FAIR WAKES UP TO COFFEE.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Staff Writer For Forrest Henry, the real reward of being an exotic-fruit farmer is serving a guest a cup of coffee made from beans grown in his own back yard. Henry's home-grown coffee beans are among the 30 varieties of exotic fruits on display at the Ventura County Fair, offering festivalgoers insight into the agricultural possibilities usually seen in South and Central America. ``A lot of people that aren't familiar with agriculture are surprised there are this many tropical fruits available,'' he said. ``So many people don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. you can grow coffee, bananas, pineapple and other subtropical sub·trop·i·cal adj. Of, relating to, or being the geographic areas adjacent to the Tropics. subtropical Adjective of the region lying between the tropics and temperate lands fruit here. ``I just wanted to experiment with them. I didn't think I would succeed in it, but it's a very interesting and rewarding hobby,'' he Henry said. ``The fact that I could offer someone a cup of coffee grown in my own back yard makes it all worthwhile.'' The display, in the Agricultural & Natural Resources Building, is part of a push to generate awareness of locally grown exotic fruits. The California Rare Fruit Growers' Ventura/Santa Barbara chapter, which formed only last year, already has more than 100 members who grow such crops as dwork cavendish banana, Mexican papaya papaya (pəpī`ə), soft-stemmed tree (Carica papaya) of tropical America resembling a palm with a crown of palmately lobed leaves. , white cherimoya cher·i·moy·a also chir·i·moy·a n. 1. A tropical American tree (Annona cherimola) having heart-shaped, edible fruits with green skin and white aromatic flesh. 2. The fruit of this plant. , allspice allspice: see pimento. allspice Tropical evergreen tree (Pimenta dioica) of the myrtle family, native to the West Indies and Central America and valued for its berries, the source of a highly aromatic spice. , wax jambu and white ginger. With Ventura County's billion-dollar agricultural industry dominated by lemons, oranges and avocados, exotic fruit growers know there is no profit potential. Henry, a CRFG CRFG California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. board member, said he spends $500 each year growing 12 varieties of fruits, but his cost is absorbed by the ornamental trees and ferns also produced on his 1-1/2-acre Camarillo tract. ``It's not a heavy expense,'' he said of his hobby. ``I wouldn't call it minimal. I would call it reasonable.'' The most difficult task is often locating the seeds or cuttings of a fruit to bring production in the area, said CRFG President Norman Beard, who owns a 5-acre Goleta farm. It took two years to find his allspice plants, he said, but the reward is having something unique. ``I just like things that other people don't have,'' Beard said. ``(The public) can come by and I can show it to them. It's like, I've got a secret I've Got a Secret is a weekly panel game show that was produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. It was created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill as a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?. . It's educational.'' The exotic bananas make fine breads or muffins, for instance, while papaya and white cherimoya make for a sweet fruit salad. The allspice is used to season pumpkin pie. ``I didn't know we had a tropical climate to grow this kind of fruit,'' said fairgoer Tom Miller of Ventura. ``It's an eye-opener. I'd like to learn more about how they do grow here.'' The secret, growers said, is in the irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. because the the plants blossom only during the warm-weather months. Winter chills and Santa Ana winds Santa Ana Winds may refer to: 1. Santa Ana wind, a local Southern California reference to Föhn winds, a meteorological phenomenon occurring as a layer of wind is forced over a mountain range -- drying the air -- which then passes over the crest and begins to move downslope -- wreak havoc on the fragile plants. ``It usually rains in South America and Central America a lot more than it does here,'' said Henry. ``It makes it easier to grow down there.'' Elizabeth Caezza said she was surprised to find a large macadamia macadamia (măk'ədā`mēə), name for the nut of the Macadamia ternifolia, an evergreen tree native to Australia, but cultivated in Hawaii. The nuts, also called Queensland nuts, are eaten roasted or raw. nut tree - native to Hawaii - growing by her Santa Paula house when she moved there in the early 1970s. But after viewing the display at the fair, she said she previously was unaware of the agricultural potential in the county. ``These guys show us stuff you didn't even know existed,'' Caezza said. ``There's nothing we can't grow in this area.'' FAIR FACTS The 1999 Ventura County Fair, with the theme ``Reflections of Yesterday,'' will run from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Aug. 15 at Seaside Park, Harbor Boulevard and Figueroa Street in Ventura. Admission is $6 for adults; $3 for seniors age 55 and over; $3 for children ages 6-12; and children 5 and under are free. Off-site parking is available with free shuttle service at the following locations: San Buenaventura State Beach ($5), Ventura County Government Center, Buenaventura Mall, Ventura High School Ventura High School is a secondary school located in Ventura, California. It is a California Distinguished School which was founded in 1889. Famous Alumni Include: Eric Turner (Cleveland Browns), Jamal Wilkes (Los Angeles Lakers), Tyler Ebell (National High School Heisman), and at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Schooner schooner (sk  `nər), sailing vessel, rigged fore-and-aft, with from two to seven masts. . For additional information, call (805) 648I-3376 or log on to www.seasidepark.org. All entertainment is free with fair admission. VENTURA COUNTY FAIR 1999 - GRANDSTAND ENTERTAINMENT 3 p.m. today - Banda La Costena and Yolanda del Rio. 7:30 p.m. Monday - The Beach Boys. 1 p.m. Tuesday - Harry Connick Sr. and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. 7:30 p.m. Thursday - Chris LeDoux with special guest Mark Wills. 7 p.m. Friday - PRCA PRCA Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association PRCA Pure Red-Cell Aplasia PRCA Public Relations Consultants Association PrCa Prostate Cancer PRCA Proportional Rate-Control Algorithm PRCA Personal Report of Communication Apprehension Rodeo. 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday - PRCA Rodeo. 2 and 7 p.m. Aug. 15 - PRCA Rodeo featuring a special ``Salute to Mexico.'' EXHIBITS Today - Ventura County Museum of History and Art. CONTESTS AND COMPETITIONS Today - Look-alike Contest, 1 p.m., entry fee $1 per pair. Monday - 1 p.m, World Equine Beauty Pageant, a maximum of 20 horses representing many counties of origin will be judged on beauty only. Pre-entry required. Tuesday - 11:30 a.m., Senior Dance Contest. No entry fee; 1 p.m., Sunkist Best Lemon Pie, no entry fee. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--Color) Norman Beard of Goleta shows off his tropical fruit Saturday at the Ventura County Fair, a papaya, at left, and a cherimoya. (2--Color) Norman Beard's passion fruit can be seen at the fair which runs through Friday. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News BOX: FAIR FACTS (see text) |
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