Ag Alert is the newspaper of the California Farm Bureau Federation, reaching Farm Bureau agricultural and collegiate members. Agricultural members are owners and decision-makers on California farms and ranches. The California Farm Bureau Federation is a non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary membership organization whose purpose is to protect and promote agricultural interests throughout the state of California and to find solutions to the problems of the farm, the farm home and the rural community. Farm Bureau is California's largest farm organization, comprised of 53 county Farm Bureaus. Farm Bureau strives to protect and improve the ability of farmers and ranchers engaged in production agriculture to provide a reliable supply of food and fiber through responsible stewardship of California's resources.
HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS from beehive to tree Page 24
Shining a light on MUSHROOMS Page 12
Cheers to port wine! LEGACY IN A BOTTLE Page 6
EXPLORING BOUNTIFUL CALIFORNIA
Getting to know TANYA HOLLAND Chef shares stories & recipes Page 36
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EXPLORING BOUNTIFUL CALIFORNIA
November/December 2020
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Features
4 From the editors 5 A la carte 22 NEW! Ask a farmer 29 Now from Nationwide 42 Gardening 44 Take 5 46 It’s a bountiful life
Ports for the ages Winemaker continues time-honored tradition. Hidden treasures Mushrooms grow in the dark, but shine as an ingredient. Seeds for success Plant breeder’s work helps ensure bountiful gardens worldwide. Bee-ing creative Beekeeper turns beeswax into holiday ornaments. They’re nuts for school Farm-based business helps siblings secure their future.
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HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS from beehive to tree Page 24
Shining a light on MUSHROOMS Page 12
Cheers to port wine! LEGACY IN A BOTTLE Page 6
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ON THE COVER: Oakland chef Tanya Holland’s face says it all: “I get a lot of joy out of feeding people.” Story on Page 36.
EXPLORING BOUNTIFUL CALIFORNIA
Getting to know TANYA HOLLAND Chef shares stories & recipes Page 36
Photo: Lori Eanes
www.californiabountiful.com 3
From the editors
As an unprecedented year comes to an end, California Bountiful celebrates the riches of the fields. Learn how earthy mushrooms provide taste and nutrition to your meals, while beeswax serves as the foundation for unique holiday ornaments. We share recipes to liven wintertime menus, tips on making f lavorful gifts and insight into where your seeds for next year’s garden might have gotten their start. We also invite you to read the inspiring story of two teenage entrepreneurs, get to know a Christmas tree farmer and check out a young family’s online culinary bookstore. All of us SEASON Gifts of the
VOLUME 43 • ISSUE 6
Karen Olson Director, Marketing/Communications Division Dave Kranz Director, Publications & Media Relations
Barbara Arciero Managing Editor Judy Farah Assistant Editor
Kevin Hecteman, Ching Lee, Christine Souza, Tracy Sellers, Jolaine Collins, Cyndee Fontana-Ott, Pat Rubin Writers Lori Eanes, Silas Fallstich, Fred Greaves, Tomas Ovalle, Frank Rebelo
Photographers Karin Bakotich Design Services Manager
Jessica Cook Paula Erath Graphic Artists Margaret Rodriguez Darla Quidachay Production Chris Tedesco Manager, Business Development Robert Foiles Advertising Sales
at California Bountiful lift a glass of Madera County port (also featured in this issue!) to wish you a joyful holiday season.
Subscribe: California Bountiful is available to
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Contact us: California Bountiful, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento, CA 95833 916-561-5552 cbmagazine@californiabountiful.com www.californiabountiful.com associate members of county FarmBureaus in California and by subscription. To subscribe, call 916-561-5552 or go to californiabountiful. com/subscribe.
Average No. Copies Each Issue during preceding 12 months, 9,621; Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date; 9,468. 2. Paid In-County Subscription, None. 3. Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors and Counter Sales and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribu- tion, none; 4. Other Classes Mailed through the USPS, none. TOTAL PAID CIRCULATION: Average No. Copies Each Issue during Preceding 12 Months, 9,621; Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date, 9,468. FREE DISTRIBUTION BY MAIL CARRIER OR OTHER MEANS: Samples, complimentary and other free copies. 1. Outside-County as stated on Form 3541, Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months, 2,181; Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date, 2,183; 2. In-County as Stated on Form 3541, None; 3. Other Classes Mailed through the USPS, none. Free distribution Outside the Mail, none. TOTAL FREE DISTRIBUTION: Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months, 2,181; Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date, 2,183. TOTAL DISTRIBUTION: Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months, 11,802; Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date, 11,651. COPIES NOT DISTRIBUTED--OFFICE USE, LEFT OVER, UNACCOUNTED, SPOILED AFTER PRINTING: Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months, 3,433; Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date, 3,150. Returns from News Agents, None. TOTAL: Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months, 15,235; Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date, 14,801. I certify the statements made by me above are cor- rect and complete. (Signed) Dave Kranz, Publisher California Bountiful California Farm Bureau Federation
Title of Publication: CALIFORNIA BOUNTIFUL Date of Filing: September 30, 2020 Frequency of Issue: 6 times a year: Jan/Feb; March/ April; May/June; July/Aug; Sept/Oct; Nov/Dec Annual Subscription Price: $9.99 to non-members Location of Known Office of Publication: 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento, Sacramento County, Sacramento CA 95833 Location of the Headquarters of General Business Offices of the Publisher: Same as above. Names and Address of the Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher: California Farm Bureau Federation, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento CA 95833 Editor: Dave Kranz, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacra- mento CA 95833 Managing Editor: Barbara Arciero, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento CA 95833 Owner: California Farm Bureau Federation, a non- profit membership organization, located 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento CA 95833 Known Bondholders, Mortgages, and Other Secu- rity Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages or Other Securities: None The purpose, function and non-profit status of this organization and the exempt status of this organization and the exempt status for Federal Income tax purposes has not changed during the preceding 12 months. TOTAL NO. COPIES PRINTED (NET PRESS RUN). Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 months, 15,235; Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date, 14,801. PAID CIRCULATION: 1. Paid/Requested Outside- County Mail Subscriptions Stated on Form 3541.
