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Home&Garden GOOD TIMES

FALL 2026

MICROGREENS, MACRO NUTRITION Former Hippy food is a healthful boost now BY ELIZABETH BORELLI

BUY THE COW Distressed with the news of imported meat? You can buy parts of a local cow BY KRISTEN MCLAUGHLIN

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his Home and Garden section has it all for fall. It’s worth pulling it out and saving it on your coffee table or refrigerator for later reference. Starting at the bottom, we have a story by a comedian-turned-gardener named DNA who knew nothing about raising crops while living in the glorious Santa Cruz Mountains. He learned and showed that you can too. Then, and this one is driving me crazy, In one of our meetings, Kristen McLaughlin mentioned that she and her husband bought half a cow to make the most of meat prices. ‘That’s a story!” I told her and we got it. Funny how the things we do in daily life are worth sharing, but we don’t always realize it. Then, there are the birds we see everywhere. You’d never guess that young people have taken to birding, but writer Gwyneth Holcomb found them. Health writer Elizabeth Borelli is devoted to keeping Good Times readers in good shape, and adds to her brilliant work with a story on microgreens. Mustread for Cruzians. Finally master gardener Jan Nelson clues us into what we should plant in the fall. Unlike Eastern climes, we have a fall growing season. And a Bonus. Check out the news section of Good Times for a super important story about the new laws for keeping your garden fire safe by another master gardener, Jillian Steinberger-Foster.

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Backyard Birding

Birding has hit Santa Cruz County, taking all ages along for the ride BY GWYNETH HOLCOMB

HELLO BIRDIE Birds are everywhere, including your yard. You can put out treats and water for them to make them happy. PHOTO: NICK PECKER SHUTTERSTOCK

few miles north of Santa Cruz, as the fog dissipates in the mid-afternoon sun, Nicholas Sundeen, binoculars in hand, looks out from the coastal bluffs at the shoreline of Wilder Ranch. “Look on the beach,” said Sundeen, indicating down to what appeared to be grey lumps on the sand of the protected Wilder Beach. “Those are all pelicans, gulls and cormorants.” A lifelong resident of Santa Cruz, Sundeen isn’t your stereotypical birdwatcher—lacking the silver hair and giant Tilley hat—he’s 23-years-old. Birdwatching, or birding—known for its slow pace and popularity among retirees—has been growing in Santa Cruz, where people, like Sundeen, are picking up a pair of binoculars for the first time and looking at the world through new eyes.

HOME & GARDEN | GOODTIMES.SC | 2026

“It's honestly very addicting,” said Sundeen. Even elementary-age kids are getting into the hobby, revitalizing the trails with youthful faces. “It's really fun to just like, walk through, like the woods and just see a bunch of birds,” said Adric Tonnissen, who is about to turn 10. His mother, Katie Tonnissen, a bird watcher herself since her early 20s, introduced him to the hobby. “It's fun to pass that along to him. And now he knows more birds than I do,” said Katie Tonnissen. The hobby that used to be confined to “scientists and old people” has become popular across age groups in recent years, agreed Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela, an assistant Professor at UCSC’s Environmental Studies Department. “I have been a birdwatcher for 25

years now, and I can tell you without needing data that there are a lot more birdwatchers,” said OcampoPeñuela. “I think a very kind of significant point where we saw an increase in birdwatching was during the pandemic,” she added, because everyone was trapped in their homes. “We can see in the eBird usage how that increased—like more users started eBirding after 2020,” added Ocampo-Peñuela. Today in Santa Cruz, over 11,000 people use eBird, according to user numbers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird. The pandemic helped expose the hobby to potential birders, agreed Claudia Pineda Tibbs, one of the founders of the Central Coast Birding Collective, because it gave people the opportunity to slow down and observe the world around them.

