Flavorful capers to be planted in Valley soil this spring Capers are so prolific in their native Morocco, Italy and Spain, the plants grow in sidewalk cracks and wall fissures. UC Cooperative Extension Fresno County farm advisor Richard Molinar believes small-scale farmers in California could capitalize on growing interest in capers' gourmet taste and the purported healthfulness of Mediterranean cuisine, of which capers are a part. He begins his first trial at the UC Kearney Agricultural Center near Parlier this spring on several varieties of the small, woody perennials whose flower buds must be tediously handpicked for fresh sale at roadside stands or farmers' markets, or for processing into the more common pickled product. Molinar said he knows of no commercial caper farmers in California. However, a Greek immigrant and Molinar's former Cooperative Extension colleague in Contra Costa County, Demetrios Kontaxis, grew the condiment at home for personal use and did some preliminary research.
Blueberries are mainstays in the East and Northwest, where the plants flourish in acid soils.
UC Cooperative Extension Tulare County farm advisor Manuel Jimenez has 21 varieties of blueberry plants entering their third year at the UC Kearney Agricultural Center near Parlier. Last year they bore their first fruit. The taste is far superior to any I have ever tried and the texture is perfect. The greatest challenge Valley blueberry farmers will face, Jimenez said, is keeping the plant in its preferred low-pH environment. So every time farmers irrigate, the balance can be thrown off.