Chapter 10: The Southern Coastlands
The Southern Coastlands's climate is humid and subtropical. It has mild winter temperatures, hot summers and a long growing season. Because of this the Southern Coastlands grow seven major citrus fruits of them orange and grapefruits are the most important. Citrus are tree crops that require the fruit to be handpicked. Each year during harvest time, as temporary workers they have thousands of migrant laborers who do long hours of intense physical labor and housed in cheaply constructed structures.
Just like the Southern Coastland's Napa also has a wide variety of fruits and vegetables that grow there such as; oranges, prunes, apples, olives, kumquats and more. But what they are widely known for are their wine making grapes.
Napa also has seasonal migrant workers who come from Mexico
Ten years ago you would find migrant workers living in makeshift camps, sleeping on fetid mattresses and drinking from dirty streams.
Picture of a makeshift campsite.
Today they receive subsidized housing, or can reside in three tidy dormitory complexes near St. Helena and Yountville where up to 180 workers pay $12 a day for room and board.
Napa knows all too well that without their migrant workers they would not be able to produce their world-class wine which is about 9 million annual cases.
The Napa County Housing Authority owns and operates three 60-bed facilities for migrant farmworkers, including the provision of basic necessities such as food, shelter, amenities and other support. This provides a safe and sanitary housing for the thousands of migrant workforce that is vital and critical component of the agricultural industry in Napa.
Dormitory housing for the migrant workers.
http://napavalleyregister.com/
http://www.baycitizen.org/
Chapter 11: The Agricultural Core
The agricultural core has adequate rainfall and air that is humid throughout the growing season.
There are two basic soils found in the agricultural core; alfisols and mollisols.
Napa Valley is unique for the diversity of soils found in such a small geographic area. There are 33 different soil series in Napa Valley representing six of the 12 soil orders that comprise modern soil taxonomy. Half of the soil orders that exist on the planet is found here. Which is no wonder that Napa Valley produces some of the most high end wines in the country.
Napa Valley also has a long growing season with mild winter temperatures and warm summers but with a cool breeze in the evening. It is the ideal climate to allow the grapes to ripen slowly and evenly.
Chapter 12: The Great Plains and Praries
The Great Plains has the least variation in vegetation or topography, very little trees and forest areas. Water control and irrigation is the most important resource in the Great Plains.
Napa Valley's topography changes with its length. To the south are hills and windswept estuarine flats. To the east is the foot of Mount St. Helena and to the west is the forested Mayacamas Mountains. The valleys narrow tip is at the town of Calistoga.
Napa has a state park that has a pattern in the vegetation: the forests are on the north-facing slopes and in canyons, while south-facing slopes tend to be brushy; redwoods grow only near creeks or springs. The park also has hiking trails that go through stands of coastal redwoods as well as forests of douglas-fir, tanoak, and madrone.
Water is the lifeblood of any agricultural crop and a precious natural resource especially for the wine grapes of Napa Valley. The Napa Valley Vintners a non-profit trade association responsible for promoting and protecting the Napa Valley appellation as the premier winegrowing region. They try to come up with ways to use water wisely and efficiently. They use modern tools and software program to try and analyze irrigation patterns and monitor local climate to get the best of water. They also use water management science and innovation to help ensure water conservation.
Chapter 13: The Empty Interior
The Empty Interior has wide desert valley and rugged mountains. The Empty Interior has the largest population of Mormon religion in the United States. The Empty Interior has a wildlife population of bison, North American elk, pronghorn antelope, white-tailed deer and wild turkey.
Napa Valley is surrounded by mountains on both sides.
Napa has very few Mormons.
Religion statistics of Napa County:
Breakdown of population affiliated with a religious congregations
| Name | Catholic Church | Seventh-Day Adventist Church | Assemblies of God | LDS (Mormon) Church | Christian Churches and Churches of Christ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adherents | 54.0% | 12.9% | 6.2% | 3.7% | 2.9% |
| Congregations | 10.5% | 11.8% | 6.6% | 5.3% | 3.9% |
| Name | Presbyterian Church (USA) | Lutheran Church | Episcopal Church | Southern Baptist Convention | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adherents | 2.5% | 2.2% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 11.8% |
| Congregations | 5.3% | 2.6% | 3.9% | 7.9% | 42.1% |
Napa's has several microclimates due to various weather and geographical influences. The open southern end of the valley floor is cooler during the growing season due to the proximity of San Pablo Bay while the sheltered, closed northern end is often much warmer. The eastern side of the valley tends to be more arid because winter storms tend to drop much more precipitation on the western mountains and hills.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Napa-California
Chapter 14: The Southwest Border Area
The Southwest has a large Native American population and the Hispanic population has dramtically increased over the decades.