“I remember things just got so quiet—and it was easy for me to hear the birds that I had never paid attention to that were in my backyard,” said Pineda Tibbs. The trend isn’t unique to Santa Cruz County; according to a 2024 report by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in 2022 there were approximately 96 million birders in the United States aged 16 and older. Increased visibility online has also made birding less intimidating for newcomers, and could be part of the reason for its growth, said 35-year-old birder, Santa Cruz native, author, and illustrator Sophie Wood Brinker. “I do think that's a big part of people learning more about birding,” said Wood Brinker. There are really amazing birders online who are sharing really cool facts and 8»

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TIPS FOR ATTRACTING BIRDS TO YOUR YARD Water • Use a shallow birdbath with a gentle slope so birds can easily wade. • Add a dripper or mister, because moving water catches their eye. • Clean the bath often and refill it with fresh water every few days. Foods • Fill feeders with black oil sunflower seeds to attract cardinals, finches, and jays. • Hang suet cages to draw in woodpeckers, nuthatches, and wrens. • Grow nectar plants or use clean sugar-water feeders (1 part sugar to 4 parts water) for hummingbirds. • Skip cheap filler seed mixes that birds push aside. Native Plants • Plant native shrubs and trees that produce berries, nuts, or seeds. • Leave dead flower heads (like coneflowers or sunflowers) standing through the fall and winter for foraging. ALL AGES Birding, once thought to be a hobby for retirees, has become an all-age passion, as these county birders show. PHOTO: GWYNETH HOLCOMB

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birding meetups that can be a great entry point into birding. And as new birders take up the hobby, they’re also discovering its many benefits. Some studies suggest that listening to bird song can help alleviate anxiety and paranoia, a finding that Wood Brinker has also reported. “When I'm sitting and listening to birds, it can bring me a sense of calm that I really appreciate,” said Wood Brinker. “I think part of that is because when birds are singing, it means that they are safe.” Taking up the hobby doesn’t require much, according to Deb Kramer, the Monterey Audubon Society's Volunteer and Community Engagement Manager. All you need is “just a keen interest in listening and watching,” said Kramer, adding that tools and guidebooks can add to the experience. “One of the tools that I really like is my binoculars, because then I can zoom in on the bird and be able to look more closely at it,” Kramer said, adding that she sometimes uses her

HOME & GARDEN | GOODTIMES.SC | 2026

phone if her binoculars aren’t handy. The hobby's growing popularity has also benefited local scientists like Ocampo-Peñuela, who now have an army of birders at their disposal, collecting observations on apps like eBird and iNaturalist—a plant and animal identification app. “We have basically a lot of birdwatchers collecting data everywhere and putting it in one place, and the data is open access. So anyone can use the data from eBird,” said Ocampo-Peñuela. “So it's really helpful to just like study where birds are, what they're doing, and how they're changing over time.” “One of the benefits of having more bird watchers is that you have more data,” said Ocampo-Peñuela. “And they're kind of going birding in different places, then we have more and better data”—data she can use to “make better conservation decisions.” Recently, Ocampo-Peñuela was part of a conservation effort that used that data to document bird-window collisions at UCSC.

This work showed that the Coastal Biology Building on campus had approximately 10 recorded collisions from April 2022 to June 2024, twice the number recorded at the nearby Earth and Marine Sciences building, according to surveys conducted by the BirdWindow Collisions Project during Spring and Fall from 2022 to 2024. Based on the research, OcampoPeñuela’s team now plans to reduce collisions by making the building more bird-friendly. “When people go birdwatching, they're sort of in nature, and they become sort of advocates for bird conservation,” added OcampoPeñuela, “And so the popularization of bird watching means that people are more aware of the presence of birds, but also the importance of bird conservation.” It's also a healthy hobby, said Ocampo-Peñuela, it gets people outside and building community with other like-minded people, who also enjoy birding.

• Native plants also host local insects, which are an essential food source for nesting birds. Shelter and Safety • Plant dense evergreens or native thickets where birds can hide from wind and predators. • Avoid chemical lawn and garden pesticides to keep the natural insect food chain safe. • Place birdhouses or nest boxes at safe heights away from cats and ground hazards.

However, there are risks to birding irresponsibly, admitted OcampoPeñuela, such as trespassing on private property or getting too close to birds that are resting or breeding. Another common issue occurs when birders replay a recording of a bird's song to make the bird more visible, but if overused, it can cause stress. “If you go birdwatching and just keep to your trails and respect the birds, there’s really no harm,” said OcampoPeñuela. “And I think it has more benefits than, than anything else.”

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Terrible Gardener Getting down and dirty in garden beds in Ben Lomond BY DNA

RIGHT FIT A city slicker learns to make great garden beds the family can use for food. PHOTO: DNA

here were two garden beds outside our rental home in Ben Lomond. This was good news. I had wanted to dig into (pardon the pun) gardening for a long time. Our new neighbors would stop by to welcome us into our new rental with typical warm mountain charm. And each person would at one moment during our greeting, step back and say something like, “Oh. We’re glad somebody good is moving in.” And then drift back to the rustic homes they had lived in for decades.

