Agriculture

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...

UC Santa Cruz recently acquired and established the Strathearn Ranch Natural Reserve, a 2,400-acre oak-studded grassland property in San Benito County that will be used for field research and outdoor education for the university’s students, staff and researchers.  The UC Board of Regents approved the...

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,...

In a milestone for creating a major new source of drinking water, California has approved its first standards for turning sewage into potable water supplies delivered to homes and businesses. The State Water Resources Control Board, in a unanimous vote Dec. 19, outlined for the...

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...

Symphony season begins Oct. 9 South Valley Symphony will open its 49th season Sunday, Oct. 9 with a concert of music entirely by American composers. Maestro Anthony Quartuccio will lead the orchestra in a “Made in America!” program that will open with the National Anthem and...

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,...

Although farm and food production workers were considered essential workers during the pandemic, many of California's food employers endangered those workers, violating Cal/OSHA's Covid-19 guidelines more often than most industries, a new report said. The California Institute for Rural Studies’ report said farm and food...

Fans of fresh, ripe and local fruit will want to venture to Andy’s Orchard in east Morgan Hill before the short stone fruit harvest is complete in a few weeks.  Owned and operated by renowned grower Andy Mariani, the orchard off Half Road features many...

Nursery crops retained their top spot in Santa Clara County in 2023, according to Santa Clara County’s latest Crop Report, with mushrooms clinging to the No. 2 spot despite a drop in crop value of almost 8% from 2022 due to the closure of...