Artichokes
Candace Nash
Laura Buchanan
Soksovan Chan
November 17, 2014
Artichokes are primarily grown in California. The largest growing area for fresh artichokes in California is located in Castroville. Artichokes grown in California account for more than ninety-nine percent of production (Hoyle, 2014) and about two-third of all those artichokes are produced in Monterey County (Campbell, 2014). The main areas for growth of artichokes include the central valley, central coast, south coast, and desert areas. There are some other primary production areas for artichokes in California such as Santa Cruz County, San Mateo County and some other areas like the south coast of California (Smith, 2014). The growth and production of artichokes requires labor and attention to detail. Artichoke farming and production is a multimillion dollar venture and impacts the lives of farmers, field workers, and consumers. The health of California's artichoke production has rippling effects across local, state, national and global economies.
The temperatures that are ideal include 75ÃÂ days and 55ÃÂ nights. If temperatures become too hot or cold, the artichoke becomes damaged. For example, if the temperatures become too cold, the bud bracts are damaged, making the artichokes discolored (Schrader, 2014). Plants can grow in any season but sometimes farmers decide not to grow artichoke plants during summer because the plants might get damage by the heat if the temperature is above 86 Fahrenheit. While discoloring of this product does not change its taste, it is hard for the marketing standpoint. On the flip side, when temperatures become too hot, the buds become woody, bitter, and less compact with bracts that curve outward (Schrader, 2014). This affects production because they cannot sell products to distributors that are not edible for the consumer. Due to artichokes thriving in these conditions, farmers plant seeds from April...