HOME & GARDEN | GOODTIMES.SC | 2026

After the third side comment, we had to ask what the deal was with the previous tenants. In no uncertain terms it was explained to us that the last tenants were an enormous amount of drama and trouble. Once our new house was looking like a home, I gathered some gardening tools we had collected over the years. I hauled in a bunch of topsoil and began the process of what would, in five months, be a cornucopia of vegetables.

The rotting beds were 7 feet long and 4 feet wide. I lifted my black rubber boot, kicked the shovel down and began a tradition that’s thousands of years old. The first shovel of dirt I dug out had ashes in it accompanied by a tiny broken Ninja Turtle toy. As I dug deeper into the dirt the ash became thicker, and the broken tiny toys multiplied. I dug up plastic Pepsi bottles and charred Tyvek sheets. It became apparent that the previous tenants were burying

chimney ashes and all their garbage into their garden beds, and they had been doing so for two years. My new plan was to take apart the entire bed, get new wood, dig down another foot, put chicken wire along the bottom and refill it with glorious “clean” dirt. One bed completed. The second garden bed, I assumed, was also going to be a repository for Superman’s plastic arm, an antique beer can, dozens of bottle caps, and of course a lot of ash and trash. On my first shovel of dirt, I disturbed an underground wasp colony. I weighed the prospect of murdering them vs their benefits to a garden (they eat aphids, caterpillars and flies). I cautioned off the abandoned bed with the type of ribbon you see surrounding a crime scene. I believed that the wasps and I could coexist, and thankfully, that is what happened. But everywhere I dug on the property, trying to find my gardening soul, was a de facto garbage dump. I’m not a Master Gardener. I’m a learn-as-I-go gardener. Having worked several summers on different farms: olives, kiwis, peaches, and figs, I wasn’t blind to the ups and downs of gardening. I wasn’t a newbie, but in Ben Lomond it did feel like starting over. My one garden box up front was producing a lot of squash and cucumbers and more squash. Why did I plant so much squash? In the backyard, there was a third garden box. It was covered in garbage. It took some determination and a lot of sweat, but I got it ready to plant pumpkins. Again with the squash? One evening, on patrol in the backyard with the enormous dog, I caught sight of something on the third garden box. I shined my flashlight and saw an indecent number of rats scurrying up and down the pumpkins. I’m not complaining. I understood that living in the Santa Cruz Mountains was a lifestyle choice. Power would be out every month for days. Roads would be closed when you needed to get to work. Trees fell, often. And of course there were, from nose to tip of tail, six-foot-long mountain lions that cruised the front yard every night. But, there’s something so satisfying about cooking spaghetti inside a house and then stepping outside to gather some fresh chives and summer squash to add to the sauce. It’s a level of satisfaction that feels so complete that it compels me to garden, even if I’m terrible at it.

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Plant for Fall Your garden needs a guidebook. Here it is BY JAN NELSON

SPICE IT UP Garlic grows in fall and can season winter stews and pasta. Photo: Jurga Jot Shutterstock

HOME & GARDEN | GOODTIMES.SC | 2026

ummer is winding down. It’s still warm during the day but the nights are cool and there’s less and less daylight hours. The soil is still warm so it’s the perfect time to start thinking about planting. Like the saying goes, “gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow.” Gardening makes us learn new things. If you water less frequently, some plants may decline or even die eventually. Remove those that do and replace them with plants that will thrive with less water. Fertilize shrubs lightly one last time if you haven't already done so last month. All shrubs, especially broad-leaved evergreens such as rhododendron, pieris, camellia, hebe, need to calm down, stop growing and harden off to get ready for the winter cold. Some plants have already set next year's buds. Roses especially appreciate a bit of fertilizer now, encouraging them to bloom another round in October. To keep them blooming make a habit of pinching and pruning off old flowers. Always cut back to an outward facing branchlet with five leaves. There are hormones there that will cause a new rose to grow much sooner than if you cut to one with only three leaves. You can always cut lower on the stem if you need to control height. Deadhead flowering annuals and perennials in the ground as often as you possibly can. Annuals like zinnias and cosmos will stop blooming if you allow them to go to seed. The same is true of repeat blooming perennials like dahlia, scabiosa, echinacea and lantana. Santa Barbara daisies will bloom late into winter if cut back now. These plants know they're on this Earth to reproduce. If they get a chance to set seed the show's over, they've raised their family. Try to remove fading flowers regularly and you'll be amply rewarded. If you want to start perennial flowers from seeds this is the time so that they'll be mature enough to bloom next year. Now through October, divide summer blooming perennials like agapanthus, coreopsis, daylilies and penstemons that are overgrown and not flowering well. You can also divide spring blooming perennials

