- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The San Diego Union Tribune ran a 1,500-word story on local agritourism last Friday, featuring UC expertise and resources front and center.
UC's agritourism coordinator Penny Leff provided reporter Emily Rizzo with a definition of agritourism, "a commercial enterprise on a working farm or ranch conducted for visitor enjoyment and education that generates supplemental income for owners."
Promoting agritourism in San Diego has been underway for years, but positioning the Southern California city as an agritourism destination, said UC small farm...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Having skirted damage from last week's freeze threat, Placer County is now ready to welcome visitors from the valley to buy foothill mandarins, said an article in the Sacramento Bee.
Mandarins are a signature crop in Placer County, where the climate and soil produce particularly flavorful fruit, according to a UC Cooperative Extension mandarin information page. Mandarins are more cold tolerant than all other citrus except kumquats.
The Mountain Mandarin Association's website says the first mandarin orange trees were...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Two University of Nevada, Reno, professors have teamed up to produce a fact-filled, entertaining, practical guide to California agriculture, according to UNR's Nevada News. Geography professor Paul Starrs and art professor Peter Goin coauthored a Field Guide to California Agriculture, published by the University of California Press.
A paperback version of the 504-page book sells for $24.95 from UC Press; Amazon offers it for $16.47.
The authors say...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
San Francisco consumers learned of educational and fun opportunities for agritourism from a clip on KGO-TV news yesterday about a trend that boosts the bottom line for farmers involved in quaint agricultural industries.
The segment focused on an organic dairy in Petaluma, an apple U-pick operation in Sebastopol and a sustainable farm that offers over-night stays also in Sebastopol.
"People come from all over the world, although there are many people who just come from San Francisco or Sacramento; it's a short drive to us, it's an easy weekend," Christine Cole of Full House Farm told the reporter.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Maxwell Norton, a Merced County UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor and acting director of UCCE in Mariposa County, provided extensive information to a Merced Sun-Star reporter about efforts to encourage tourism in Merced County and educate visitors about local agricultural roots.
About a year ago, a group of agriculturists got together and starting brainstorming on ways to increase ag tourism, Norton told reporter Carol Reiter. The group formed "Country Ventures" and decided on two goals: To bring more visitor-related dollars into the county and to increase...