Fruits & Vegetables

April 9, 2025
'Shroom boom' keeps demand of the fungi constant: Francisco “Frank” Valle, general manager of Global Mushrooms in Santa Clara County, holds a box of white button mushrooms, which remain the nation’s best-selling mushroom variety.
Photo/Christine Souza

February 26, 2025

Chico State farm focuses on regenerative practices

A test plot of established oats at the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems at the California State University, Chico, was planted last fall as part of a study that looks at the feasibility of planting a winter cash crop of fava beans within an established cover to offset expenses while providing soil cover and reducing erosion.

Photo/Courtesy of Hossein Zakeri

January 29, 2025

Research eyes arugula for downy mildew resistance

Plant pathologist Shunping Ding, left, and graduate student Emily Lock-Paddon inoculate arugula with the downy mildew pathogen in the lab at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Researchers at the university are studying wild arugula varieties that could offer resistance to the disease.

Photo/Kallol Das

January 1, 2025
Onion farmers see stability in growing the vegetable: Steve Gill, co-owner of Rio Farms in King City and its parent company, Gills Onions in Oxnard, stands in a field of red onions ready for harvest in 2023.
Photo/Courtesy of Gills Onions

December 11, 2024

Automated transplanters perform well in field trials

An automated Agriplanter plants three rows of processing tomatoes at a time in a Yolo County field. It requires three to four employees, including a tractor driver.

Photo/Patricia Lazicki

November 13, 2024

Brussels sprouts nab more acreage as demand grows

The Brussels sprouts that farmers grow today no longer taste bitter thanks to breeding efforts through the years to produce sweeter varieties.The trendy vegetable has become a culinary superstar, with farmers ramping up production to meet growing demand.

Photo/Courtesy of Hitchcock Farms