like candytuft, columbine, astilbe, bergenia and bleeding heart but sometimes they don't bloom the first spring afterwards due to the energy they use re-establishing themselves. If you're on a roll out in the garden, go for it now. It's still a little hot to plant coolseason veggie starts in the ground. They appreciate conditions later in September when the soil is still warm but temps have cooled. It is OK to plant seeds of beets, carrots, spinach, arugula, mustard, leeks, onions, peas, radishes and turnips. If you aren't going to grow vegetables in the garden this fall consider planting a cover crop like crimson clover after you've harvested your summer vegetables. It’s never too soon to start planning for erosion control in those areas that caused you problems during last spring’s storms. Cut back berry vines that have produced fruit. Canes of the current season should be trained in their place. Spider mites are especially prolific during hot, dry weather. Sometimes you don't even know how bad the infestation is until all your leaves are pale with stippling. Periodically rinse dust and dirt off leaves with water. Spray the undersides of infected leaves with organics like insecticidal soap, switching to neem oil if they build up a resistance to one of the pesticides. Now that you've taken care of your chores, reward yourself by adding perennials to your garden for color in late summer through fall. Take a look at the garden areas that aren't working for you and replant. Good choices include aster, chrysanthemum, coreopsis, and gaillardia. Abutilon (Flowering Maple) come in so many colors that you probably need another one in your garden. Petite Pink gaura looks fabulous planted near the burgundy foliage of a loropetalum. Don't overlook the color of other foliage plants like leucodtendron ‘Jester’ or Orange Libertia in the garden. A favorite ground cover that hummingbirds love is grevillea lanigera. Consider it for those hot areas. One last to do: Make a journal entry celebrating the best things about your garden this year.

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The Roots of Organic GROW LOCAL Microgreens are truly a superfood and promote wellness. PHOTO: ELIZABETH BORELLI

Forty years after they were dismissed as "hippie food," New Natives Farm's sprouts may be more relevant than ever BY ELIZABETH BORELLI

ike many Santa Cruz food lovers, I have my farmers market routine. Fresh flowers? Check. Seasonal fruit? Absolutely. And before I leave, I always stop at New Natives Farm for a container of broccoli microgreens or pea shoots. They're a staple in my kitchen, tossed into smoothies or onto avocado toast, salads and grain bowls. I buy them because they're delicious and packed with nutrients. What I didn't realize until I sat down with founders Ken Kimes and Sandra Ward is just how hard they fought to bring those power greens to our tables. Long before "organic" became a supermarket aisle or wellness buzzword, Kimes and Ward, who met at UC Santa Cruz, were pioneering sustainable farming practices and advocating for standards that many of us now take for granted. Today their Watsonville farm spends nearly $300,000 a year on certified organic seed in an effort to maintain the integrity of the label, which isn’t as airtight as you may think. Organic growers who “can’t find” organic seed can legally use cheaper alternatives

HOME & GARDEN | GOODTIMES.SC | 2026

without disclosing to the consumer. New Natives, however, refuses to compromise. "We go through a whole lot of seed, so it should be organic because this ends up in our soil," Ward told me. "There's no way we're going to use GMO seed." That philosophy sounds obvious today. Forty years ago, it made them outsiders. "We took a bunch of flak," Ward recalls. "We were called lazy farmers, hippies who were probably growing alfalfa sprouts in the back of our van." The irony, of course, is that organic farming has never been the easy route. Especially when you're growing microgreens on a seven-day cycle where a single cold night or warm afternoon can change the timing of an entire harvest. "With a seven-day cycle, 24 hours can make a big difference," Kimes says.