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California Bountiful ® (ISSN 0194-5165) is published bimonthly by the California Farm Bureau Federation, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento, CA 95833 (telephone: 916-561‑5552). Non-profit periodicals postage paid at Sacramento, California. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to California Bountiful, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento, CA 95833. The California Farm Bureau Federation does not assume responsibility for statements by advertisers or for products advertised in California Bountiful, nor does the Federation assume responsibility for statements or expressions of opinion other than in editorials or in articles showing authorship by an officer, director or employee of the California Farm Bureau Federation or its affiliates.
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November/December 2020
a la carte
Tractors light up the
holidays
A fun way to celebrate farmers and ranchers during the holiday season is by attending a lighted tractor parade. Several California communities host these each year, with thousands turning out to see elaborately decorated and illuminated tractors, vintage trucks and fire engines drive slowly down main streets. Tractor parades are held annually in towns including Calistoga, Winters, Geyserville and Ferndale. Before heading out, be sure to confirm this year’s schedule with event organizers.
reboot Iconic ads get a
It once featured celebrity faces sporting milk mustaches. Now, the Got Milk? campaign, which started in 1993 and lasted more than 20 years, has returned with a fresh look. Centered around social media, the new campaign asks young people to post milk-related challenges using the #gotmilk hashtag. One teen, for example, dipped into a kiddie pool filled with milk and cereal, and another moonwalked while drinking milk. Dairy producers resurrected the popular campaign with the goal of sustaining a boost in milk consumption during the pandemic.
California Bountiful magazine makes a great stocking stuffer. It’s a gift that keeps giving year-round with compelling stories; interviews with farmers, ranchers and chefs; and tasty farm-to-fork recipes. Order a gift subscription at californiabountiful.com for only $9.99, and your recipient (or recipients!) will receive six bimonthly issues and exclusive, subscriber- only digital content. Give bountifully
www.californiabountiful.com 5
Photo courtesy of Ficklin Vineyards
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November/December 2020
Ports for the ages
Winemaker continues time-honored tradition
Story by Christine Souza • Photos by Tomas Ovalle
North of the San Joaquin River in rural Madera County stands America’s oldest port winery and vineyard, Ficklin Vineyards. Fol lowing a tradition established by his grandfather in 1946, winemaker Peter Ficklin handcrafts premium ports—sweet, fortified wines—fromwinegrape varieties native to Portugal. The third-generation winemaker said the climate and growing conditions in Madera are ideal for making “vinho do porto.” “My grandfather traveled the world and then worked with the University of California in the ’30s and ’40s, discerning what grapes grew well in what areas of California,” Ficklin said. “Lo and behold, this part of Madera County is excellent for the varieties of the Douro River region of Portugal for making ports.” In those early days, Ficklin said, no one in California produced premium ports, but rather inexpensive imitations. His father wanted to learn more, and attended UC Davis to study enology. “He came back and built a winery, and we had our first crush of grapes in 1948,” said the younger Ficklin, now owner and president of Ficklin Vineyards. “It was my father’s intent to produce a premium port using traditional port grape varieties and time-honored methods of production and aging.”
Peter Ficklin, third-generation owner of Ficklin Vineyards in Madera County, specializes in crafting premium ports—sweet, fortified wines— from winegrape varieties native to Portugal. His father made adobe bricks by hand to build the winery’s wine cellar, above center.
Marji Barks, above, samples a port, while Ficklin, left, helps Bob and Brenna Barks with a curbside pickup.
Portuguese tradition Many U.S. wineries produce fortified dessert wines with the words “port” or “port-style” on the label, but using non-Portuguese varietals. Ficklin Vineyards’ use of Portuguese varieties sets its ports apart, Ficklin said, adding, “It is our traditional ports that compete head- to-head with the Portuguese, who have been making tradit iona l ports since the 17th century and are obviously the standard to be measured against.” Ficklin followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps by studying enology at UCDavis. In 1983, he took over as winemaker at the family business, which now crafts about 50 different, highly acclaimed ports sold across the U.S. The small, estate vineyard grows Portuguese varieties Tinta Madeira and Touriga Nacional, and Ficklin buys other port varietals such as Souzao, Tinta Cao, Tinta Roriz and Alvarelhao from a network of California wineries. “Port is made by harvesting and crushing each variety’s fruit at optimal maturity and allowing a fermentation to begin, just as in table wines,” he said. “At the right moment, we add custom-produced grape brandy to stop the fermentation, retaining the grape sugar and raising the alcohol content to a range of 18% to 21%, traditional for ports.”
Ficklin, above, displays three of Ficklin Vineyards’ 50 to 70 different ports, many of which are award-winning, below.
