- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The California Wellness Foundation has named UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Manuel Jimenez one of three 2011 recipients of the California Peace Prize. The announcement news release said Jimenez uses his passion for growing plants to prevent violence by putting youth to work creating community gardens in Woodlake.
The California Wellness Foundation will honor these three community leaders at its 19th annual California Peace Prize ceremony in San Francisco Nov. 17. In recognition of their efforts to prevent violence...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
This weekend, agriculture, food and entertainment converge in Fresno when the city launches what organizers hope will be an annual Chili Pepper Festival, according to an article in the Fresno Bee.
The Fresno festival joins a host of agricultural festivals around the state, notably the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the Selma Raisin Festival, the Kingsburg Watermelon Festival, the Castroville Artichoke Festival and the Stockton Asparagus Festival. A chili pepper festival is particularly appropriate for Fresno, the Bee article said, since hot food and hot weather can be cleverly combined in a community that has its own namesake hot...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Manuel Jimenez, a lifelong San Joaquin Valley resident, said he can't recall another spring as cool as 2011's, according to the Porterville Recorder.
“It actually has slowed down everything,” he was quoted in the story. Crops are growing "at a turtle's pace."
Cotton and corn already suffered delays in planting because of wet weather. Backyard gardeners are seeing a slowdown in the development of tomatoes, squash and peppers. But cool springtime weather isn't all bad news.
For crops like blueberries and strawberries, the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
California small-scale farmers have an ally in their corner when it comes to specialty crop production - UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisors, noted a recent article in Capital Press.
In Fresno, UCCE small farm advisor Richard Molinar is working with Southeast Asian farmers on such crops as Chinese long beans, gailon, eggplant and jujubes, the story said.
He's also helping growers produce Uzbek-Russian melon, which is said to be more flavorful than cantaloupe or honeydew. And for the past seven years, he's been experimenting with miniature watermelons, another specialty crop well suited for small-scale...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Persistent cool, wet weather has pushed California's blueberry ripening back 7 to 10 days, but farmers are expecting a bountiful harvest of the antioxident-rich fruit, reported the Fresno Bee today.
Typically, some varieties are ready at the end of April and "by the second week of May we're going," UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Manuel Jimenez told Bee food writer Joan Obra.