The Winter Garden Region is an agricultural area in South Texas

South Texas

South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of and including San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is...

 (USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) located north of Laredo

Laredo, Texas

Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...

 and southwest of San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

. The region is centered on four "core" counties - Dimmit

Dimmit County, Texas

Dimmit County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 10,248. It is named for Philip Dimmitt, a major figure in the Texas Revolution. The reason the county name differs is because the bill creating the county misspelled Dimmitt's name...

, Frio, La Salle, and Zavala

Zavala County, Texas

Zavala County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 11,600. Its county seat is Crystal City. Zavala is named for Lorenzo de Zavala, Mexican politician, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and first vice president of the Republic of...

, but also includes parts of Atascosa, Maverick

Maverick County, Texas

Maverick County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 47,297. Its county seat is Eagle Pass. Maverick County is named for Samuel Maverick, cattleman and state legislator....

, and McMullen counties.

Bexar

Bexar County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,392,931 people, 488,942 households, and 345,681 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,117 people per square mile . There were 521,359 housing units at an average density of 418 per square mile...

, Medina, Uvalde

Uvalde County, Texas

Uvalde County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 25,926. Its county seat is Uvalde. The county is named for Juan de Ugalde, the Spanish governor of Coahuila. Uvalde County was founded by Reading Wood Black who also founded the city of Uvalde,...

, and Wilson

Wilson County, Texas

Wilson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 32,408. Its county seat is Floresville. The county is named after James Charles Wilson....

 counties all have small or very small portions that lie within the defined area, but they are typically not considered part of the Winter Garden region.

The region is noted for its year-round production of vegetables through irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...

.

History

The area is part of the Tamaulipan mezquital

Tamaulipan mezquital

The Tamaulipan mezquital ecoregion, in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, is located in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico...

 ecoregion. Prior to the introduction of large-scale irrigation, the region was arid and covered in short grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

es and mesquite trees

Mesquite

Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...

. Onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

 crop production began near Cotulla

Cotulla, Texas

Cotulla is a city in and the county seat of La Salle County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,614 at the 2000 census.-History:In 1868, Polish immigrant Joseph Cotulla arrived in La Salle County and eventually established a large ranching operation...

 (La Salle County) in 1896. At the same time, Dimmit County

Dimmit County, Texas

Dimmit County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 10,248. It is named for Philip Dimmitt, a major figure in the Texas Revolution. The reason the county name differs is because the bill creating the county misspelled Dimmitt's name...

 farmers began to utilize artesian aquifer

Artesian aquifer

An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. This causes the water level in a well to rise to a point where hydrostatic equilibrium has been reached. This type of well is called an artesian well...

s and dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s to provide water for irrigated crops.

The arrival of rail transportation in the early 1900s led to a major land boom

Real estate bubble

A real estate bubble or property bubble is a type of economic bubble that occurs periodically in local or global real estate markets...

 in the region. Between 1900 and 1920, the number of farms in La Salle County almost tripled and the value of an acre of farmland in Dimmit County rose from $1.80 in 1900 to $24.60 in 1910 and more than $40 by 1920.

The number of farms in Zavala County tripled between 1900 and 1930 due largely to the division of the 96000 acres (388.5 km²) Cross S Ranch into 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) plots. Although cotton production dominated in Frio County, the region's most important crops were onions, cabbage

Cabbage

Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...

, spinach

Spinach

Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...

, beet

Beet

The beet is a plant in the Chenopodiaceae family which is now included in Amaranthaceae family. It is best known in its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is the purple root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet...

s, and strawberries

Strawberry

Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...

. Other crops such as citrus

Citrus

Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...

 fruits, melon

Melon

thumb|200px|Various types of melonsThis list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit...

s, and nuts were also harvested.

By 1930, the Winter Garden region was home to 36,816 people (up from 8,401 in 1900). A combination of increased irrigation costs and the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 led to a decrease in the number of small farms. Many were returned to ranch

Ranch

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...

land while irrigation farming became a large-scale enterprise in other areas.

Corporate ownership of large farms became increasingly common after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, with major companies such as Del Monte

Del Monte Foods

Del Monte Foods is an American food production and distribution company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the country's largest producers, distributors and marketers of branded food and pet products for the U.S. retail market, generating approximately $3.6...

 establishing canneries

Canning

Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and sealed in an airtight container. Canning provides a typical shelf life ranging from one to five years, although under specific circumstances a freeze-dried canned product, such as canned, dried lentils, can last as...

 close to the fields.

Today, the Winter Garden region is still among the leading producers of winter vegetables through irrigation in the country.

Core county population statistics

County	1900	1930	1950	2000	2006 est.
Dimmit Dimmit County, Texas Dimmit County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 10,248. It is named for Philip Dimmitt, a major figure in the Texas Revolution. The reason the county name differs is because the bill creating the county misspelled Dimmitt's name...	1,106	8,828	10,654	10,248	10,385
Frio	4,200	9,411	10,357	16,252	16,336
La Salle	2,303	8,228	7,485	5,866	5,969
Zavala Zavala County, Texas Zavala County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 11,600. Its county seat is Crystal City. Zavala is named for Lorenzo de Zavala, Mexican politician, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and first vice president of the Republic of...	792	10,349	11,201	11,600	12,036
Total	8,401	36,816	39,697	43,966	44,726