FROM HIPPIE FOOD TO SUPERFOOD It's remarkable how dramatically public opinion has shifted. Once associated with health food

stores and tie-dye, sprouts and microgreens are now among the hottest foods in nutrition science. Researchers continue discovering compounds in broccoli sprouts, kale sprouts and other brassicas that may help support healthy aging, reduce inflammation and activate the body's own detoxification pathways. Scientists are also uncovering surprising connections between the gut microbiome and mental health, immunity and even athletic performance. Kimes has watched the transformation with characteristic equal parts amusement and satisfaction. "There has been an uptick in sprouting," he says. "In part because people are feeling insecure about the food system." He's not wrong. Between food recalls, supply chain disruptions, climate change and growing concern over ultra-processed foods, many consumers are asking a question they hadn't considered a decade ago: Where did my food actually come from? For Kimes and Ward, that's a question worth asking.

SOIL IS ALIVE Today's wellness conversation often centers on the microbiome, the trillions of bacteria living inside our digestive tract. this remarkable internal ecosystem influences nearly every aspect of health. As researchers continue to uncover its far-reaching influence, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: nurturing a healthy microbiome may be one of the most powerful ways to support both physical and mental well-being. We now know that one of the most important ways to cultivate a healthy microbiome is by eating a wide variety of plant foods. The greater the diversity of fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices in your diet, the more diverse and resilient your gut microbiome becomes. Organic farmers, Kimes says, have been thinking about microbiomes for decades. Just not the human one. "The microbiome is a really big deal," he says. "Organic farmers have a lot of diversity in their soil." Healthy soil isn't simply dirt. 16 »

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2026 | GOODTIMES.SC | HOME & GARDEN

« 14 It's a living ecosystem filled

with plant compost, fungi and billions of microorganisms working together to nourish plants naturally. "You want the liveliest soil you can have," he says. That living soil produces living food. Unlike vegetables harvested weeks before arriving at the grocery store, sprouts are harvested at the moment life is bursting from the seed. "It's the life dormant in the seed that's coming alive in the sprout," Rimes explains. "They contain enzymes. They're live foods." Whether you're interested in enzymes, fiber, sulforaphane or simply eating more vegetables, sprouts represent something refreshingly simple: minimally processed food that looks almost exactly as nature intended.

WHY LOCAL MATTERS The couple's perspective extends well beyond organic certification. They believe one of the greatest threats to our health isn't a single ingredient but the increasing distance between people and the food they eat. "Eat local," Ward says simply. Fortunately, that's one thing Santa Cruz County does exceptionally well. From farmers markets to community-supported agriculture boxes, local shoppers have access to fresh produce nearly year-round. Rimes points out that Pajaro Valley is capable of producing an astonishing variety of foods, including beans and grains, making it one of California's most resilient agricultural regions. Buying locally grown food may cost a little more upfront, but, he argues, the benefits ripple throughout the community. The dollars stay here. When local farmers stay in business, families have greater food security. Plus you

get to actually meet the people who grow your food. "The market is a real touchstone for people," Ward says. New Natives never missed a week during the pandemic, continuing to supply each of the local markets while grocery shelves emptied. "People were so happy to be receiving it," she remembers. It wasn't just about buying vegetables the couple agrees, it was about maintaining a sense of connection during an uncertain time.

MORE THAN A GARNISH Looking at a handful of broccoli sprouts, it's hard to imagine they were once at the center of regulatory battles and fierce debates over organic agriculture. Yet Rimes and Ward spent decades defending their growing methods, advocating for organic seed and helping shape California's early organic movement. Today those microgreens have become symbols of something much bigger. They remind us that food isn't simply fuel. It's connected to soil, community, local economies and, increasingly, our understanding of human health. Maybe that's why I never leave the Cabrillo Farmers Market without them. Not because broccoli sprouts are trendy. But because every bite represents 40 years of persistence from two farmers who believed healthy food begins long before it reaches our plate. Find New Natives organic microgreens at your local Santa Cruz Country farmer’s markets and most health-focused grocery stores. www.NewNatives.com. Elizabeth Borelli is a local Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle coach. Learn more about eating for gut health at Elizabethborelli.com

MARKETING Ken Kimes and Sandra Ward at their Cabrillo Farmers Market post on Saturdays. Photo: Elizabeth Borelli

HOME & GARDEN | GOODTIMES.SC | 2026

HERDING DOGS Border collies used for herding hundreds of cows. Buster is black and white. Bernie is red and white. PHOTO: JOE MORRIS

