The rain, fog, and generally moist conditions have loosened the mummies and now is a great time to pole them out. Removal of mummies, referred to as orchard sanitation, is the most important activity we do for Navel Orangeworm suppression. The mummies are the overwintering site for the larvae of NOW

WONDERFUL FOG!

Now that the rain has stopped for a while, hopefully we will get lots of this stuff. The fog we used to complain about has made a return, and I've heard few complaints. The fog acts as a cold blanket over the area and it helps the dormant fruit and nut trees accumulate chilling hours. With enough chilling, the trees are able to produce a more vigorous and uniform bloom.

Oops! Found the soft spot. Luckily, there was another D-10 ripping this field and it was able to easily pull this one out.

December 18 and every sixth row (Aldrich variety) in this second-leaf orchard still has many of its' leaves. The other varieties are mostly defoliated and ready for winter. An interesting varietal difference I had not noticed before.

It rained all morning today! To date, locally, we have been blessed with about 2.5 inches so far this year, slightly above average. Everything seems wet and some field work is delayed. I was given a reality check yesterday when I saw a trench being back-filled. While wet and sticky (clay soil) on the surface the water has only wet about 3 inches down. Below that the soil is dusty-dry. We need many more days of rain before declaring the end of the drought.