang Ranch, 28933 Cole Grade Road, Valley Center. “Many satisfied customers braved rain clouds to take advantage of the free seeds and great plant offerings at the Dos Valles Garden Club Plant Sale and Seed Swap…
Wind kicks across the site of the old, abandoned Pete Verboom Dairy just off Highway 76, west of Pala. Once an iconic and important dairy farm among hundreds of San Diego County dairy operations, Pete Verboom Dairy No. 1 and No. 2 are no more, and left blowing in the Pala Valley wind. Verboom was president of the San Diego County Milk Producers Council. He…
Egg-laying chickens at Armstrong Egg Farms off N. Lake Wohlford Road “have less friends in their cage,” said a wry Ryan Armstrong this week, and egg prices have doubled since California’s Proposition 2 went into effect on January 1. That proposition approved by state voters in 2008 calls for 25 percent more room in chicken cages, effectively cutting the number of hens per cage in…
They came. They saw. They trekked like soldiers going off to war, according to recently retired San Diego County entomologist David Kellum. And they learned. Welcome to Ag Day 2015 hosted at the Martin Gang Agricultural Learning Center on Cole Grade Road. Some 1,700 local kids from the entire Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District elementary school community, and fellow travelers, swarmed like bees across the…
SAN PASQUAL VALLEY — Organic farming pioneer and consultant, resource conservation leader, and now agricultural educator, Scott Murray hoped his back-to-the-future efforts will keep farming viable in California and the nation. Murray was doing it, in part, at a groundbreaking venue, the San Pasqual Academy. Located in the San Diego Agricultural Preserve about 35 miles northeast of downtown San Diego, it’s a first-in-the-nation residential education…