Where Are U.S. Leafy Veggies Grown For Winter Eating?

Travel Day to Yuma, Arizona. We were surprised there wasn’t a lot of traffic. We thought we would see a ton of RVs heading south. Just south of Quartzsite was all new area to us. It was fun to see the BLM where people are boondocking. (Boondocking is camping with no hook ups to water, electricity or sewer and are out in the “boonies”.) We saw a large blimp and wondered what it was. It was over the area of the US Army Proving Ground where they have long range firing testing. At one point there was a dirt cross road and a sign with a military tank on it. Tank crossing. Oh that would have been really fun to see a tank cross here! That is a sign you don’t see everyday.

Thousands Of Acres Of Leafy Veggies, Yuma, AZ 12/24

After the mountain range of Chocolate Mountains and Castle Dome Mountains, the land is flat flat flat as you come into the Yuma area. And you can’t see any mountains in the distance facing south to Mexico. This is where more than 91% of leafy greens eaten in the U.S. from November-March are U.S. grown. So many great facts and figures here: https://www.visityuma.com/plan-your-trip/trip-ideas/agriculture/ With only 3 inches of rain a year and right on the Colorado River, well, the farmers are able to use the water for 100% of the fields. There is even a large underground canal that carries the water to different places. People were really thinking ahead all those years ago. Yuma has a population of almost 100,000. Fields and fields of veggies growing and we sure enjoyed looking around! Lots of production plants and semi trucks with full loads. I read they harvest 1 million pounds of lettuce per day from November-March!!!

We drove right to Encore Mesa Verde campground. The email/website directions said to stay in the far right lane and go into the office. We drove around and found no right lane. HA We went around and back to the office and Kevin jumped out. Even though we found out the office is closed today, there was a staff member walking out. He grabbed our paperwork and said to follow him. He took us to our assigned site and there was no way HOWE (footnote 1) would fit there with our 3 slides out. The staff guy agreed. He had a hard time figuring out where to put us but finally pointed across to the other side of the street to an empty site. I am very glad all the roads at this campground are really wide. We got backed in just fine. It was a nice day. Oh, and the temps in the mid 70s. Yuma has sunny days 360 days a year so yay!

The next day we drove south for about 15 minutes to meet up at a campground where my “8th cousin 3 times removed” and his wife are staying. We first met them last year in Florida. We had a blast with genealogy and learning we are related. HA Oh, it was so wonderful to see them again! They jumped in our truck and along with a new-to-us friend, we went to Arizona Market Place. It isn’t a place Kevin and I would normally go but boy did we have fun! It is lots of booths of vendors selling all sorts of things. Mostly new things, not like a swap meet. There was even a huge quilt store in there! We did buy several things including a hat for me, quilt pattern, Gold by the Inch, 2 stackable stools, a tire breaker and something else for HOWE. HA 

The Gold by the Inch was a great find. I had bought several bracelets and necklace chains on cruises from them. They don’t change color or wear out so they are excellent. I have a few pendents that I want to change the chains that have gone bad from other places. So we found this lady and I got a bracelet and then I wanted some necklace chains. I had on the cactus pendent necklace and the chain is the perfect size so I took it off and told the lady I wanted a silver chain that length. Kevin talked with her a little bit and soon he was shaking his head. He turned to me and signed  in ASL, “It was okay to cut the chain, right?” No! That chain is fine, I’m just using that for the length. Too late, she had cut it when he told her yes. Oh, I thought that was so funny and could hardly stop laughing. I got 2 silver chains and 1 gold in that length. She put one of the silver ones on the cactus and that was just fine.

Picking Grapefruit At Wolfe Bros Farm, Yuma, AZ 12/24

After work one day, my 8th cousin and his wife picked us up and we went to Wolfe Bros Farm for grapefruit picking. What fun! There is just something about picking our own fruit. Dinner and games in HOWE with them later and it was a great day. 

Learning About Citrus Health In AZ, Yuma, AZ 01/25

AgFest (it replaced the Date Festival) is in historic downtown Yuma. The street was blocked off with heavy concrete blocks blocking the road. There was a huge, professional stage set up with lots of round tables and chairs set up. Bands played from morning until night, I read. The “booths” were mostly food trucks with a truck driving school, a tractor and planter, 3 selling dates, and one about the growing of crops and pests. It was perfect warm and sunny weather and we all enjoyed just strolling along. 

We couldn’t believe the swimming area at our campground! One very large pool, a medium size pool, a huge round hot tub and a medium sized hot tub. And, no one in them. The water was nice and warm/hot; even the pools were warm. Oh that was fun.

I am happy to report that HOWE is fixed from the damage done when we had a tire blow out. The dealership where we bought it did a great job! Well, we still need the Kevin calls it “flair” I call it “fender.” No one in the area had one and they are back ordered. So we still need to get one. The water tank holding brackets recall was fixed as well. What a relief!

1. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country.