If you happen to see Andy Boy Broccoli in your local grocery store sometime in the next week or two, chances are it came from right here! They're harvesting the field across the street today. Yesterday they got about six semi-trailer loads out of the field, and they're set up to come back again today. This is just a small area -- about 20 acres, so you can imagine how much of the green stuff comes out of the whole county over a season!
Yuma County is roughly the same size as Northern Ireland. It's 133 miles north to south, and about 90 miles east to west. It's not all agricultural -- I'd guess only about a third or less is used for produce. The rest is open desert. The reason I bring this up is that it appears that the harvest season in full swing is becoming a point of interest for tourists coming through. We're starting to get busloads of snowbirds from elsewhere visting Yuma just to see where they grow the lettuce.
This is a good thing -- most people have no idea where their food comes from. ;>) Hey, I was surprised, too, when I found out the different kinds of things that are grown all winter!
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