Nursery
near Macdoel produces plants for growers, gardeners
By
TY BEAVER
H&N
Staff Writer
September
7, 2006
H&N
photos by Ty Beaver A
member of an
irrigation
team checks sprinkler heads in a field of
Albion
variety strawberries at Lassen Canyon
Nursery’s
Macdoel ranch.
MACDOEL — Depending on the time of year, one can see strawberry plants
growing along Highway 97. A few plants might have a fruit or two. But you
won’t see any of these strawberries for sale at local farmers markets.
Preparations for harvest of this year’s crop of plants and for next
year’s planting has workers at Lassen Canyon Nursery’s Macdoel ranch
busy as they continue to produce quality plants for gardeners and commercial
growers the world over.
The nursery at Macdoel is just one of several ranches managed by the company
throughout northern and central California from offices in Redding, Calif.,
but it is by far the largest ranch, with a total of 2,000 acres in various
stages of production, said Kenny Elwood, president and owner.
The ranch opened in 1982. Good soils, warm summers and cold early falls
attracted the company to the location.
Fruits can be seen growing, but that is not the purpose of the ranch.
Instead, the plants themselves are the harvest, to be shipped to Southern
California, Mexico, China and other locations for fruit production.
Seventy-five to 80 percent of all strawberries grown in Southern California
start with the company’s nurseries, said ranch manager Scott Scholer.
The process takes years, with stock first being grown in a laboratory in
Redding and managed for several years until it is ready for planting at one
of the company’s ranches.
Clean soil
At the Macdoel ranch, planting is preceded by soil fumigation in the fall.
Nursery stock are required by law to be grown in clean soil to prevent
transmission of disease and parasites, so plastic is rolled across the bare
fields and the soil then treated. The plastic is later removed and sent to
China to be recycled, Elwood said.
Plants go into the ground in the spring as soon as irrigation water is
available and allowed to grow throughout the summer. When nights become
cold, the plants go into a cycle that prepares them for a harsh winter,
saving up starch and energy, Scholer said. The plants are harvested at
night, beginning in early October, with crews working up to 18 hours at a
time in floodlights.
“It looks like a stadium out here,” Elwood said.
The plants are then shipped all over the world. In Southern California, they
are replanted as early as mid-October and grow rapidly, producing their
first marketable fruit as early as mid-December, thanks to the stored
energy.
Difficulties do come up throughout the year. Timing is important, and it’s
necessary for the ranch to coordinate with growers, to make sure they are
ready to receive their stock. Other problems can arise, from labor shortages
to weather anomalies.
“You could have one hailstorm and spend years trying to break even,”
Elwood said.
The ranch also does research, both for themselves and the University of
California. Varieties of strawberries are grown and tested for
hardiness, flavor, and color, among other factors. The ranch conducts the
research for the university for free, partially because they gain new
varieties and can stay
competitive, Scholer said.
While the ranch’s facilities could handle increased production of plants,
and more fields could be in production each year, Elwood and Scholer
said demand dictates their production and it is at a stable pace for the
moment.
Strawberry
plants at Lassen Canyon Nursery’s
Macdoel
ranch are harvested in the fall, with
the
top of the plant being cut off and the roots
gathered
to be shipped to growers.
