Our Algerian Mandarins are ripe. We harvested 150# of them this week for The Penny Ice Creamery. Algerian is the classic "Clementine," and it's taste and texture remind me of my childhood. We also sold The Penny a case of Bergamots. I've got my fingers crossed for an Earl Grey Bergamot Ice Cream.
We still have Buddha's Hand Citrons in season. They are terrific as candy or jam. They are available for both local pickup and mail order. Please contact us if you're interested.
In other news, our ducks are now three weeks old. They have progressed from their starter feed to their grower feed and are putting on feathers through their fuzz. We let them out for longer stretches each day under the watchful eye of Sartaj. They are still quite vulnerable to hawk and cat predation. As their "peeps" turn to "quacks" the later should be deterred.
Our baby koi pond is teaming with California Coast Range Newts (Taricha torosa torosa), as it does every year at this time. I just looked into their historical biogeography and found the following on Amphibiaweb: "Based primarily on mitochondrial DNA evidence, [Tan and Wake (1995)] propose that Coast Range newts and Sierra newts differentiated about 8 million yr ago (mya), when Sierra newts existed in the uplifting central Sierra Nevada, and Coast Range newts inhabited the present day San Diego area. Roughly 5 mya, Coast Range newts expanded their distribution north to Monterey, while Sierra newts spread north and south in the Sierra Nevada. Only relatively recently, after the central California inland sea subsided, did Coast Range newts expand north of Monterey to their current distribution." I also learned that they live up to 20 years and have a strong homing instinct to return to the same places to mate each winter, in one study from over two miles away! It's very cool to think we may be observing the same animals year after year.
