Focusing on Farming, Fields

The term "city slicker" was used by at least three students during the the first Focus Agriculture class Friday.

It's fitting. The  created by Agri-Culture more than two decades ago takes local politicians and professionals into the fields and greenhouses to learn about the agriculture industry in the Pajaro Valley and across Santa Cruz County.

The 21 members of the Focus Agriculture class met for the first time Friday, gathering in the Farm Bureau office to cover the basic agriculture history of the area before heading out to visit three local farms: organic, family-run; fresh-cut roses; and conventional strawberry production.

Agriculture is still the No. 1 industry in California and, despite the emphasis on tourism on the Central Coast, it's also tops in Santa Cruz County, according to Bill Ringe, Agri-Culture president.

Here, we grow Brussels sprouts—mostly on the harsh coastal benchlands on the North Coast—mushrooms, apples, greens, broccoli and a plethora of berries: strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and ollaliberries. There is cattle ranching and egg production, some mariculture (that's ocean farming, like abalone), cut flowers and Christmas tree production. Check out the county's annual crop report to learn more about individual crops and their values.

Here's some of what we experienced during our agriculture tour:

At Live Earth Farm off Green Valley Road, farmer Tom Broz talked about his family's endeavor to establish an organic farm in the Pajaro Valley 17 years ago. Live Earth Farm began with 20 members in their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and a some farmers market booths. This year, they will have 900 CSA members—that means they pay a flat rate in advance to get weekly veggie boxes from the farm—in addition to selling at a half-dozen farmers markets and providing produce to local restaurants like and in Santa Cruz.

"A farm, I really believe, is a resource for the community," Broz said.

Live Earth Farm welcomes people to the property for classes, you-pick days and dinners through the spring, summer and fall.

 is one of the few surviving rose growers in the Pajaro Valley. Founder Alan Mitchell explained that his farm found niche markets to fill about 10 years ago when a surge in South American flower production priced out many American rose growers.

"Partly becuase of default, we're the largest rose grower in the United States," Mithcell said.

California Pajarosa grow 140 types of roses in five greenhouses off Casserly Road. On any day, they cut and ship 1,000 bundles of 25 roses. They specialize in sweetheart roses (small heads) and spray roses (multiple blossoms on one stem), though the farm also grows traditional varieties.

Out east of Watsonville, our last stop was Ortega Berries, where owner George Ortega walked us through the steps of growing strawberries: from leasing land and ordering berry plants to finding skilled pickers and marketing the berries.

At each of the three agriculture operations, the farmers emphasized the complexity of the operation. They likened it to a machine. If one piece stopped working, like Ortega didn't get enough boxes to package the crop of strawberries grown in his fields, the machine would break and the farm could fail.

Over the next eight months, the "city slickers" in the Focus Agriculture class will experience more snippets of agriculture in the county.

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Patch Editor Jennifer Squires is a member the Focus Agriculture Class XXIII. She will write about the nine-class program, which covers topics such as ethnic groups in agriculture, new technology and diversity of commodities locally grown. In addition, there are many farm tours and hands-on experiences.