Buy the Cow Nearby company sells big portions at discount prices

BY KRISTEN MCLAUGHLIN

t was May as we eagerly awaited the arrival of our first bulk beef package from Morris Grassfed Beef. My hubs Chris even bought a small, free-standing freezer specifically for the meat on Facebook Marketplace, $70. He had plugged it in anticipation a few days before. We were instructed to meet the truck at 8:30 am in Aptos near Seacliff Beach. New York, ribeye, filet mignon. Flank, skirt, chuck roast, London broil. Anyone who loves beef knows exactly what the terms mean on a restaurant menu. Along with cuts, it's also helpful to know where your beef is from, perhaps now more than ever. Last week, reports surfaced that President Trump signed a proclamation in February to begin importing some 300,000 metric tons of tariff-free beef from Argentina and some other unnamed countries, in a move to boost supply and lower domestic grocery prices. No disrespect to Argentinian beef– it's widely considered to be among the finest in the world – however, in August, China rejected 22 metric tons of beef imported from Argentinian meat plants after lab tests showed the antibiotic chloramphenicol, a banned antibiotic in food-producing animals

due its link to serious blood disorders. Then, in August, Corte Argentino USA, LLC, based in Aventura, Fla., recalled nearly 30,000 lbs of raw beef products imported from Argentina and distributed in Florida and Texas without the benefit of import reinspection into the United States, according to the United States Dept. of Agriculture's (USDA) website. Over the past 100 years, Americans have been eating an average of 56 pounds of beef yearly. Located in San Juan Bautista, Morris Grassfed Beef is a family-run ranch that delivers quarter-cow, half-cow and whole-cow beef orders along the Central Coast. After ordering from their website, deliveries are made once a month at pre-arranged pickup destinations. Morris Grassfed takes beef to the next level, producing sustainable, high-quality 100% pasture-raised beef, harvested and delivered from May to November. With over 1,400 acres to roam, the herd consists of about 500 head of cattle, including about 100 yearlings, according to Joe Morris, a fifth-generation rancher who owns the company along with his wife Julie. "Our ability to connect with the neighborhood, our ability 18 »

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ACRES AND ACRES Grass fed cattle need plenty of grass. They move from the Central Coast to Northern California chasing greenery. PHOTO: Joe Morris

« 16 to sell to friends and neighbors

has been a good enterprise and connection for us," Morris says. "We lease about 200 acres from my family and about 1,300 acres from the State Parks of California. It's all California rangeland … with a lot of grass." The beef is frozen at its peak freshness, giving it the highest quality and taste possible. Each beef carcass is dry-aged for two to three weeks before cutting, wrapping and deep-freezing the beef to retain its vitamin content, color, flavor and texture. The cows are never put in feedlots and are handled with low-stress livestock techniques and practical humane animal treatment, Morris said. USDA-qualified butchers trim the meat with just enough fat for flavor and taste, texture and smell.

GRASS- VS. GRAIN-FED While both provide high-quality protein and minerals such as iron and zinc, nutritional science says that animals that eat grasses and a diversity of plants render increased nutrients, according to Morris. "Those nutrients become more dense in the meat, and your health improves," he said. "Grass-fed, bite for bite, is more nutritious than grain-fed and has these ecological benefits as well, under good management." Cattle evolved to be able to eat both grain and grass, Morris explained, but mostly evolved toward leaves and

HOME & GARDEN | GOODTIMES.SC | 2026

stems. "They do really well on the leaves," he said. "The problem comes when you increase the proportion of grain or seeds; they can get acidosis." Subsequently, the ranch brings "cascading benefits" to the community as it enhances soil to catch and hold rainfall. "The ranch is basically rangeland, and the cattle are here to maintain the ecological functionality of the ranch," Morris said. "Once you put animals in a feed lot, they can no longer serve their purpose– to enhance and maintain the quality of the rangeland." Morris Ranch does not use any synthetic hormones or antibiotics.