Visitors to the heart of California can experience Old World techniques and state-of-the-art technology at the wineries along the Madera Wine Trail. The area, cooled by the San Joaquin River on the southwest and the Sierra Nevada on the east, features warm summer temperatures, varied soils and generations of families growing winegrapes. Madera was designated an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1985 and includes both Madera and Fresno counties. Many wineries along the Madera Wine Trail remain open for curbside and retail pickup during the pandemic, according to the Madera Vintners Association, which operates the trail. Social distancing and the use of masks are encouraged, and guests should check with each location for hours of operation before visiting. For a map or more information: maderawinetrail.com. Visit the Madera Wine Trail
barrel-aged tawny ports can acquire butterscotch and caramel, he said. Some younger ports, Ficklin said, “move into nice, smoky menthol f lavors, with some chocolate.” Unique to ports, Ficklin said, is they can be aged longer than many other wines: “A port that is six, seven, 10, 30, 50 years old is absolutely amazing. We use a lot of the same equipment that any other winery would use, but we still have wines barrel-aged 30 years and bottles that date back to the first wines that my father made in 1948. The wine library is where all of these old, dusty bottles are. Normally, you wouldn’t find that at any other winery.” Pairing ports No matter the length of the aging process, ports are often served as a dessert wine, but can also be paired with savory dishes. During the holiday season, Ficklin said port wine pairs well with richly f lavored cheeses, chocolate and caramel desserts, and salted and smoked nuts. He has paired different ports with different courses during a meal, and uses ports to enhance dishes from poached pears to pork roasts. For the holiday season, the winery promotes a hot buttered tawny, which features
Legacy in a bottle—and barrel The three most common styles of port are vintage, t awny and ruby. Vint age por t s re su lt f rom an individual year’s harvest and are bottled young, less than three years of age. Tawny ports spend their entire lives in a wooden barrel and then are bottled, ready to drink. Ruby ports are two to three years old and typically represent a blend of different years; they’re meant to be consumed young. Ficklin Vineyards produces all three styles. “The vineyard’s f lagship, Old Vine Tinta port, is made in a solera system, where you only remove a portion of the wine that was started back in 1948 by my father and add younger wine, so it’s a little bit of each vintage from every year and literally a living picture of the wine we’ve made here,” Ficklin said. “Ports offer quite a diversity of f lavors and vary from vintage to vintage and style to style,” he added. The Touriga grape, for example, yields a ruby port offering f lavors of boysenberry, pomegranate and a hint of nutmeg, whereas a barrel-aged tawny port of the same variety features dark caramel and toffee with cobbler and pecan f lavors. A tawny port contains a lot of sweet fruit f lavors, especially berry, cherry and plum, and some chocolate tones. Older,
www.californiabountiful.com 9
Ficklin Vineyards grows Portuguese winegrape varieties such as Tinta Madeira, above. Peter Ficklin says port wines pair well with holiday favorites including richly flavored cheeses, chocolate and caramel desserts, and salted and smoked nuts.
the winery’s tawny port aged for 10 years. For a traditional dinner of turkey, stuffing and potatoes, Ficklin said, “I would pair that with a rosé port, or a port that has a little sweetness, since sweeter ports go well with a wide array of f lavors.” Fickl in Vineyards wine club member Rebecca King of Visalia said the tinta and Old Vine Tawny ports are her favorites, and she has visited the winery during the pandemic to have the bottles delivered to her car. The staf f also hosts webinars and virtual tastings for those interested in learning more about their products. “Peter and the folks at Ficklin Vineyards are really passionate about the different types of port wines they sell. They are really down to earth and will give you their own recipes that they’ve tried pairing with the wines,” King said. “We tell everybody that they rea l ly need to t r y thei r por t wines . They have
something for everybody.” Along with receiving numerous internat iona l accolades for the ports he makes, Peter Ficklin was honored in 2012 with the Wine Lifetime Achievement Award from the California State Fair. Last year, Ficklin Vineyards received a request from the U.S. Embassy in London to serve the winery’s Old Vine Tinta and Aged 10 Years Tawny ports at future dinners. F i c k l i n V i n e y a r d s c u s t ome r s “ a r e w i n e af icionados that enjoy different wines and ports,” Ficklin said. “They seek us out. We have visitors from all over the world, people that visit Yosemite and make a stop. They will (make a) pilgrimage here to come and see us. It’s young people and boomers and all across the board.”
Christine Souza csouza@californiabountiful.com
MORE ONLINE At californiabountiful.com, Peter Ficklin shares holiday recipes that pair well with port, plus a cold-weather favorite: hot buttered tawny.
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November/December 2020
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Mushrooms are a popular topping for
pizza, including on the Chicken Masterpiece, a signature pie from My Pizza in Morgan Hill.
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November/December 2020
Hidden treasures
Mushrooms grow in the dark, but shine as an ingredient
Story by Ching Lee • Photos by Lori Eanes
With their meaty texture, umami qualities and earthy f lavor, it’s no wonder mushrooms continue to rank among the most popular toppings for pizza. Just ask Hamdey Altayyeb, owner of My Pizza in Morgan Hill. Most of the restaurant’s vegetarian pizzas feature the classic topping. It also plays a key role in some of his meatier concoctions. When he set out to create the Chicken Masterpiece,
button, crimini and portabella mushrooms. Back when her grandparents started the farm, Christine Kubogamell, who now runs the farm with her husband, Arthur, said mushrooms had not yet become the produce-aisle staple they are today. In the 1960s, Americans ate fewer than 1 pound of mushrooms per person each year, compared to an average of 3 pounds in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
for example, Altayyeb said he knew mu shrooms wou ld add umph without tak ing away f rom the marinated chicken that serves as the s t a r of one of the re s t aurant ’s signature pizzas. “It gives you more texture, more volume without overpowering other things you want to have with the mushrooms,” he said. “Maybe that’s why you see it cooked with spaghetti and other dishes.” My Pizza uses about 50 pounds
“It has grown in popularity,” she said. “With the push for healthier living, people look to mushrooms as not only a great side dish with meat, but also for vegetarians who are interested in replacing the meat with more vegetables, and def initely mushrooms are a part of that.” As a vegetarian himself, Arthur Kubogamell said he loves grilled mushrooms, with portabellas being his favorite. The couple agree they like the simplest approach best when
White button mushrooms are the most popular variety grown in the U.S.
