The California Farm Bureau says you should start to find good supplies of California-grown navel oranges by the middle of the month. "California Citrus Mutual" says some oranges could reach stores this week.
The harvest is beginning about two weeks later than average but farmers anticipate a large navel orange crop. Citrus Mutual reports good fruit quality and says oranges have been developing higher sugar content.
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Now you can learn why California is called the world's bread basket.
Two University of Nevada professors have written an entertaining yet practical guide to California's almost 400 different crops.
Paul Starrs and Peter Goin spent six years working on a "Field Guide to California Agriculture". The guide covers the state's diverse crops and animal products, from chestnuts, cheese and cherries, to cabernet, cattle and cannabis. The authors document that marijuana is the state's largest-value crop and note it's produced in commercial quantities in all but seven of California's 54 counties.
