LosGatosObserver.com

Tag: Organic Thu, March 18, 2010

• Tightening of the Santa Cruz Greenbelt

  Aug 05, 2009, by Michelle Camerlingo News
  

  IN THE CRISP light of a spring day, Cathy Puccinelli stands quietly, her eyes taking in the land that has been in her family for more than 100 years. The echo of flowing water from the adjacent Pogonip Creek is a perfect backdrop for the sprawling seven-acre property, made up of a cottagelike farmhouse with a well-kept yard and a large organic farming field.
  Puccinelli says the land hasn’t changed much since her Italian immigrant grandparents bought it in 1900 to farm. “But no one wanted it then,” she says. “It was right next to the tannery, so it smelled of blood and hide.” (With slide show)

• Critics Take Aim at New Strawberry Pesticide

  Jul 14, 2009, by Kat Lynch Environment
  

  If Gov. Schwarzenegger caves to political pressure, a new pesticide called methyl iodide could replace methyl bromide as the primary pest-fighter used by strawberry farmers. This might come as some relief to environmentalists who’ve been pushing the phaseout of the ozone-depleting methyl bromide. But there’s a catch: its would-be replacement is a highly volatile carcinogen, or cancer-causing agent.

• Santa Cruz Farmers Oppose Blanket Restrictions

  Jul 14, 2009, by Staff Environment
  

  There are many ways to protect crops, besides industrial pesticides. According to Ken Kimes, owner of Santa Cruz County’s New Native Farms and a board member of the Community Alliance With Family Farmers, the people who are setting the rules have a lot to learn about that. “They’re used to working inside the factory walls,” he says. “If they’re not prepared for the farm landscape, it can come as quite a shock to them.”