of mushrooms every two to three days—and doesn’t need to go far to buy the ingredient. It grows 2 miles from the restaurant at South Valley Mushroom Farm in a region long known as the state’s mushroom capital and home to the annual Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras Festival. We’re eating more ’shrooms In business since 1966, South Valley is one of the state’s oldest mushroom farms and produces white
preparing mushrooms: olive oil, kosher salt, grilled. Because the fungi are free of fat and cholesterol, and low in sodium and calories, health-conscious chefs and home cooks have been blending chopped mushrooms into their ground-beef recipes, including for burgers, sloppy Joes, meatloaf, meatballs and tacos. They’ve found mushrooms not only enhance the f lavor of the meat, but they help stretch portion sizes. In burgers, incorporating chopped ’shrooms also helps to hold in juiciness, according to the Mushroom Council.
Farmers learned by doing Though Christine Kubogamell grew up on the farm and is now its third-generation grower, she and her husband did not enter the business until 2006. With no previous experience in agriculture, Arthur Kubogamell said learning how to grow mushrooms was “a large challenge initially.” They both learned by doing, they said. He went on to study the process in the Netherlands. “I was very fortunate that there were other growers here locally that were extremely helpful and extremely generous in sharing their experiences and information and expertise,” he said. Christine Kubogamell’s family didn’t set out to become mushroom farmers. Her grandparents, age 60 and 70 at the time, had been strawberry growers and knew nothing about growing mushrooms when they took over the farm from relatives who were unable to repay money they had borrowed for the mushroom venture. “They kind of reluctantly got into (the business),” she said. “If you can imagine a 60-year-old woman driving a tractor and having to do all the labor. It was really difficult for them for a long time.…Luckily, they got help from the generosity of another nice mushroom grower in the area.” In those days, the farm grew only brown mushrooms, also known as crimini or “baby bellas,” because they are a younger version of portabella mushrooms. White button mushrooms, now the most widely grown variety, came later, even though all three varieties come from the same mushroom species, Agaricus bisporus. Ca l i fornia rema ins the nat ion’s second-largest mushroom producer, behind Pennsylvania, which grows more than half of the U.S. crop, while the Golden State accounts for about 18%, according to the USDA. The world’s top producer is China. A self-sustaining crop Though mushroom farming has become more mechanized through the years, Christine Kubogamell said, the growing process remains largely unchanged, with farms producing and harvesting the crop year-round. Al l mushrooms grow f rom microscopic spores collected in laboratories and then used to inoculate grains or seeds to produce spawn, the mushroom farmer’s equiva lent of seed. White, brown and portabel la mushrooms grow in a compost blend of materials such as straw, cottonseed, gypsum, corncobs, seed hulls and
Hamdey Altayyeb, owner of My Pizza in Morgan Hill, uses mushrooms grown by South Valley Mushroom Farm.
nitrogen-rich manure from chickens or horses. The fungi conta in no chlorophyl l and don’t need l ight or photosynthesis to grow, relying only on the nutrients from the compost. For mushroom farmers, compost is “the cornerstone of each crop,” said Arthur Kubogamell, “and if you don’t get your compost right, then your production won’t pan out for you.” Before it can be used, the compost is pasteurized, then pressed into large trays or beds. Next, the spawn is mixed into the compost. After two to three weeks, what looks like a fine, white web forms on the surface of the compost. This mycelium forms the root structure that starts the mushroom colony. At this point, growers spread a layer of peat moss over the compost to hold in moisture, and the entire bed is moved to a growing room where temperature and humidity are carefully controlled. Eventual ly, tiny pea-size mushrooms form on the mycelium and push up through the peat-moss casing. “Once we put the casing layer on, it takes about 14 to 18 days before you start to see mushrooms,” Christine Kubogamell explained. “They double in size every day.
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November/December 2020
Mushrooms don't need light to grow. During harvest, headlamps illuminate the highly controlled and darkened grow rooms.
Arthur and Christine Kubogamell, right, operate South Valley Mushroom Farm, which produces white button, below, crimini and portabella mushrooms, bottom right.
Fromthat pea, it’ll be (the size of) amarble the next day, and from the marble, it’ll be close to a mushroom the next day.” White and brown mushrooms grow at about the same rate, she said, whereas portabellas require an additional two to three days. Mushroom farmers typically pick the trays by hand three times during a period of three to five days, with the middle pick yielding the most crop. After the final pick, farmers clean the beds and recycle the spent compost for other uses. At South Valley, it is sent to a company that makes soil amendment. This makes mushroom farming self-sustaining with no waste, Christine Kubogamell said, as the materials used for the compost are all-natural agricultural byproducts and, on the back end, the growing medium is reused to enrich soil for growing something else. “There’s always a new crop coming in every week, so there’s always a different stage every week in different parts of the farm,” she said.
Ching Lee clee@californiabountiful.com
MORE ONLINE Mushrooms make the meal! Find out more about growing and cooking with them at californiabountiful.com.
