The Future of Fog in California and Strawberries

Mar 29

Mar 29 The Future of Fog in California and Strawberries

Intrigued? Listen to the report, The Future of Fog in California from KQED, public radio in the San Francisco Bay Area. The upside of living in a fog belt may be strawberries. The KQED report explains why foggy Watsonville grows the best strawberries.

You’ll also learn about research efforts in Monterey on fog and the importance of fog to the region. Think redwoods and your winter lettuce. Then nerd out on fog collection links at the end of this blog post.

I live in a fog belt, though not as intense as parts of the Bay Area. I have trouble growing tomatoes. Read Growing Tomatoes in Fog Belt and Rethinking Tomatoes in the Fog Belt and Dwarf Tomatoes: Rethinking Tomatoes in the Fog Belt (Again).

I collect a substantial amount of water on foggy days or when the dew is heavy. Water condenses on the metal roof of our garage and runs down to my rain collection trash cans adjacent to my vegetable beds. Lids turned upside down capture the water. I need to do some measurements on the next really foggy day.

If you really want to nerd out on fog collection, check these articles:

How scientists are harvesting fog to secure the world’s water supply (PBS NewsHour)
The Fog Collectors: Harvesting Water from Thin Air (Columbia University)
How to harvest water from clouds of fog (NPR)
How to get fresh water out of thin air (MIT)
The ethereal art of fog catching (BBC)