28 April 2016
Yesterday afternoon the foothills experienced some thundershowers and hail. Valley locations around Modesto mostly had less than 1/10 of an inch. East of Waterford, some areas had well over an inch of rain.

The bruising caused by hail has caused some nuts to exude gum. Slicing with my knife reveals that the damage is very shallow in the hull. I think the nuts will be all right and make it to maturity.

Vineyards and Almonds

April 16, 2016

Such a pretty view in the lower foothills near Oakdale that I had to stop and capture it in a picture.

 On the weekend of April 10 we received about 1.5 inches of rain. No one is complaining because every drop of water is counted as a blessing.  However, warm spring rains have their consequences. In mature orchards I am seeing a lot of spur die back. This is probably caused by Brown Rot fungus (Monilinia spp.) or Botrytis spp.

More rain is predicted for the coming weekend and possibly on and off through next week so in many orchards fungicides are being applied.