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gardening feature New
With the new year comes a new online gardening feature by California Bountiful
columnist Pat Rubin. Each month, Rubin highlights one plant that shows off beautiful color during that time of year. A few examples
are bright yellow daffodils in February, followed by lilacs in April, sunflowers in July, chrysanthemums in September and choral bark Japanese maple in October. Think there’s no color in the cold months? Then you’re forgetting about beautyberries, yuletide camellias and red twig dogwood. You can find “A Year of Seasonal Plants” at californiabountiful.com under the Gardening tab.
Tulare County: ‘We’re No.1’
Tulare County was the nation’s top agricultural producer for 2022, edging out its neighboring counties of Fresno and Kern, which were the top producers in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Tulare’s production surpassed $8.61 billion in 2022, representing an increase of 6.5% above 2021’s value, according to the county’s recently released annual crop report. Tulare County farmers and ranchers provide a diverse bounty, including milk, livestock, field crops, pistachios, almonds, oranges and table grapes, among others. Tulare, Fresno and Kern counties account for 44% of California’s total
agriculture production value.
Nothing beats beets A perfect balance of sweet and earthy, beets are highly nutritious and can be eaten cooked or raw. They can be boiled, steamed, roasted, slow-cooked or even microwaved whole. They’re also good cut or shredded into noodles and sautéed. Raw beets can be puréed and added to baked goods or desserts, sliced and added to salads, or cut into sticks and wedges and added to a vegetable party tray. Besides
their typical deep reddish-purple hue, beets can be golden-yellow, white or two-toned. These versatile root vegetables are available year- round in California, so enjoy them now or anytime.
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