White button, crimini and portabella mushrooms all come from the same mushroom species, Agaricus bisporus.
s
If the rainy months of fall and winter deprive you of sunlight, you might want to load up on mushrooms. Mushrooms are the only food in the fresh produce aisle that contains vitamin D—and one of only a few foods that contains “the sunshine vitamin” without being fortified. Humans make vitamin D when our skin is exposed to the sun’s rays. Mushrooms do something similar: Their high concentrations of ergosterol—found only in fungi— convert to vitamin D when exposed to light. Though all mushrooms contain some vitamin D, studies have found that when they are deliberately exposed to sunlight for 15 to 120 minutes, they can generate significant amounts that approach the recommended daily allowance. Some growers are doing just that—exposing their mushrooms to ultraviolet light before they’re packed, to produce “high vitamin D” mushrooms. People at home also can boost the vitamin D levels of their mushrooms by bathing them in sunlight. To give them maximum exposure, place mushrooms in the sun with their gills up or slice them first, as that provides more surface area for them to soak in the sun.
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November/December 2020
Live bountifully
Left to live alone at 11, Endeavour Shen persevered and ultimately found his life’s purpose in family and farming. We share his inspiring story. In the next issue:
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September/October 2020
EXPLORING BOUNTIFUL CALIFORNIA
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Tuning in with TRACY SELLERS Stories from California Bountiful TV Page 12
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November/December 2020
Story by Pat Rubin
for success
Plant breeder’s work helps ensure bountiful gardens worldwide
Patty Buskirk can hold an entire vegetable garden in her hands. In one fist, she can clench hundreds of tomato plants. Ditto enough f lowers to fill an entire neighborhood of homes. Truly, the seeds she holds represent the hopes and dreams for a bountiful season for home gardeners around the globe. The California native is the owner and chief plant breeder of Seeds by Design, a well-respected seed supply company with offices in the rural Sacramento Valley communities of Maxwell and Willows.
In its nearly 27 years, the business has developed a reputation for producing high-quality seed. “It’s just like being a farmer, except we focus on seeds,” she said. At home in the Sacramento Valley Buskirk is in good company in the northern part of the Sacramento Valley. The area comprises about 50,000 acres dedicated to seed production, as well as
more than 1 million acres of rice, almonds, walnuts and other row crops. Buskirk uses about 1,000 acres for her operations. “Nowhere else on Earth is there s u c h a c o l l e c t i on o f s e e d companies and research stations, be c au s e t he Med i t e r r a ne a n climate, fertile soils, dependable
“It’s just like being a farmer, except we focus on seeds.” —PATTY BUSKIRK Owner, Seeds by Design
Buskirk describes Seeds by Design as a boutique breeding and production company, and say s it a ims to ser ve home gardeners, preserve tried-and- true varieties and also develop new varieties along the way. She
founded the company in 1994 and proudly points out many of her employees have been with her 15 years or more. “When I started Seeds by Design, the home gardening seed trade wasn’t of fering a quality product,” she said. “Someone needed to look out for home gardeners and make sure they could depend on what was going into the seed packets, to make sure they were labeled correctly and the seed would grow.”
weather and long growing season in the Sacramento Valley are perfect for growing seeds,” she explained. Her crops include squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, chard, watermelons, peppers, salad greens, sunf lowers and herbs. Some are heirlooms, while others are breeder-created hybrid varieties. Seeds By Design produces enough vegetable and f lower seeds each year to almost fill two 30,000-square- foot warehouses.
Home gardeners near and far benefit from Patty Buskirk’s specialty: growing seeds for seed companies around the world. Her crops include, clockwise from bottom, tomatoes, kale, pumpkins, eggplant and peppers.
True to her passion, Buskirk—who has a degree in agronomy from California State University, Chico—continues to dabble in plant breeding. She created a series of award-winning hybrid tomatoes called “Chef ’s Choice” based on the old-fashioned Brandywine tomato. Colors include orange, green, pink, red, yellow and black. She’s also won awards for peppers, watermelons and cucumbers. You won’t see the Seeds by Design name on seed packets, however. Buskirk grows the seed for several hundred customers, many in the U.S., but others as far away as France or India. Customers include big names such as W.A. Burpee, Park Seed and Ferry Morse, as well as smaller companies including J.L. Hudson and Renee’s Garden. “Customers come to us a year or two in advance. They give us a list of what they want, and I contract with a grower,” she said. A global network Cleaning and conditioning the seeds after harvest signals the beginning of another months-long process, so it can take as long as two years to go from order to shipment. “The seed has to be milled. It has to be kept dry.
It has to be tested to make sure it meets germination and purit y levels before it can be packaged,” Buskirk explained. Hybrid varieties take much longer from idea to market, as much as five to seven years. Much of the seed is kept in her warehouses. It turns out California’s Mediterranean climate also provides the perfect storage conditions for seed: dependable, hot weather and not too much moisture in the air, but not too little. Inventory ranges from a high of about 3,500 types of seed in winter to a much lower number in summer as stocks are depleted. “One warehouse is mostly bin upon bin, bucket upon bucket of seeds,” Buskirk said. “Seeds are a living, breathing inventory, so we don’t want to seal themup.” Staff members package and ship the seeds directly fromthe warehouse to retail companies to sell. She calls the secondwarehouse her “conditioning warehouse.” It holds seeds, of course, but also the equipment needed for milling, dust collection and conditioning. “We work, we package and we ship every day,” she said, adding that office staff work on rotating shifts so someone is on duty 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. “Calls come in from all parts of the world on different time zones. It’s a global network.”