Napa County was first inhabited by the Patwin Native Americans, with habitation by Wappo tribes in the northwestern foothills in Napa Valley. The word "napa" is of Native American derivation and has been variously translated as "grizzly bear", "house", "motherland", "fish" and also commonly known as the "land of plenty".
Patwin Natives Wappo woman Wappo native
The Hispanic population in Napa is the second largest race.
- White alone - 42,919 (56.9%)
- Hispanic - 28,049 (37.2%)
- Asian alone - 2,038 (2.7%)
- Two or more races - 984 (1.3%)
- American alone - 753 (1.0%)
- Black alone - 713 (0.9%)
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 134 (0.2%)
- Other race alone - 42 (0.06%)
Many migrant workers cross the border from Mexico often seasonally to work in the vineyards.
Experts estimate that anywhere between 8,000 to 12,000 illegal migrants reside in Napa during the grape picking season. Nationwide there is a crackdown on illegal immigrants working in the states. Even in other parts of California migrant workers might be exploited and paid very little with high living expenses. But in Napa it is quite the opposite. Wine producing is the predominant industry for Napa. Without the migrant workers the wine producers would not be able to meet their quota or demands and it would jeopardize their economy. In Napa whether legal or illegal the migrant workers are well taken care of. 20 years ago Hispanics represented 13% of the county's populations. Today it is 37%. They estimate that by 2025 Hispanics will be the majority.
Chapter 15: California
Napa Valley is a town in California. Located north of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Napa County was formed and became one of the original California counties when the state became part of the United States in 1849.
Like the rest of California, Napa Valley has had a very active and eventful geologic history. As a result there are many geological faults in the area such as, West Napa Fault, Green Valley Fault and the Hunting Creek Fault. Which have molded the topography of the Napa Valley and the mountains that surround it.
This trench in a field near Fairfield, California, crosses the Green Valley Fault.
Napa produces only 4% of California's wine by volume but it is the largest producer of high-end wines in the state. 90% of the US wine is made in California.
"As one of the top industries in California, wine is an economic engine that helps drive the state and national economies," said Congressman Thompson. "This report demonstrates our wine industry's national economic significance and agriculture's future in value-added farm products."
As California continues to grow many agricultural land is being lost to urban sprawl. In 1968, Napa Valley Vinters and others enacted the nation's first Agriculture Preserve to preserve open space and prevent future over-development. Today, more than 36,000 acres are contained within the Preserve. Of the 11,000 acres Napa County acreage that is forever guaranteed to remain rural, 5100 acres has been set aside by vinters.
This association will continue to play a vital role in ensuring the preservation of the natural environment and the pastoral beauty that Napa has to offer.
Chapter 16: The North Pacific Coast
The North Pacific Coast has a wet climate with high precipitation and moderate seasonal temperatures.
The topography has alot of mountains and tall trees and forest.
Napa Valley is in between two mountain ranges, the Mayacamas Mountain on the west and northern side and in the east is the Vaca mountain and is also close proximity to the Pacific Ocean.
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This combinations creates for warm sunny days with a cool breeze in the evenings. Temperature is warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter.
The eastern side of the valley tends to be more arid because winter storms tend to drop much more precipitation on the western mountains and hills.
Chapter 18: Hawaii
Hawaii my favorite state has many active volcanoes.Tourism is the mainstay of Hawaii's economy.
Napa Valley was formed by tectonic plate movement and volcanic activity. The majority of the volcanic activity occurred about 2-3 million years ago. The volcanic eruptions deposited ash and lava called the Sonoma Volcanics over much of Napa along the axis of the Mayacamas Range. The success of the wine industry in Napa is largely due to the variety of soils created from weathering of different types of rocks in the valley, especially volcanic rocks.
Napa Valley is a premier travel destinations in the world. Agri-tourism has brought close to 5 million people visiting Napa in a year.
Not only are they known for their world famous wines and wineries but they have gourmet restaurants, quaint bed & breakfasts. They have a variety of activities from riding a hot air ballon to taking a bike tour or riding the wine trains.
They also have very unique spas. The combination of mineral water from the local springs and the volcanic ash left over from the past eruptions make up key components of the Calistoga Volcanic Mud Bath. Many of the local spas offer this rare bath treatment found no where else in the world.
Napa Valley with it's natural beauty and picturesque scenery many couples get married in Napa as well.
Napa Valley is very breath taking.
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