I was talking with my sister yesterday about the climate here, and the fact it does not rain (at all) from about April through September/October here. It is bone dry. She mused that there must not be much agriculture grown in the summer, but I assured her otherwise. I got curious about how much produce California supplies to the U.S. and spent a couple hours surfing for information. Below is a smidgen of what I found.

• California grows more than 90 percent of tomatoes used in tomato-based products in the United States and nearly half the tomatoes processed worldwide.
• California grows about 60% of the nation’s Bartletts (pears).
• Over 99% of the olives grown in the United States are grown in California.
• California grows 90 percent of all the broccoli in the United States.
• California grows about 80% of the U.S. supply of garlic.
• California grows more than two-thirds of the U.S. medium grain [rice] crop.
• California grows all of the nation’s commercial pistachios on 60,000 acres.
• California grows nearly eighty-three percent of the strawberries for the marketplace in the United States.
• The state is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the country, accounting for 49 percent of the total U.S. value. Tree and vine fruit production in California is 58 percent of the U.S. value, and vegetable and melon production is 39 percent of the U.S. value. California accounts for more than 99 percent of national production of artichokes, Brussels sprouts, dates, figs, kiwifruit, cling peaches, persimmons, prunes and raisins. It accounts for at least 50 percent of U.S. production of table grapes, wine grapes, lettuce, strawberries, broccoli, plums, celery, carrots, avocados, fresh-market oranges, cauliflower, honeydew, cantaloupes and processing tomatoes. While it produces less than 40 percent of total U.S. production of spinach and asparagus, California grows more of these commodities than any other single state.

As a result, agriculture accounts for 83 percent of all water used in California.