Photo courtesy of Seeds by Design
A transplanter and tractor, above,
stand ready to plant watermelon plants for seed production. Buskirk’s warehouses hold as many as 3,500 types of seeds, including ones for summer squash, right.
Photos by Fred Greaves
Rodolfo Meza and Raffaella Guzman, above, pack seeds for shipment, while Buskirk, right, inspects giant sunflowers.
proof, especially for home gardening,” she said. “I think the (pandemic) will change the way people think about their food, and is creating a new awareness for everyone, whether they want organic or conventional seed. The pandemic is definitely putting an interesting twist on the home gardening industry. This will change the marketplace.” She has this advice for home gardeners: Always try something new, and never underestimate the value and power of growing your own food. It could be a few herbs or a couple pots of vegetables on a terrace. Food gardening is a positive and powerful action anyone can take to control their diet as well as the quality of the food they eat, she explained. Next time you pick up a packet of seeds, think about the power you’re holding in your hands to change your life.
Advice: Try something new Like any other farming operation, Buskirk’s is subject to the whims of the weather, so trouble comes with the territory: early rains, late rains, wind, hail, insect damage, you name it, she said. Add to that the fact that seed production takes much longer than crop production. Often, seeds are harvested just before the fall rains hit. Timing is everything. Yet she says nothing deters her or dampens her enthusiasm. “My friends tell me I’m an eternal optimist. You can’t be a farmer and not be an eternal optimist,” she said. “I’m always looking ahead to see what next year’s crop wi l l bring. I gamble enough in my business, since I depend on the weather, so I don’t need to bet on the card table.” Buskirk said she doesn’t expect business to slow due to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, she said business will likely increase in the years to come. “I’ve always considered the seed business recession-
Pat Rubin cbmagazine@californiabountiful.com
MORE ONLINE Go behind the scenes with Patty Buskirk. Video at californiabountiful.com.
for spring and summer planting
A decade ago, seed catalogs for home gardeners arrived via the U.S. Postal Service. The catalogs would start trickling in around November and, during the next few weeks, it would become a deluge. Although this information is available online, most gardeners will tell you there’s something relaxing about being surrounded by half a dozen seed catalogs with their colorful photos of fruits, vegetables and flowers. It can be storming outside, but inside it’s spring and summer. Most companies offer a free hard-copy catalog upon request. Whether on your laptop, tablet, smartphone or with a catalog in hand, you’ll discover a whole world of flowers and produce. There are old-fashioned favorites, as well as modern hybrids bred for a longer growing season or more flowers. There are winter squashes with mysterious and romantic-sounding names, many of which have been grown for 100 years. It’s a cornucopia with something for everyone. These unusual vegetable and flower varieties are finding their ways onto nursery center racks, too. Stick with varieties easy to start if you’re new to growing from seed. Easy vegetables include squash (winter and summer), cucumbers, peas, beans and melons. Easiest flowers include zinnias, sunflowers and nasturtiums. Now is the time to begin ordering seeds. Most seed companies catering to the home gardener send their catalogs, whether electronic or hard copy, late fall into late winter for spring and summer planting. Or, if you prefer, you can do your browsing at the seed rack of the local garden center.
www.californiabountiful.com 21
ask a farmer
Conversations, insights, tips and more.
Pining for the perfect tree If you cut down your own tree, you’re probably going homewith aMonterey pine or an incense cedar tied to the car roof. Those are Seifert’s top two sellers. Youmight even decide youwant a coastal redwood; the kind Seifert grows is called Aptos blue. “Not a great one for holding ornaments,” she said, but “for a natural appeal, it’s a really good seller.”
Jeri Seifert’s year of work is about to culminate in happiness for many Christmas- tree buyers.
O Tannenbaum Farmer’s trees help make the Christmas holiday
You mean they grow all year? “Somany people’s first question: What do you do all year long?” Seifert said. Plenty. First, there are the stumps left behind by the once-a-year lumberjacks; they need to be cut to soil level. New seedlings are planted as close to those stumps as possible in February andMarch. Seifert’s two- person tree crewwill prune the leader tips of existing trees to encourage them to grow faster and healthier. (The leader tip is where you’re going to put the tree topper when you get it home.) And there’s always weed control, checking for disease, fertilizing and irrigating.
Story by Kevin Hecteman • Photo by Ching Lee
In the Solano County town of Dixon grows a family’s created forest that’s been delighting visitors at Christmastime for more than 40 years. Jeri Seifert, who runs Silveyville Tree Farm with her husband, Ted, took over from her parents 20 years ago. Jerry and Alberta Taylor launched the farm in 1979 as a retirement dream, “and it grew into a huge family business,” Seifert said—one that now includes a duck pond, quad rides, farm animals and a retail shop. The Seiferts also grow pumpkins for Halloween on the property. You’ll have two options for Christmas trees—buy one already cut and in a stand, or grab a saw and do the cutting yourself among the 30 acres of pines.
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November/December 2020
Fir sure Fir trees can’t grow in Dixon, which is all of 86 feet above sea level, so Seifert brings in noble and Douglas firs grown in the mountains in California and elsewhere.
When the tree comes home … Seifert recommends washing the tree with a garden hose and letting it dry in the garage before bringing it inside. Water it every day for aweek, then check every other day thereafter. Also, avoid placing it near a heating vent, she said, as that’s liable to dry out the tree.
