Plastic Fields

Driving south on Delmonte Avenue from Castroville, CA towards Monterey I came across these rolling hills with planted perfectly spaced mounds with plastic on top.  Miles of plastic!

A bit further down the road are workers planting the crops and poking them through holes in the plastic.  I guess this is a method to keep weeds out.  Could it also keep the soil warm at night to stimulate growth? Could it also help keep moisture in the soil too to conserve water?

I see that this is how strawberries are planted and plastic is to prevent weeds.  I guess the same practice can be used for other vegetables.

Just north in the Moss Landing area there are a couple produce roadside stands that offer local produce at lower prices.  Right now they have just picked the fields clean of brussel sprouts.  New harvests and fresh vegetables to come.

Here is a link with more information:

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/plant-strawberries-black-plastic-53553.html

(Wikipedia photo from Google search)

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com