Howdy neighbors! It’s Jynel again, your local farm friend here to talk about agriculture and fall transition! As I had described back in our March issue, the transition was happening from Yuma, Arizona, back to the Salinas Valley. Now, at the end of our Salinas season, we will transition to Yuma or Oxnard from Salinas! 

Looking around the county, you may see more “empty” or bare fields- the technical term is fallow ground. This basically means that no crop is being grown, and the ground is unplanted. If you look out onto our most famous wine region, the Santa Lucia Highlands, you will see bare vineyards or leaves falling as the vines begin to shut down for the winter. I like noticing all the patches of green still in the Highlands, which are easier to see this time of year- those are our local lemon or avocado orchards! 

As I have mentioned before, fruits and vegetables are seasonal, meaning certain products grow in our region for a certain time and then the weather signals them to shut down, flower, ripen, etc. depending on the commodity. You won’t see a complete disappearance of all vegetables in our area; broccoli will be a predominant player grown over winter still, and before you know it, farmers will be planting again soon for their first crop of 2025 that will be ready for harvest as early as March or April. 

On the processing side of the industry, it is amazing to see all of the equipment from our local salad plants be packed up and shipped down to Yuma. Many of the workers will also head down south for about 5 months as well to work the winter season in Arizona. 

As the weather cools down and farm work slows for those of us who do not do the winter season down south, it is a great time to catch up on any odds and ends on the farm. Tasks that were put off during the year can be attended to, projects like updating infrastructure can now be taken care of, a lot of equipment gets fixed, budgets are assessed, seeds are ordered, and planting schedules form to prepare for the coming year. It is a busy time in farm offices, too, as year-end planning and reporting begins. 

I have included what is in season for November. I hope you all give thanks for the blessings in your life and take a moment to appreciate all of the hard work that farmers, farm workers, tractor drivers, irrigators, and ranchers have done to bring food to your Thanksgiving table!