Tree anatomy 101 So how does a tree absorb water once it’s in your home? The cambium is key—that’s the layer under the bark responsible for tree growth. Before sending a tree home with a customer, farmemployees will recut the trunk to expose fresh cambium. Don’t let the water run dry, Seifert said: “Once it does, just like a cut on your arm, it’s going to heal over and then it’s never going to drinkmoisture again, unless you were to recut that cambium layer.”
A job for the kids Seifert likes to recruit her youngest customers to look after the trees they’ve chosen to take home. She’ll ask children, within earshot of their parents: “You look big enough to be able towater the tree. Why don’t you make that your job every morning?” And why would Seifert do that? “Because a kid is going tomake sure it’s done.”
What about the pandemic? As with everything else, the farm has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and certain activities may be closed or restricted. As one example: Seifert had to cancel farm tours this year. Planning to visit Silveyville or another tree farm in your area? Call ahead.
Kevin Hecteman khecteman@californiabountiful.com
Beekeeper Bill Lewis, wearing a protective beekeeping suit, holds up a frame of honeybees from their hive in the Angeles National Forest. A gingerbread house holiday ornament, right, crafted from Bill’s Bees beeswax, hangs on a tree.
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November/December 2020
creative Bee ing
Beekeeper turns beeswax into holiday ornaments
Story by Judy Farah • Photos by Silas Fallstich
When Bill Lewis took up beekeeping to earn a merit badge with the Boy Scouts, he never imagined it would become his profession for nearly three decades. Lewis went on to become an Eagle Scout, graduate college and work in the aerospace industry. But after 10 years, he became restless. He said he didn’t like sitting behind a desk and working on projects that never came to fruition. When a friend offered him the opportunity to do maintenance at his horse- boarding facility on 600 acres in Little Tujunga Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains, Lewis took it. He ditched his high-paying job for one offering less money and physically harder work. He hasn’t looked back. “It was quite scary, because it was (trading) a really good paycheck for one that wasn’t anywhere close. I really didn’t have a plan for creating my own business at the time,” Lewis said. It was right around then the bees found him again. “Bees moved back into my life—in the wall of my house—and I had to do something about it,” Lewis said. He tracked the bees in his wall to their home in the ground. “At the same time, I discovered 11 colonies had been abandoned and buried in the weeds on the neighbor’s property. I adopted those 11 colonies,” he said. Lewis harvested “so much honey” he started selling it at craft fairs as a side business. It eventually turned into a full-time job.
Lewis, left, holds a “Merry X-Moose!” ornament made from beeswax. Above, beeswax is scraped from the honeycomb. Matt Mazzocchi, right, pours hot beeswax into molds to create shaped candles.
Making the ornaments Like most farmers, Lewis wanted to utilize everything at his operation, even the byproducts—which is how he got the idea of making holiday ornaments and candles from the beeswax he collects. Young bees secrete wax from glands in their abdomen, a process similar to a human sweating. The wax hardens when exposed to air. The bees take the flakes of wax and shape them into the honeycomb that makes up the inside of a beehive. To harvest the wax, Lewis waits until the honey boxes fill. He removes the bees, takes a pallet of honey without bees to his warehouse and puts it in a centrifuge that separates the honey. “When we extract the honey, we shave off the thin layer of beeswax that seals the honey in the combs, and we end up with a pile of sticky beeswax. We drain the honey out of it. The sticky wax goes into a wax melter. It f loats to the top and can be skimmed off. Nothing gets wasted,” he said. Beeswax is known for its soft, golden glow and sweet
The beekeeping biz Lewis founded Bill ’s Bees in 1991 with his wife, Liane, who also quit the aerospace industry. With hives located in the Angeles National Forest, Bill ’s Bees produces several varieties of honey sold at seven Southern Ca l ifornia farmers markets and on his website, which also features beeswax ornaments and candles, plus the soap, lip balm and lotion bars his wife makes. Lewis currently has about 100 colonies of bees. There are about 40,000 to 60,000 bees in one colony, which l ive in the hive. He sa id hi s a re “gent le behaving bees” descended from European Italian honeybees that can tolerate heat and cold and are good honey producers. Bees are essentia l for pol l inating many crops, including almonds, apples, blueberries, citrus fruit and avocados. There are 1,600 species of native bees in Ca l ifornia a lone, according to the University of California, Berkeley, Bee Lab. Lewis rents his bees to almond growers for pollination.
The history of
Beeswax has a long and rich history. Greek mythology includes the legend of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun with wings made of feathers and beeswax, causing the wax to melt and for Icarus to fall from the sky. In 2015, a team of European researchers discovered the earliest uses of beeswax occurred in pottery dating back to 9,000 years ago in ancient Turkey, according to the journal Nature. Egyptians used it to seal tombs and mummify pharaohs. Ancient Romans used beeswax to make death masks and are credited for creating the first candle wicks. The Shennong book of herbs from China noted the anti-aging properties of beeswax in balms 2,000 years ago. Pounds of beeswax were also found in the wreckage of Viking ships. For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church used only 100% virgin beeswax candles. Beeswax candles have a soft glow that releases a sweet honey scent. They also burn cleaner, longer and brighter than paraffin candles. Another reason European churches used them was because beeswax candles emit little smoke when they burn, protecting historic murals, tapestries and statues from smoke damage. The art of making holiday ornaments from beeswax started in 15th-century Germany, when bakers making ornate springerle cookies used the molds to make beeswax figures. They were sold at German holiday street fairs. Hanging wax ornaments were brought to America by German settlers in the 17th century.
