San Juan Bautista is a very small town in the valley that grows most of the leafy greens in America. Spinach, lettuce, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, chard.... I can't even name them all. The next town north is Gilroy, garlic capitol of the world and Salinas. of John Steinbeck fame, is on the south. It is sad to see any of the land growing houses - where will our food come from then?
The road winding down from Mary and Joe's house to SJB levels out just before reaching this farm. The barn is in bad shape, the house roof is covered with plastic (for a long time) and there is only one remaining sister. There were two who spend their lives on this farm, they were very elderly and becoming increasingly frail. The other sister died this summer. I hope someone is keeping an eye on this lonely resident of the valley. By-the-way, that is not the moon, but a spot on my windshield. I'm still taking pictures on-the-fly.
Just before reaching the highway there is a fenced pasture occupied by sheep and one goat. Even though I actually stopped and got out of the car, I found it impossible to get a good shot. This one goat was cropped from a larger useless picture. Love that goaty beard!
Turning right on the last little farm road before the highway I parked and walked across the road to photograph this oh-so-green celery field. Highway 156 goes east/west where the utility pole is in the background on the right.
This is a field of different lettuces - the kind we buy in plastic bags as "Spring Greens" or some such name. The fields are striped light green, bronze, bright green, dark red, etc.. The lettuces are actually mowed and the plants left to grow some more leaves. The mowed crop is picked over on a conveyor belt, washed, packaged and sent all over the country - maybe all over the world, for all I know. The packaged salad idea originated with a produce processor near San Juan Bautista.
This is the 366th post on this blog - I'm starting another year! My laptop is probably DOA and I have my fingers crossed that the backup has actually backed up everything. My computer guru will check it out on Thursday, but he doesn't hold out much hope. Woe is I!
3 comments:
John Steinbeck is my all time favorite writer. I have re-read Cannery Row so many times I had to buy new copies. East of Eden is one of the best novels ever written in my humble opinion. I envy you your trip to that part of the country.
The NY Times had a whole bunch of writing about figs I stumbled upon this morning and I was going to e-mail you a copy of one of them but I can't find an e-mail add. for you and now your computer is giving up the ghost. Sorry about that. I really look forward to your writing. Hope your back up and running soon.
By the way, I've discovered a family friend with a fig tree. I'm standing by to reap the benefits. He doesn't like them. Poor thing!
For your future reading pleasure-"Epitaph for a Peach" & "Harvest Son" by David Mas Masumoto.
366 posts is impressive! Congratulations! I always know I will find you at your "post."
I loved "Peach" but haven't read Harvest Son and didn't find Four Seasons in Fives Senses as compelling. I wrote David a fan letter and he wrote back! I searched for SunCrest Peaches every summer after reading Peach! Now I find that the local Farmers' Markets have other varieties of drip-down-your-chin-juicy fruit. Ah, California! We are so lucky!
joan
What lovely pics, Del. It is very interesting to see the lettuces grown out there like that. I suspect most of our exotic purple & light green ones are now grown hydroponically, here, & we get them complete with root ball, in a cellophane sleeve.
The celery is very impressive.
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