From the Fields: Celeste Alonzo, Riverside County vegetable grower

April 8, 2026

Photo/Marilyn Nunez

By Celeste Alonzo
Riverside County vegetable grower

Right now, we’re focusing on bell peppers and sweet corn. Our sweet corn came up almost two weeks early.

We’re harvesting corn, and we usually don’t harvest until around April 10. We thought we’d be harvesting on April 3, which is still ahead of schedule, but we started harvesting in late March. We had early fruit and early flowering.

Referring to the bell peppers, that early flowering and fruiting combined with the heat has been a challenge, especially with the baby plants. We’re making sure they’re getting enough water so they don’t die in the heat wave. We’re just not used to this weather at this time.

Every year has been crazy, but it just gets even worse. Water has been an issue. We had a pump go out and were trying to get a pump as soon as possible, racing the clock with the heat because all our late plantings and our baby plants were at risk.

We’ve also been facing mechanical issues. Our sprayer broke down, and we’ve needed to spray for worms every other day or every three days. Pest issues have been out of control. We’re finding so many. The warm weather has created more pressure, so we’ve had to do more applications to keep it under control.

The market has been good for us. The weather events on the East Coast, while bad for them, have helped increase demand for our corn. Demand is very high for corn right now.

Currently, it’s about trying to get the size for the corn. It’s not completely there yet. We’re adapting every day, taking it day by day, checking the weather and seeing what happens.

In this issue:

Reprint with credit to California Farm Bureau. For image use, email agalert@cfbf.com