Lavender Creek awarded 2024 SBDC Business of the Year for Monterey Bay region
GREENFIELD — Lavender Creek, a family-owned lavender farm and wellness brand located in South Monterey County, has been awarded the 2024 Central Coast Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Business of the Year for the Monterey Bay region.
The Central Coast SBDC’s recognition highlights Lavender Creek’s...
Work continues on King City High’s new FFA facility
KING CITY — Construction continues at King City High School as the new Future Farmers of America facility begins to look more like a finished building.
The site will include new agriculture classrooms and workshops for KCHS students in the FFA program, and replaces...
Scheid Family Wines enters 7th year of 100% wind-powered wines
SALINAS VALLEY — This Earth Month, Scheid Family Wines celebrates nearly seven years of being 100% powered by renewable wind energy.
The Greenfield family-owned and operated wine company, which has embraced sustainability as a core tenet since its inception in 1972, is the only winery...
Monterey County’s crop values increase in 2021
MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County agriculture’s gross production value bounced back by 4.8% in 2021 to just over $4.1 billion, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that also resulted in supply chain shortages.
This increase represents a $190 million rise from 2020, when the gross production...
Salinas schools to close as Taylor Farms fire, evacuation order continues
SALINAS — A fire in a Salinas food processing plant that has prompted authorities to evacuate surrounding neighborhoods has now closed four nearby elementary schools as sunrise approaches Thursday.
City officials announced the closure shortly after 5:30 a.m. Thursday for Lincoln Elementary, Monterey Park Elementary, Sherwood...
Monterey County’s Covid-19 infection rates highest in agriculture
SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County Health Department reports that 475 agriculture workers, or 36.79 percent of the county’s total confirmed cases, have been infected with Covid-19 as of June 22.
A large gap separates that figure and the 261 “unknown or under investigation” category, and...
State awards $10M to Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency for groundwater monitoring, outreach
SALINAS VALLEY — California Department of Water Resources has awarded more than $10 million in funding to the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) through the Sustainable Groundwater Management (SGM) Grant Program to support implementation of SVBGSA’s state-mandated groundwater sustainability plans in four...
South Monterey County’s first marijuana dispensary opens
GREENFIELD — South Monterey County’s first marijuana dispensary has opened for business in Greenfield, selling recreational cannabis products in the area.
Higher Level, a locally owned cannabis retailer with operations in Seaside and Hollister, opened its third location in Greenfield earlier this month. A grand...
Covid-19, wildfires present challenges for Salinas Valley winery
SALINAS VALLEY — Standing in his vineyard as a brisk wind runs amuck with his curly, sandy-blonde hair, Denis Hoey reveals why the Salinas Valley region — known for its vast agriculture — should also be noted for fine winemaking.
“We make wines here that...
Food for power
Cesar Mendoza had been a participant in Food, What?!, an organization that brings the youth of Santa Cruz County into the world of farming, food production and cooking.
