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Trace Hart puts his plant science degree to work growing vegetables in Salinas Valley.
Springtime in Salinas The seeds of the first spring harvest were planted around Christmastime, when they put in romaine and lettuce. “Come March and April we are at the beginning of our first rotation in the Salinas Valley, which entails harvest of commodities like lettuce, broccoli and spinach,” Hart said. “As each commod- ity harvests, we immediately have a plan to work the ground and complete another rotation.”
Salad days Trace Hart keeps vegetables growing all year round
Story by Kevin Hecteman ∞ Photo by Trace Hart
Steinbeck country. Salad Bowl of the World. Lettuceburg. Those are three of the ways people think of the Salinas Valley, where Trace Hart makes his living growing most anything green that you might use in a salad or sandwich. Hart, a 2018 graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is farm manager for Braga Fresh, a third-generation enterprise that traces its roots back to 1928, when Sebastian and Josie Braga started farming on their ranch in Soledad. Braga now grows vegetables year-round in the Salinas and Imperial valleys, among other places in the Golden State and elsewhere. “Technically I have been farming for just under two years, but I have been around farming all my life,” Hart said. “I grew up in the industry between my father and grandpa, who farmed for many years in this valley. Some say it is in my blood.” Active in Central Coast Young Farmers & Ranchers while earning his plant science degree, Hart now is an active member of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. Hart’s employer grows a wide variety of leafy greens—iceberg lettuce and romaine being the top two—along with broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, cilantro and parsley.
The old-fashioned way Technology is big on the modern farm—drones to watch for prob- lems, soil sensors to measure water levels, apps to organize every- thing—but one aspect of farming hasn’t changed. At least, not yet. “A misconception I have heard frequently is that harvest is done by machines,” Hart said. “Yes, that is the direction we will be headed, but to this day we are still harvesting by hand.”
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March/April 2022
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