Saturday, December 3, 2022

Vitamin C-son

~Full Screen: Opens in Separate Window~

Our citrus season is in full swing with Bearss Limes, Meyer Lemons, Australian Finger Limes, Owari Satsuma Mandarins and Buddha Hand Citrons all going out the door last week. Wonderfully, rain season is on too! We recieved 1.91" today, bringing us to 8.95" year to date.

We had very sucessful pomegranate and persimmon harvests this fall. We cut the water to both after the September rain and, after some cool nights, wound up with perfectly ripe fruit and only a handful of culls. The leaves around the property treated us to a vibrant change of seasons as well.

Wishing all safe holidays and a merry burn season!

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Finally Fall...

~Full Screen: Opens in Separate Window~

The leaves on our pomegranates are golden yellow, and the first few cases of their fruit went out the door yesterday. This fall has blessed us with seasonal temperatures... cool mornings and warm afternoons, which are a welcome respite from the weeklong heatwave that ushered in September. Our weather station recorded 111 degrees on the hotest day. In a dramatic turn however, we had 1.85" of rain fall a couple of weeks later, greatly reducing the fire danger.

Heatwave aside, this spring and summer were not all that terrible temperature-wise. A low pressure system set up off the coast, allowing the marine layer to form in Santa Cruz and occasionally blessing us with foggy mornings. The real issue with this summer was that it began last January... Only three inches of rain fell last winter after New Year's, and our rain total for the entire year ended up around 32". Holding thumbs for many steady rainstorms this winter!

On the farm front, the first few cases of Meyer lemons went out the door yesterday as well. We have heavy crops of Fuyu Persimmons and Bearss limes looking to follow suit in a couple of weeks.