| Settling In
As we get settled in our new digs and the towns immediately surrounding it, we are slowly starting to venture a little further from our center. We have done most of our vacationing in this region during February and March, so seasonal changes shouldn’t be a surprise – they were. The vegetable gardens get multiple crops each year, but there is very little activity during the heavy rainy season, February and March. With new eyes we started to become aware of just how much farming is going on here. To the south of the Central Coast cities is an area heavily into green stuff that sells in the markets: lettuce, broccoli, celery, Brussels sprouts and things that aren’t that easy to recognize from the road. Locally we have seen peas, beans, squashes, pumpkins, tomatoes and soft fruits. The real surprise came as a result of my bicycling. I bike a couple of times a week for exercise and every couple of miles along the coast highway are small canyons with access roads. Most of these small roads are hard surfaced*. Poking into these small roads unveiled a surprising number of avocado orchards. Avocados are a big cash crop, but avocados are very sensitive to weather, particularly the cold, and so yields vary considerably from year-to-year. This coast area has a large number of “truck farms” that grow a variety of crops sold in produce stands and farmer’s markets. By far the largest amount of land is open grasslands. Historically, the coastal grasslands were used for dairy and the drier uplands were for range cattle, meat. Most of the dairies are gone, but large numbers of cattle are trucked in every winter to feed and calf on the grass- covered hills. As you climb above the fog and into the valleys east of here you get into the vineyards. In the last couple of years the lands around Paso Robles have attracted wine growers in large numbers. This area now competes with the Napa Valley (north of San Francisco) for the quality of its wines. A new wave of agriculture in this same area is olives. Olive trees for olive oil are being planted in groves to resemble grape vines. The olives are being trained to wires, are cut low, and use many of the pruning techniques used on grapes so they can use the same automated harvesters used by the grape growers. Olive oil tasting rooms are becoming more numerous but will have a long way to displace vineyards. One of the couples we have befriended since moving here has planted 2000 trees and are in the process of planting 1000 more. As I understand it, they have a ten-acre ranch. East of here, over a second range of mountains (about 40-60 miles) is the big valley, the San Joaquin. The San Joaquin, together with the Sacramento Valley, forms a rich agricultural valley about 500 miles long. The southern end is rich in cotton, oranges, grapes, nuts and all kinds of riches. East of here also is a large oilfield with hundreds of pumps cranking away extracting oil. Actually there are several oil fields in this area and despite what the environmentalist might lead you to believe; the oil fields are almost unnoticed. Although the oilfields are large, they represent only a very small percentage of the land and if the highway didn’t go through the middle of them, you might never know they were there. If you are on one of the roads leading to an oilfield, you only know you’re in an oilfield if you see the pumps. On the pragmatic level, all this farming affects our daily live. Farmer’s Markets proliferate in this area. Every town, city and market center hosts a farmer’s market. Downtown Morro Bay hosts a market every Sunday afternoon, the Spencer’s Supermarket on the south side of Morro Bay has a market on Thursday, Los Osos/ Baywood has one on Monday and I have heard there is a big market in San Luis Obispo on Thursday night (actually there are three different locations). Every day there is a Farmer’s Market somewhere close. These Farmer’s Markets offer a large variety of seasonal produce and with our multiple crop possibilities, “seasonal” takes on a new definition. In addition to produce, the markets also offer all kinds of other stuff such as: spiced olive oils, artisan-produced jewelry, baked goods, popcorn, ethnic foods and live music. The quality of the sold goods is premium and the prices are bargain level. The major problem with the produce of the Farmer’s Markets is that we tend to overbuy – stuff looks so good and intriguing. Our other culinary discovery has been the local fish markets. One of the major enterprises of Morro Bay is its fishing. A lot of the locally acquired fish is consumed locally. The offering is totally dependent on what the fishermen catch. Nancy has always been enamored with “halibut cheeks”. The cheeks are extracted from the head of large halibut and seldom make it to the market because the fishermen and processors consume them. The cheeks tend to be small pieces and the meat is a little stringy, but Nancy thinks that they have a wonderful sweet halibut taste. The local markets get cheeks once in a while and they are so highly prized that you can sign up for a email notification when they come in off the boats. |
| Both fish markets also feature small open-air restaurants – featuring fish obviously. One of them, “Dockside,” presents live music on weekends – bluegrass and county. An added attraction to Dockside is that you can buy fish in their market and have it cooked right there and eat it in the open air on the wharf to the sound of live music. All of this with the fantastic view of the harbor and the Rock, and pelicans and seagulls begging for handouts. Dockside also has a regular sit-down restaurant for dining at night or during inclement weather.
All in all, we’re settling in well and seeing this region with new eyes. |
| *When we first moved to California, a long time ago, I was amused by Californian’s hard surfacing (blacktop) all their roads. In Washington, many roads are just graveled. Our first spring, we had the opportunity to picnic at a nearby lake that had just opened. The Park Department had recently cut in a new road and so far the road was just scrapped adobe soil. While we were there it rained just a little. Not a big deal until we tried to leave. Even a little water on adobe turns the surface slick. I have driven on ice and snow but a little wet on adobe makes it as slippery as any ice. Add a little more water and that same adobe turns to a soft, sticky, gooey muck that will stop even four-wheel drive off-road vehicles. I have learned to appreciate surfaced roads. |
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| Dockside Resturant - Basicly a small fish market that has grown to include dining and music with a fantasic view of the bay and fishing activities |
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