Speaker 1: Let's say good morning now too. Strawberry farmer Glenn Hasegawa, Good.
Speaker 2: Morning, Glenn, good morning.
Speaker 1: We are thrilled to talk to you because there's something
Speaker 1: very sweet coming to the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. We have the twenty twenty five California Strawberry Festival.
Speaker 2: Tell us a little bit fairgrounds, and it's basically right
Speaker 2: on the beach.
Speaker 1: Oh it's on the beach or next to the beach.
Speaker 2: Yeah, on the beach. A great location.
Speaker 1: I love this. So for somebody who has not been
Speaker 1: to the California Strawberry Festival, I know we drove out
Speaker 1: there last year and visited and got to do a
Speaker 1: little tasting, which was delicious. But if somebody hasn't been
Speaker 1: to the Strawberry Festival before, what can they expect?
Speaker 2: Pretty much everything strawberries, Yeah, all kinds of strawberry related foods,
Speaker 2: lots of attractions for the kids, and lots of strawberry
Speaker 2: related displays. Just pretty much everything to do with strawberries.
Speaker 1: Okay, but it's not just strawberries. You have like arts
Speaker 1: and crafts vendors and stuff too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there are some mars and crafts vendors also, and
Speaker 2: a lot of different types of foods, okay.
Speaker 1: And there's carnival rides and it's that's a whole festival.
Speaker 1: So it's fun for the whole family exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great family related festival.
Speaker 1: Okay. And then Glenn tell us because we have this
Speaker 1: strawberry festival, and that's because strawberries are a big deal
Speaker 1: in California. Like, how many strawberries are grown in California year? Like,
Speaker 1: what's the crop worth?
Speaker 2: Wow, as far as Ventura County goes, it's the Actually,
Speaker 2: it's the biggest crop grown in Ventura County. I think
Speaker 2: there's almost seven hundred million dollars worth of strawberries and
Speaker 2: just in Dentuer County alone. And yeah, so I like
Speaker 2: to think that Venture County is not the largest growing
Speaker 2: strawberry grown area, but I think we have the best
Speaker 2: strawberries here.
Speaker 1: Okay. So Glenn, you're you're an actual grower of strawberries.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, I actually I'm a third generation strawberry grower.
Speaker 2: My grandfather was a grower, my father and now I'm
Speaker 2: also doing it.
Speaker 1: I love that. And what makes Ventura County so great
Speaker 1: for growing strawberries.
Speaker 2: We just have a combination of great weather really good soil.
Speaker 2: Strawberries really like moderate temperatures. They don't like it too cold,
Speaker 2: and they don't like it too hot. And with ventur
Speaker 2: County being so close to the ocean, the ocean really
Speaker 2: moderates the temperature. So strawberries love it.
Speaker 1: Love it. Okay. So when is the Strawberry Festival, because
Speaker 1: it's coming up this weekend?
Speaker 2: Right exactly, it's this weekend, Saturday and Sunday.
Speaker 1: Okay, And it's at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. I know
Speaker 1: that when we talked last year, there was limited parking
Speaker 1: on site. So where do people go to find out
Speaker 1: information on where's best to park and how to get
Speaker 1: to the festival.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's there's many. They have shuttle setters shuttle service
Speaker 2: setup and they can go to www. Kyleca Strawberry Festival
Speaker 2: dot org. Okay.
Speaker 1: And you can also get the tickets there or at
Speaker 1: the gate.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can purchase tickets there both at the gate
Speaker 2: and also it's online okay.
Speaker 1: And most importantly, can I buy strawberries and take them
Speaker 1: home with me? Oh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll be there. There's there's three of us growers
Speaker 2: and we're gonna have plenty of strawberries. For everybody. The
Speaker 2: heat that we had last week really kicked up the
Speaker 2: crop for us, and it really tastes good right now.
Speaker 2: So there definitely be plenty of strawberries to buy there.
Speaker 1: I love that. Okay, it's a thirty ninth annual California
Speaker 1: Strawberry Festival happening this Saturday and Sunday at the Ventura
Speaker 1: County Fairgrounds. Glenn Hasagawa, thank you so much. I hope
Speaker 1: you have a super successful strawberry festival.
Speaker 2: Great. We hope to see everybody there all right.
Speaker 1: Thanks