Agriculture

The city will break ground this week on Morgan Hill’s first dedicated outdoor pickleball courts, which will be located at the Community Park off West Edmundson Avenue.  A groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 10am Dec. 20 at the site of the future new courts,...

I recently went out to visit another winery in San Benito County, where the wineries and the wines share a similar place in the world of California regions—we had a history of being leaders in winemaking going back to the 19th century, we are...

A regional land preservation organization recently purchased a 1,986-acre ranch in west Morgan Hill, pledging to permanently protect the property that includes sweeping views and critical wildlife crossings, as well as homes for native and endangered species.  The Peninsula Open Space Trust announced on April...

To celebrate Earth Day, Performance Food Group on April 22 held an open house event in Gilroy to show how they have created a sustainable distribution model at the company’s local facility. In collaboration with a number of vendors in the transportation and distribution industries,...

Projected costs of the massive Anderson Dam reconstruction project in Morgan Hill have risen to approximately $2.3 billion, according to a report prepared by engineers for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Two years ago, the cost of the dam project—required for earthquake protection and...

The San Benito County Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo kicked off rodeo week on June 22 with the annual rodeo parade in downtown Hollister.  The procession began with a traditional cattle drive down the middle of San Benito Street, featuring dozens of steers, longhorn cattle...

The Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras returns for the 41st year this weekend, May 28-29—this time with a new “Platinum Sponsor,” local mushroom cultivator Sempera Organics. Sempera Organics, located off Church Street, grows and processes “functional mushrooms” for a variety of wellness and cuisine purposes,...

Kawahara Nurseries, which is based in Morgan Hill, is looking to open a year-round wholesale agricultural facility on Anzar Road in San Benito County. The planning commission on June 16 approved Kawahara Nurseries’ application for an agricultural facility use permit on a 104-acre property that...

I’m back, and glad to see you are too. I’m starting this column with some basic information about wine and our region because I’ve found out so few know about our local wine regions or really understand some of the basics of buying and enjoying...

I hear this question a lot: are our local wines as good as Napa’s? OK, that’s a fair question.  Let’s start all this with the fact Napa is considered one of the greatest wine making regions in the world. Period! Italian, Spanish, Croatian, etc… wines...