I absolutely love this time of year, the almond hulls are splitting and exposing the shells inside allowing them to dry and harden. They start taking on the nutty flavor that we all love so much, and have less of the “green” flavor as they dry out.
William came with me this morning when I went out to check on the progress of the Nonpariel hull split, and he LOVES to pick them off the tree (even before they’re ready), crack them open, and eat them fresh. I couldn’t resist capturing a short video of him picking one and struggling with his tiny fingers to break into the shell.
We are celebrating!! The US Bureau of Reclamation has finally determined that enough water has been stored in Lake Shasta to provide partial water allocations to agricultural users served by the Tehema Colusa Canal. The water disctrict that we are in, Colusa County Water Disctrict, has been allocated 40% of our normal allocation. So, here we are, cleaning the filter for the canal water and having a little fun.
We’ve been drawing from our small well to irrigate this entire growing season which has been a major challenge. This is going to be a HUGE relief! Finally we’ll have water pressure for a shower again!
I just spent a week up in Oregon at Young Life’s Washington Family Ranch. What an amazing and exhausting week with high schoolers! Coming home to the farm is always good - I feel so at peace when I’m at home, in my orchard. Taking a walk through the orchard, I found the Non-pareil almonds were starting to split - a stage called hull split.
The hull is the outer “fruit” of the almond, but really isn’t suitable for human consumption. It is a good source of carbohydrates/sugar, so the hulls are sold to dairy farmers and other livestock producers after they are separated following harvest. The hulls begin to split as the nut/shell on the inside reach maturity and are begining to dry. As the hulls dry out, they open up to expose the shell inside. Look closely and you will see the “seam” in the almond hull begining to split in the photo below.
I picked a couple to open up so you can see the mature, yet undried nut meat. They are edible, but the flavor is very different than a dried nut and slowly transforms into the almond taste that people are familiar with. They have a sort of “green” flavor to them.
I’ll be posting more photos in the near future as the nuts mature; things happen fast from this point so check back soon!
One morning last week, I was out changing the irrigation zones in the almond orchard, and three of my boys showed up, Briden (7) and Caleb (5) on their bikes, and William (3) on foot. They love to race to see who can turn the most valves on/off for me, but the big boys let William turn them on for me this time. I had already finished most of it for the day, but its a big deal for a little guy to be able to “help daddy out” in the the orchard.
I ran back to the house and grabbed the camera, hoping to capture one of these moments. I’m afraid the innocence of the these years with my young children helping me in the orchard will pass far too quickly. While I was videoing William, we came across a beautiful Non-Pareil almond tree that had been blown over. We did have a bit of a north wind a couple days before, but I really didn’t think it had been that strong. The trunk must have been weakened by a disease or something, because it was a large, strong looking tree, loaded with almonds that would otherwise be ready for harvest in about two months. Loosing such a big tree that is still producing so well is so sad for me. I see diseased trees die, which is unfortunate, but to loose an otherwise healthy tree is especially hard for me. Oh well, this is just part of farming. You take the good with the bad.
I’ve been busy removing trees that have died recently. It isn’t fun work, but at least we get firewood for next winter. And any branches that still have some leaves or nuts left on them we feed to Rebecca’s milk goats - they love the treat!
Quite a few of the trees are getting diseases, some from soil borne pathogens, and some from air borne that enter through external wounds. Unfortunately, this is typical for an orchard that is as old as ours - approximately 23 years.