honey scent, and beeswax candles are noted for their long burning time. Lewis started crafting candles and ornaments when he realized he could make more money than by selling plain chunks of beeswax. To make the ornaments, the beeswax is melted and poured into molds, where it hardens to become decorative angels, gingerbread houses and Christmas moose. For the holidays, Bill’s Bees also makes leaf candles that f loat, and pine tree and pinecone candles. All the ornaments and candles are hand-dipped, with wicks added to the candles and hanging ribbons to the ornaments. This time of year, the ornaments are especially popular. “We do make l itt le ornaments with the molds because they look fun, nice,” Lewis said. “We start as early as October for Halloween decorations. We do little pumpkins. We actually made our own molds from real pumpkins.” Lewi s made the ornament s himsel f for many yea r s , unt i l an employee expre s sed intere s t in crafting them.
www.californiabountiful.com 27
Cherubic beeswax angels adorn a Christmas tree, left. Lewis uses special molds, some he made himself, to craft his ornaments, including a flying angel, above. The art of creating beeswax ornaments began in Germany in the 15th century.
After the bees pollinate the almonds, they turn to pollinating avocados and oranges. Lewis said what he likes about beekeeping is that it can be done on all scales—from the backyard novice with one or two hives to the professional with dozens or even hundreds of colonies. There is a risk, however. Lewis claims to have been stung 1,000 to 2,000 times in his lifetime, mostly when he’s not wearing a protective beekeeping suit. “It’s just part of the job,” he said. Though a beekeeper doesn’t earn as much as an aerospace engineer, Lewis prides himself on putting his two chi ldren through col lege and making a comfortable living. “To me, when I quit my high-paying job, it was scary,” he said, “but I think my quality of life is better.”
A beekeeper’s life Lewis’ days start at sunrise and often last 16 to 18 hours. He lives in a travel trailer in the San Gabriel Mountains Monday through Wednesday, tending to the bees and harvesting honey. He spends Thursdays and Fridays in the office or the warehouse, both near Long Beach. Each spring, Lewis loads 100-pound hives onto a f latbed truck so the bees can begin their of fsite pollination work. “We move them in their hives. We have four hives on a pallet, so we can lift them with a forklift and load them on a f latbed truck,” he said. To begin the pollination season, the bees are driven at dusk 3½ hours to Bakersf ield and unloaded into almond orchards. “The bees wake up in the morning and f ly out and say, ‘This all looks different.’ They know they’re in a different place. They start doing orientation f lights and start to recognize landmarks,” Lewis said.
Judy Farah jfarah@californiabountiful.com
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November/December 2020
now from Nationwide
Golden Owl Award returns to crown California’s top ag educator
Through Dec. 31, students, parents, fellow teachers or other supporters can nominate their favorite agricultural teacher for a chance to be recognized as the best in California through the Golden Owl Award. Nomi na t i on s c a n b e s ubmi t t e d on l i ne a t GoldenOwlAward.com. In partnership with the California Farm Bureau Federat ion and the Ca l i fornia FFA, Nationwide introduced this annual
innovative agricultural teachers. This school year, we are seeing that even more clearly, as teachers adapted to distance learning and new ways of connecting to students. The Golden Owl Award encourages and recognizes the outstanding work performed every day by California agricultural teachers.” Nationwide inaugurated theGoldenOwl Awardduring 2018-19 by recognizing the contributions of 17 Iowa and Ohio agricultural teachers. As a result of the positive response fromthe communities
awa rd l a s t ye a r to honor Ca l i fornia’s out standing agricultural educators and t o c r ow n o u r s t a t e ’ s Agricultural Educator of the Year—a dist inct ion awa rde d t o Ro s ema r y Cummi ng s of Nipomo High School in Nipomo. As a result of her efforts, Cummings received the coveted Golden Owl Award trophy and $3,000 in funding to help bring new educational opportunities to the program and its students. Cummings was one
in which Golden Owl Award nominees make a difference, the 2019-20 Golden Owl Award was expanded to recognize 31 outstanding educators across five states: California, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Now in 2020-21, the award is expanding again to include Indiana and New York. “Educators devote countless hours, and of ten their own resources, to positively impact the lives of their students,” Liggett said. “As a company with deep roots in agriculture, Nationwide is proud
of six extraordinary California agricultural teachers recognized as finalists for the 2019-20 Golden Owl Award, after more than 400 nominations were submitted. “It’s an honor to recognize outstanding teachers for their dedication to agricultural education in their communit ies ,” sa id Brad Ligget t , president of Agribusiness at Nationwide. “This award symbolizes the hard work individual teachers put into agricultural education to help students pursue their passion for farming or other careers in ag.” CFBF President Jamie Johansson said, “One reason California farmers and ranchers have remained so creative in the crops they grow and the way they grow them is because of the foundation they gained from
to supply these hardworking and compassionate public servants with additional funding, and we hope to eventually expand our efforts to recognize the work of teachers all across the country.” As the No. 1 farm insurer in the country*, Nationwide supports the future of the agricultural community through meaningful sponsorships of national and local organizations. In conjunction with the Golden Owl Award, Nat ionwide is donat ing $5,000 to each participating state’s FFA, including the California FFA, to further support the personal and professional growth of students, teachers and advisors alike. To nominate a teacher or for more information, visit GoldenOwlAward.com.
Article contributed by Nationwide, which is endorsed by the California Farm Bureau Federation. To learn more, visit nationwide.com. *Source: 2018 SNL Financial Report. Based on statutory data.
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