cotton-tastic

All you farmers out there would not have believed the size of the JG Boswell ranches that we visited on Wednesday. 120,000 acres-- mostly cotton (they grow 65% of California's Pima cotton, and CA grows 95% of the world's Pima cotton-- get your brain around that!) They also produce huge volumes of processing tomatoes - Romas with a tough skin that they make into tomato paste, which is sold to Heinz, Hunts, and Del Monte, among others to be the base for ketchup, sauces, etc.
We watched tomatoes being harvested, and frolicked in cotton fields... did you know that cotton blossoms look like roses? They are beautiful! The Boswell ranches in Corcoran have over 500 miles of irrigation canals, which we learned about by meeting the Water Master. (his real title- no joke!) Boswell also has one of the largest cotton gins in the world, and we went on a tour, of course. How much do I love "regional learning?!"