OWNERS SINCE '91 With roots that reach back to a San Francisco meat business in the 1850s and to California's Rancho Margarita (now part of Camp Pendleton) Joe Morris's great-great-grandfather, Richard O'Neill, owned a butcher shop in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush. After the government took over Rancho Margarita by eminent domain in 1942, Joe's grandfather, J.J. Baumgartner, moved to San Juan Bautista to continue the family tradition. In 1991, Joe and Julie Morris started direct-marketing Morris Grassfed Beef to family and friends. "I grew up with my grandfather teaching me the arts of the Vaquero; a very fine horseman," Morris said. "When it's done well, it's beautiful,

kind of like a dance between the horse, the horseman and the cow." "We move our animals almost every day. In order for us to move them every day in a time-efficient way, the cattle have to be willing to move. We taught them that when we apply pressure, they move in a very calm way." Morris says that hikers, bikers and other people occasionally pass through the pasture while cows are grazing. "We really need the cattle to be able to accept that pressure and not walk away, break down fences and things like that." In the summer, cattle are moved north so they can continue to fatten until harvest day. "Because the grass in the Central Coast dries up in the summer, we send about 100 animals to finish up in Northern California on irrigated pastures," Morris said. From May to August, the cattle are "finished" or allowed to graze to build intramuscular fat. "The fat builds last so it's really important that the animal is finished properly," Morris said. This results in better quality beef with high Omega-3 vitamins and fat compounds. "If the animal is too lean, the meat can be too tough, dry and not as nutrient-dense," he said.

COMPARING COSTS As of this writing, one-quarter cow is $15.69/lb, and ground beef $11.89 lb. Morris's ground beef is actually about $1 per lb. under many grocery store prices.

Some of the more exotic items include oxtails, hearts, tongues and liver. Morris sells a lot of bones, and the knuckles are also nutrient-dense because they contain gelatin. "Bone broth is a huge thing people have been really excited about," Morris said. "When we started about 30 years ago, no one was into the bones and knuckles." However, the hottest new item is suet, a very dense kidney fat that people are using to make soap and cosmetics as well as using beef tallow for its high cooking point. "It's int eresting as we move forward in time, some of the things we gave up we're going back to and finding those are really high quality foods and they taste great," Morris said. Morris Grassfed Beef is taking orders year-round. Portions must be reserved well in advance. The meat is delivered frozen and is good for a year. Asked about his favorite cuts, Joe said he prefers short ribs. "They are just delicious," he said. The meat arrives vacuum-sealed in small, easy-to-store portions. For more information, contact Morris Grassfed Beef, 500 Mission Vineyard, San Juan Bautista, 831-623-2933. Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov.

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BAY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION 3333 Clares St., Capitola; 48 Rancho Del Mar, Aptos; 2028 Freedom Blvd., Freedom; 420 River St., Santa Cruz; 255 Mount Hermon Road, Scotts Valley; 1481 Main St., Watsonville; 831-479-6000, bayfed.com

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22»

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IRONHORSE HOME FURNISHINGS 3825 Clares St, Capitola 831-346-6170, ironhorsehomefurnishings.com

JASON GRAHAM CONSTRUCTION 131 Center St Ste 1, Santa Cruz 831-818-6792

JESSYKA SOTO, DAVID LYNG REAL ESTATE

MAIN STREET REALTORS

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SAN LORENZO GARDEN CENTER

TERRA NOVA ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPING

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Highlights Include Highlights

Mission OCT.Springs 8th

Keynote Speaker Conference Krista Snelling, CEO, West Coast Community Bank Center Breakout Sessions: Mission Springs Menopause - Dr. Anne Marie Jackson Conference Financial Freedom - Kate Phillips - Financial Advisor. Edward Jones Center Leadership & Community - Elaine Johnson - ED of Housing SCC Panel Discussion led by Emcee Lauren Seaver (KSBW) Stephanie Barron Lu - Executive Director, Positive Discipline Community Resources Sharon Papo - CEO, LGBTQ eLearning Chamber Member: $150 Non-Member: $175 Sonja Brunner - Santa Cruz City Council SANTACRUZCHAMBER.ORG Networking time Breakfast and Lunch Included

2026

FriDAY sept 18

“Birdfolk on Capitola Beach” by Jacque Price

SANTACRUZCHAMBER.ORG

SEPT. 12 & 13, 2026 Sat. 10am – 6pm l Sun. 10am – 5pm

and

Over 150+ fine artists, wine tasting from 23 Santa Cruz Mountain wineries, Local Artisans Marketplace, Gourmet Food & Entertainment.

CONCERTS

Saturday 5 - 7pm Sunday 2:30 – 4:30pm

Life in the Fast Lane Eagles Tribute James Durbin & The Lost Boys

Beside the beach in Capitola Village!

Hosted by Capitola-Soquel Chamber of Commerce

capitolachamber.com

Downtown san jose tickets: Caltix.com

capitolaartandwine.com 2026 | GOODTIMES.SC | HOME & GARDEN