page_title: Castroville, California
section_title: First artichoke
hierarchical_section_title: Castroville, California / History / First artichoke
caption_attribution_description: English: Artichoke, tomato, bell peppers, cauliflower
context_page_description: Castroville is a census-designated place in Monterey County, California, United States. At the time of the 2010 census the population was 6,481.
  The site of the community was originally part of Rancho Bolsa Nueva y Moro Cojo, a 30,901-acre Mexican land grant given in 1844 by Manuel Micheltorena, Governor of Alta California, to María Antonia Pico de Castro. After the 1848 cession of California to the United States following the Mexican–American War, Juan Bautista Castro, son of María Antonia Pico de Castro, founded Castroville in 1863.
  Castroville is known for its artichoke crop and for the annual Castroville Artichoke Festival, leading to its nickname as the "Artichoke Center of the World".
context_section_description: It was the Spanish settlers who brought the artichoke to California.  Some artichoke plants were in the gardens of European immigrants. California's first artichoke fields grew south of San Francisco, near the town of Half Moon Bay, in the early 1920s. In 1922, Andrew Molera planted the first artichoke shoots in Castroville.  Angelo Del Chiaro, Egidio Maracci, Daniel Pieri, and Amerigo Del Chiaro subsequently leased 150 acres of land and grew artichokes.
  In 1923, there were nine artichoke growers.  Within four years, there were over 50 growers and 12,000 acres of artichokes growing in Castroville, and in the Monterey Bay area. In 1924 Daniel Pieri, Amerigo Del Chiaro, Angelo Del Chiaro, Alfred Tottino, and James Bellone formed the "California Artichoke and Vegetable Growers Corporation."  In 1995, they renamed the company to "Ocean Mist Farms."
caption: Artichokes and vegetables
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