20 February 2016

Well, that was fast! Bloom is winding up and petal fall is underway. The warmer-than-average temperatures during bloom created a shorter-than-average bloom.

Friday 12 Feb 2016

The recent warm weather, low 70's, has been ideal for the rapid development of bloom. These pictures were taken 3 days apart at the same orchard.

Generally, the foothill orchards are 2 or 3 days ahead of the flat land orchards.

Monday 15 Feb 2016

15 Feb 2016

Fog early this morning gave way to a sunny and warm day. It was a very good day for bee activity.

 9 Feb, 2016

We spent the day exploring the World Ag Expo in Tulare today. There is a lot to see and take in. I was hoping to find help with some water quality issues we are facing, and I made several good contacts.

The range of exhibitors ranged from very traditional and "low tech" to very new "high tech" approaches to farming. I think these two pictures of vendors illustrate the point.

The falcons are used for pest bird control.  Drones, both fixed wing and quad "copters" are used primarily for imaging.

3 Feb 2016

8 Feb 2016

Here are two picture showing the progression of bud development over the most recent 5 days. These are Nonpareil variety, the first to bloom in most of our orchards.

Feb 3, 2016

Bee Colonies are being placed in the orchards. The annual migration of hundreds of thousands of colonies of bees from all across the nation to the largest pollination event in the world has begun.