Monterey County land for Mark Twain frogs

Monterey County land protected for Mark Twain's celebrated jumping frog: "Mark Twain celebrated them, hungry gold prospectors ate them, and rural landowners cursed the name of the California red-legged frog."

In high school Krizia and I volunteered as science camp cabin leaders at Camp Campbell for a week. It was either her cabin, or my cabin, or some other guy's cabin that had the "red-legged frog" as a designated animal. I came across this article and my interest was sparked by Mark Twain, because I think he is a brilliant author/person. Then I saw that the article was about the frogs. Dun dun Dun.

The frog's population has been dwindling because of farmers, ranchers, and developers that have, for years now, gotten all-Avatar on the poor croakers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has made its THIRD attempt to set up frog protection rules. They are hoping to set aside a 150,000 acre protective habitat for the red-legged frogs.

These guys have meaty jumping legs, which any respectable Illinoian would love to gobble up in heaps. They have been hunted ever since time! Not really - hunted at least since 1867 when Twain published "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in newspapers and short stories. As time passed by, lots of developments left the froggies with sustainable habitats in only 28 of the 58 California counties (1996).

After a slight case of fraud in the Bush administration (government pressured scientists to alter findings - such a shame!), the new proposal outlines about 1.6 million acres in various counties to protect them. In our county, good ol' Monterey County, designated areas include 519 acres in the Elkhorn Slough (Moss Landing), 27,000 acres in Big Sur, and 119,000 acres along the Carmel River. Effects: developers will not be able to do anyyyything that could destroy those habitat lands.

"What might it be that you've got in the box?"

And Smiley says, sorter indifferent like, "It might be a parrot, or it might be a canary, may be, but it an't it's only just a frog."

And the feller took it, and looked at it careful, and turned it round this way and that, and says, "H'm so 'tis. Well, what's he good for?"

"Well," Smiley says, easy and careless, "He's good enough for one thing, I should judge he can outjump any frog in Calaveras county."    ...want more Twain?

Artichoke Harvest Begins!

It's that time of year again! Castroville's spring artichoke harvest is now underway. Expect to find big, fresh, green globes in your local grocery stores. The usual harvest begins mid-March and lasts through May. COO of Ocean Mist Farms says that "Spring is the peak time for quality and size"... Ocean Mist Farms harvests almost all of the 6,000 artichoke farmland in Monterey County. That's a lot of crops! $66.6 million worth (in 2008)!

It takes around 140 full-time harvesters and an extra 60 new hires to run through all the artichoke crops. Unlike the poor strawberry crops, the rain didn't put too big of a damper on the fields. VP of artichoke production at Ocean Mist Farms describes these babies as "slow-growing with good, meaty hearts, and the petals are as meaty and fleshy as it gets."

If you are in the Bay Area I suggest you drive down for a fun day/weekend in Monterey and stop at the Giant Artichoke Restaurant (11261 Merritt Street, Castroville). Go into their market area and grab yourself some of their deep fried artichoke hearts with some ranch sauce to dip them into. You will feel uber greasy after, but they are delish! My family and I have been stopping here for years to grab these tasty treats, along with the occasional Dr. Pepper, watermelon candies, and bags of chips. Such a great little stop during the [not] long drive!

- Heads-up thanks go to The Californian for their article on the recent artichoke harvest.

Fumigants on Monterey County soil

What would you like in your salad? Some methyl iodide? Methyl bromide? Both are pest and disease fumigants that farmers in Monterey County use on goods from leaf lettuce to strawberries. Methyl bromide hurts the Earth's ozone layer, so it has been used less and less over the past 5 years (the federal government frowns upon its use).

Because the government is phasing out methyl bromide, farmers might start planting fewer acres of veggies and fruits, most notably strawberries. First the rain ruins strawberry crops, and now this?? Do you realize what the economic impact of a reduction in strawberry crops would be? Loss of many, many jobs. Think about your drive through Salinas along Hwy 101. Growing and picking strawberries employs a lot of people!!

Farmers use fumigants to "clear the soil of pests, diseases and weeds, especially in commercial nurseries and the strawberry industry." Methyl iodide was intended to be a safer version of the bromide version.... intended being the key word. The eight member committee assessing the fumigant decided that the risk outweighs the reward. Methyl iodide, a known carcinogen, poses health risks to workers and the general population.

When working with fumigants, just one mistake can cause a lot of damage - we are talking thyroid cancer, respiratory tract lesions, and neurological effects (in lab animals). Last year alone pesticides were applied 120,000 times in Monterey County - just 1,183 were inspected via a 45-line checklist. A bit of a disparity, huh?

So what to do? Limit methyl iodide use, restrict crop production, prices go up, people become unemployed.... or ignore the science and expose farmers to a potentially harmful toxic chemical?

Full Article

Strawberry Prices Going Up!

When it comes to growing strawberries, California's Monterey County has the perfect combination of foggy nights and mild temperatures. However, due to all of the rain and El Nino storms, strawberry farmers have lost about 70% of their fruit! El Nino is going to keep the rain coming for about 2-3 more months (oh how swell). The strawberry growing season starts up in 5 weeks! This means you should expect to see darker strawberries at your local grocery store in the upcoming months. More expensive too... simple economics crushing my hopes of making strawberry cupcakes for Valentine's Day.

Luckily for me, I have a great friend who just got a job with a wildly popular fruit company in Watsonville! Hopefully he can find spare fruit baskets to bring to his cheap, strawberry-loving friend in Seaside!