Nursery crops remained at the top in Santa Clara County, growing by 19% in 2021 to exceed $109 million in value, according to the 2021 crop report released Aug. 31. Mushrooms, meanwhile, grew by 5% but remained in second place at $79,480,000, followed by bell peppers at a distant third with $19,172,000.
In the report, Agricultural Commissioner Joseph Deviney said nursery crops, which include edible and decorative plants such as vegetable seedlings, fruit trees, bedding plants, roses and shrubs, and succulents, enjoyed a “very strong” 2021, fueled by the rise in home gardening that began at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It’s a trend that appears here to stay, and Susan Peterson, owner of Nursery Beautiful Plants’ Gilroy location, said she enjoys helping educate her customers who started gardening during the pandemic.
Jose Aguilar opened the nursery’s first location in San Martin, and it expanded last year to Cohansey Avenue in Gilroy, with Peterson at the helm of the new spot. The current one-acre spot is packed full of native, drought-tolerant plants, including seven varieties of apple trees, three cherry varieties, and countless succulents, lavenders, bougainvillea, and more.
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