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Agriculture Law Business & Taxation Construction Creditor's Rights Estate Planning Labor & Employment Litigation Personal Injury Public Agencies Real Estate & Land Use n h e h . c o m 333 Salinas Street, Salinas, CA 93901 831.424.1414 470 Camino El Estero Monterey, CA 93940 831.373.3622 Client Focused. Relationship Driven. A Tradition of Excellence Since 1928 E RV I N G T H E E N T R A L C O A F O R 9 0 Y E R S • • • S E R H E C E N A ST F O Y E A R S • packaging solutions from our hands to your farm w w w. sambrailo.com 800 Walker St. Watsonville CA • p: 831.724.7581 Photo by Elizabeth Birnbaum Organic Grower Guides available at no charge by Martha Brown, UC Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA - Free organic grower guides offer information on specialty crop production for small- and medium-scale growers. A new series of technical guides developed at UC Santa Cruz targets small and medium-scale organic specialty crop growers with the production information they need to be successful. The 4 to 12 page guides developed by UCSC's Center for Agroecology & Sustain- able Food Systems (CASFS) address high-value vege- table and cut flower crops grown by many small and medium-scale farmers. The guides outline basic tech- niques for tillage, planting, irrigation, weed control, harvesting, and pest and disease control, as well as production schedules and economic data. "Our hope in creating these guides was to provide a re- source for beginning growers as they develop their sys- tems to meet the challeng- ing demands of profitability and sustainability," said Jim Leap, a long-time organic grower and farmer educator who served as lead writer on many of the new guides. "The guides give them access to some of the 'tricks of the trade' that have been developed over many generations of trial, error, and innovation on farms in the Central Coast region and beyond." Six of the guides cover a single crop topic: bush beans, cut flowers, dry- farmed tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and winter squash. Another addresses how to manage "production blocks" of diverse crops for Commu- nity Supported Agriculture (CSA) projects and other direct marketing efforts. Two of the guides offer infor- mation for use across many crops, including a short guide to tillage and "planting to moisture" techniques that help conserve water and minimize weed growth, and a guide to pest and disease management for crops cov- ered in the other guides. Detailed graphics outline the annual sequence of steps involved in growing each crop, and economic data provide details on the cost of materials, labor, and tractor time, as well as yield and income. "Whether you are training new farmers or one yourself, these guides will give you Photo by Elizabeth Birnbaum We are the premier source for all of your agricultural irrigation needs, whether you have row crops, a vineyard, orchard, or nursery. We provide personalized, professional service for all phases of your project, offering cutting-edge solutions to help you maximize your production. GILROY STORE (408) 846-8991 4450 Monterey Hwy. SOLEDAD STORE (831) 678-1182 2371 Relleum Dr. www.signatureirrigation.com LET US TAKE CARE OF YOU, YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR BUSINESS Serving the Monterey Bay Area Since 1924 483 Rio Del Mar Blvd. Suite 7, Aptos 831-661-5697 a handy condensed wealth of knowledge in a practical format. Having numbers to calculate possible estimated costs and potential reve- nue is a valuable feature of these guides as well, oen missed by growing guides," said Adrian Fischer, public outreach specialist for California Certified Organic Farmers. The Grower Guides are based on organic produc- tion practices used at the 30-acre organic farm and 3-acre garden at UC Santa Cruz. The series is available to download for free from the CASFS website at http:// casfs.ucsc.edu/about/pub- lications/grower-guides. You'll also find videos produced by CASFS at the UCSC Farm on organic weed management, incorporating cover crops, and other field production topics. For more information, or to request printed copies of the Grower Guides, please contact the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) via email at casfs@ucsc.edu or by calling 831-459-3240. Funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Specialty Crop Block Grant program sup- ported development of the new guides.

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