'LOCAL FOODS FORUM' - 

LOCAL SPECIALTY CROP OVERVIEW

Specialty crops account for 97% of all food grown in Lake County.  Rachel Elkins, UCCE Pomology Advisor, introduced representatives of three long-time local growers to provide an overview of major specialty crops in Lake County: 

  • Colleen Rentsch, Seely Farm Stand and Orchards,
  • Patrick Scully, Scully Packing, and
  • Paul Lauenroth, walnut grower and processor

Colleen Rentsch told the audience about earning her first money at the family produce stand, working in the fields with her brother before school, and discovering that they were never going to get rich growing corn. 

She also described a Farm-to-School program she and Michelle Malm, Director of Food Services for Kelseyville Unified School District, are working to develop that involves high school students in planting, tending, harvesting and cooking fresh produce. 

The home-grown program’s finale takes the form of food tastings at the District’s two elementary schools with displays of the raw fruits and vegetables and off-beat food and farming trivia. 

 

 

Patrick Scully, right, talked about the history and business of local pear growing and packing.  He also provided a pear grower’s perspective on local food systems by estimating that each of the county’s 60,000 residents would have to eat about 3,000 pears a year for him to sell his whole crop in Lake County. 

 

 

 

Paul Lauenroth, left, shared some of his extensive home-grown walnut growing experiences before concluding with his observation that walnuts must be a healthy food source because a million squirrels can’t be wrong. 

 
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