Rain, rain... go away, but just till we dry out

The KB Blog has been on hiatus till I could find time again.  I am going to give up reading distracting online articles and start writing them.  

At least I will know how much truth they contain.  

RAIN

You have to be careful what you ask for, last year we said, "if it rained every day that wouldn't be enough".  It might not be enough to end the 5 years of drought, but it is enough when it actually happens.  You find out that creeks, roads, embankments, power lines and other usually innocuous things have their limit and will overflow, tumble down or stop working.  It is another example of how awesome nature is.  The other night my family and I were in the dark, literally.  We just went to bed even though it was 8:30pm.  We didn't know how to deal without electricity, don't even get me start on not having internet, "what's the point of living?"

FLOWERS

Good news bad news, flowers love rain water, we collect if off our greenhouse roofs and the gerbera daisies think it is a great treat.  You will start seeing the results in the coming weeks and months.  However, warm, rainy weather is a growers worst enemy when dealing with botrytis and other diseases.  We have done a good job keeping the flowers clean, but every California grower and I believe South America also is having a wet winter, will have issues.

I am going skiing this weekend if I can get to there.  One ski area in Tahoe reported 51 feet of snow so far this season.  I am excited about the prospect and hope you have a good weekend too.

 "one of KB's fields under water"

 "neighbors strawberry crop"

"one of our tenant's hoop houses"

Robert Kitayama

Kitayama Brothers

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The World of Flowers (WFE 2015)

Flowers have always been an important part of my life, and I was overwhelmed at the sight of the World Flower Exposition held in Los Angles from March 11^th through the 13^th.  Under one roof there were close to 500 flower growers from around the world.  

This was the first time that Kitayama Brothers participated in such an event of this scale.  

I was proud that the flowers we grow in Watsonville were among the best in quality at the show. 

There is heated competition with flowers grown in California and South America, and it was so encouraging to have the both of us at the same show.  I spoke with growers from Africa, Israel, Australia, Holland, Thailand, Canada and more.  

There was a common bond among growers with similar challenges: clean water, disease, extreme weather, transportation and politics.  A few growers told me that at times the difference between a good and bad year is just luck.

Over 2,000 flower buyers attended the show in Los Angeles.  The show was not only a success for our company but for the Flower Industry as well.  

Next year we hope to have the World Flower Exposition in California again.  

Kitayama Brothers will be there and invite all of you to come, you will not regret it.

Dave Kitayama

Kitayama Brothers

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NPR and the Drought

Several people asked me if I was on NPR recently, and I had to tell them it was my brother Stuart.  The piece was on the California drought and in the Pajaro Valley, there might not be another farmer who is as knowledgeable about the water situation than Stuart.  Stuart have been on two committees that advise the Parajo Valley Water Board and has been saying for years, before everyone else jumped in, that water will be one of our biggest challenges. Below is a link to the NPR piece. 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/11/14/360126699/strategies-help-calif-ranchers-farmers-weather-drought

We all hope that we will have a very wet winter, but that will not solve the long term problem of increasing water demand and decreasing supply.  KB is working on many programs to use recycled water, recycle our greenhouse water, collect runoff from greenhouse roofs and reduce usage to a bare minimum.  

However...as Stuart says, the long term solution will have to be a community solution with all parties working and sacrificing together.

Stuart with a valuable resource.

~RHK

Kitayama Brothers

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KB English Classes

Here is an update on a program spearheaded by Stuart Kitayama.  This is Stuart in his own words.

“We’ve been thinking about an English class for our employees for a long time, just never sure how it would work and who would be interested.   I know from living in Mexico how difficult another language can be, and how important it is to understand what is being said.  So when Genie Dee from the Literacy Program of Santa Cruz County said she could help us, I was intrigued.  

Genie was very positive and helpful, and it took several months before anything got going.  We started in the spring with 5 students, all foremen or higher level employees.  They were motivated and wanted to try the class.  Now they attend class twice a week for 2 hours. 

The best part is seeing the student’s excitement and satisfaction with the class and their teacher Bonnie Ott.  We see their confidence grow and they are more comfortable speaking English.  It’s very obvious that the students (Juana, Artemio, Brenda, Wilbert, and Jose Luis) enjoy the class and each other’s company.”

(Sitting: Juana and Wilbert. Standing: Brenda and Jose Luis. Center: Bonnie)

What is very gratifying to read is how well they are doing; this is an email from their teacher.

Dear Stuart,

Artemio, Juana, Brenda, Jose Luis and Wilbert are all excellent students – something I have never experienced in 30 years of university teaching!  Jose Luis has come the farthest. He was at Alfredo’s level when we began, and now he is near Juana. I think I know why:  one of their fill-in-the-blank exercises included “I am always _________.”  Jose Luis put ‘thinking’.

Such a delight your folks are.

Bonnie

Kitayama Brothers

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Bye-bye Beauties...

Next door to our greenhouse is a 300 acre field of mini callas we have enjoyed for two years.  This past summer, the field was a riot of colors with the most beautiful assortment of blooming mini callas.  As beautiful as our flowers are, visitors were blown away by the calla fields.   

Our neighbor had leased the land to CallaCo which is the largest calla and begonia bulb producer in the USA.  Here are two photos taken with our greenhouses in the background.

 

To make a mini calla bulb, it is a two or three year process of blooming the flowers, then letting them die back.  After one or two more seasons of this process they have a sellable bulb.  

This past week CallaCo started to harvest the bulbs. It is a major project with around 100 workers with 8 tractor and work stations harvesting the bulbs. It is amazing how fast they cleared the fields and picked the bulbs. 

This is very hard work and CallaCo has perfected the process.  CallaCo is an example of an exceptional local flower company.  Flower growing and bulb growing is still a big part of the Northern California agriculture of which we are proud to be part of.

~RHK

 

Save the Date - June 21

2014 Kitayama Brothers Open House

we are part of the 

Monterey Bay Greenhouse Growers Open House Event

Saturday, June 21 – 10am to 4pm

www.kitayamabrothers.com

·         We like this event because it gives us a chance to open our doors to the public and share with people what we do. The Watsonville location has been here since 1970.

·         KB has been a family owned and operated company since 1948, that’s 66 years! There will be family members, shareholders and some employees helping out.

·         “The Company” as we all refer to it, was started by 4 brothers: Tom, Ted, Ray and Kee Kitayama, and was started in the San Francisco Bay Area in Union City. We also had locations in Brighton, Colorado and Watsonville, California. Watsonville is the only location still in operation.

·       Proceeds from all sales go to support “Friends of the Santa Cruz State Parks.” As the state struggles economically, we think it is important to keep our local parks open and safe.

Tour KB Greenhouses (Inside Look – Highlights)

·       Seeding area and Germination

·       Rotation and Sterilization

·       Snapdragons

·       Lilies

·       Lisianthus: aka Texas Bluebell

·       Gardenias

·       Gerbera Daisies: aka: Transvaal Daisy (South Africa)

~ Dave Kitayama