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farm

Fall fun starts this weekend at Fantozzi Farms

in Community/Fun/News

Autumn has officially arrived which means it's time for pumpkins and scarecrows and corn mazes. It also means Fantozzi Farms is getting ready to open.

Operators Paul and Denise Fantozzi and their crew have been putting the finishing touches on the popular westside fall attraction in preparation for Saturday's opening. Fantozzi Farms Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch opens at 10 a.m. Sept. 30 in Patterson.

Continue reading on Turlock Journal

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15 Free Things to Do in Turlock, CA

Turlock is a bustling city in Stanislaus County in northeastern California’s Central Valley Region. It’s one of the most densely populated cities in

Once struggling, United Farm Workers gains new clout in California, wants to use it

in Agriculture/Community/Environment

CERES, Calif. — By late morning it was already hot, but not nearly as scorching as it would be in just a few hours. Lourdes Cardenas, 59, had already walked nearly 8 dusty, sun-blasted miles from Turlock, with about that many more to go to the day’s destination in downtown Modesto.

At break time, a mariachi in full regalia began to play, and Cardenas sank into a chair set up under a shade structure, gathered up creams and bandages, and bent over her blistered, swollen feet.

Continue reading on The Mercury News

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Out in the Fields, Contemplating Humanity and a Parched Almond Farm

in Agriculture/business/Environment

Hours before sunrise, Christine Gemperle lay in bed, snoozing an alarm set for 3 a.m. and dozing.

She waited until the chimes outside her window signaled that the wind had died down enough for her to spray insecticide on the 40 acres of almonds that surround her house.

Continue reading on Inside Climate News

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California’s strawberry fields may not be forever. Could robots help?

in Agriculture/Around California

In a strawberry field surrounded by strawberry fields on the outskirts of Santa Maria, a team of robots have been picking berries all summer.

Each robot, made by a Colorado company called Tortuga AgTech, trundles between the elevated beds on rugged wheels, then stops in front of a plant. An articulated arm maneuvers its sensor array among the leaves; machine vision software scours the sensor data in search of ripe berries.

Most California strawberry plants sprout constantly over the course of the season — little green berries sitting alongside fat red ones, nestled among the leaves. If an unripe berry is in the way, the robot repositions for a better angle. A snipper-grabber mounted in the middle of the sensors jabs in to cut the berry’s stem, then gingerly places it in a waiting plastic clamshell in a compartment at the robot’s base. The motion calls to mind a bird hunting, peering and pecking for insects.

Continue Reading on Los Angeles Times

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TUSD hosts first Farm to School Expo

in School

Since opening in 2013, the Turlock Unified School District Farm has continued to expand its reach in educating students about agriculture and serving as a healthy and local source of fresh fruits and vegetables for the district’s school lunches. Earlier this month, the District Child Nutrition Department collaborated with TUSD Farm to host the inaugural Farm to School Expo.

The Expo came on the heels of TUSD Child Nutrition being awarded a $104,764 Farm to School grant from California Department of Food and Agriculture. The Farm 2 School Expo was an effort to invite community members into the TUSD farm and showcase collaborated Farm 2 School initiatives.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

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Wish Book: Santa Cruz farm provides jobs to the homeless, food for the community

in Community/Food/News/People

Brenda Deckman had lots of jobs in her life. Nurse’s aide. Manager of a Subway sandwich shop. Home health care aide. Laundromat worker.

But after a turbulent marriage that ended with her losing custody of her 5-year-old son, she fell into a deep depression, spiraled downward and ended up homeless, living in a tent in the Pogonip Open Space Preserve, a 640-acre wooded park on the northern edge of Santa Cruz.

She had no car. No bike. Not even one photo of her son. Adrift, aimless and lacking self-worth, she survived on food stamps, panhandled and bathed in a creek.

Continue Reading on The Mercury News

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BRINGING THE FARM TO SCHOOL

in Animals/School

Turlock Christian preschoolers and high school students came together for a fun-filled event on Thursday as members of the Eagles’ Future Farmers of America chapter brought their animals over for a petting zoo. 

Between the two TC preschool campuses, over 150 students were able to touch and learn about chickens, rabbits, goats and even a dairy calf. The petting zoo was just one of many ways the TC FFA chapter has stayed busy this past school year, in addition to their annual banquet, fundraisers and even a dress up week for National FFA Week earlier this year.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

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Stanislaus Farm Supply celebrates 75 years

in business/Food

In 1949 a strike by the steel workers on the east coast led to a shrinking supply of bailing wire needed by Valley farmers and what was available was exorbitantly prices. The need for less expensive wire drove Stanislaus County farmers to creatively pool financial resources under a committee to secure a railcar of wire. One of the farmers, Joe Sousa, offered to the Farm Supply Committee headed by Maurice McDonald to manage the company for six months without pay. He also offered free use of his pickup and one-and-a-half-ton truck. If directors were satisfied with the operation at the end of six months, he agreed to continue for six more months; if not, he pledged to resign with no compensation. Another farmer, Fred Thiemann matched Sousa’s proposal by offering office space and clerical staff at no charge, and in 1949, Stanislaus Farm Supply was born.

That was 75 years ago and on Thursday evening the Ceres based grower-owned co-op celebrated with a dinner gala and program at the Turlock Fairgrounds.

Continue Reading on The Ceres Courier

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