Why was it good for farmers if they migrated to Salinas Valley in the 1930's?

Question

Why was the Salinas Valley a good place for farmers to migrate to in the 1930's?

Answer 1

Reading some Steinbeck, are we?

The Salinas Valley is to this day an extremely abundant farmland. The soil is rich, and the weather is ideal for growing all kinds of different crops. In the 1930's, much of California had not yet been developed, so land was readily available. It was a huge opportunity for farmers to get a fresh start after the dust bowl in the Midwest.

Answer 2

It was pretty much like the migrant life in other places. My parents lived there during the 1930s and built their house there in 1932. There was much agricultural work to do there with some kind of vegetable being harvested almost all year long. There was lettuce, celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and nearby Castroville there was artichokes. Also in nearby Watsonville was strawberries and in Monterey there was fishing and the canneries that canned the fish which worked year round. It was good place to find agricultural work. My Dad worked with all the different vegetables at one time or another. Before they settled in Salinas they had traveled up and down the Pacific Coast to Washington to pick apples and Oregon to pick cherries. They also dug coal in Colorado. Then they returned to Salinas and decided to stay there. My Mom got a job in a laundry where she worked for 37 years. While she was pregnant with me and my brother (who was born dead) she worked in the office keeping the books. She also worked at all the different jobs in the laundry during her time there. Ironing shirts, pants, sheets, pillowcases. Folding towels and washrags and sending the clothing back to the right people. If you need more info you can e-mail me directly and I will answer any specific questions you may have. I almost forgot, there were onions in Salinas too. With all the vegetables grown there it was called "The Salad Bowl of the World". That is why the TV station there was eventually named KSBW.

Answer 3

It is a rich place for growing crops and land was cheap. There may have been land deals then, and I can't remember the programs name though. The dust bowl back east ruined many farms, so coming to CA. was helpful to many families. I know some families that did that, it was however, a very hard life.

Answer 4

Not Sure on this one, But I think the 30's is when the midwest became "the Dustbowl," meaning a horrible drought!

Answer 5

The land was fertile while the mid-west was trying to relocate itself via dust storms.

Answer 6

sounds like home work to me