Keep on Growing, Keep on Going, Keep on Flowing

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What a difference an atmospheric river makes! Our rain gauge now stands at 44.33" for the year, 19.54" of that since January 1st. We've had power outages, high winds taking down trees, and mudslides along our roads. Mostly however, life's been a giant game of Whack-A-Mole, trying to keep culverts from plugging as epic storm surge chucks sticks, mud, rocks and even entire logs down the hill to the creek.

That said, we are grateful for the water; we are grateful to have such juicy fruit this year; and we are grateful to live in such a beautiful part of the planet!

"And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way." John Steinbeck, East of Eden, 1952.

Vitamin C-son

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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!

Finally Fall...

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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.

Merry Citrus!

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The sun is shining on the morning of Christmas Eve, though that follows a few days of rian with more forecast. Our rain year is off to a terrific start, and the 26.11" we've recieved already surpasses last year's total.

There are large crops of citrus hanging on our trees. The fruit has been quick to size up, slow to color, but its flavor is outstanding!

Wishing everyone safe holidays and prosperity in the new year!

Storm Update, 12/29: 8.17" storm; 29.74" year-to-date.

Nearly Around The Sun Again...

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It's hard to believe it was nine months since I posted here, but there it is, so there you have it... Our rain year last year ended just north of 23". There was really only one storm to speak of, an 8" day in February, but other than that, what fell evaporated just as fast. That said, we had a relatively gentle summer to date with plenty of marine layer action, and we're certainly in a better place than this time last year, when we were being evacuated due to fires.

What smoke blew in a few weeks ago mixed with said moisture to make for some hazy days, but at least it smelled of pine trees and not burning houses. The first few troughs of low pressure have already rolled through, and while they've been dry, they provide some hope that we may have a normal rain season, without the 'ridiculously resilient ridge' swatting all of our moisture north of Vancouver.

While we were quiet on the blog front, we've been nothing but busy on the farm front. Over 7500 lbs of citrus went out the door last year, and we're a few weeks away from Bearss limes kicking it all off again. Our avocados are currently on sale down at Wild Roots Felton and Boulder Creek. Also be sure to visit The Penny Ice Creamery's newest location in Hanger on Mount Hermon Road, Scotts Valley. Their grand opening featured our Thomcord grapes.

We're currently four rounds deep into the canning of tomatoes for this winter with another due this weekend. We've also already dehydrated two rounds of jalepenos, the first round of cayennes and the first round of hot wax. We have a wonderful molé pepper that's yet to fully ripen, but we're certainly looking forward to its crop. In the meantime, our sweet peppers, poblanos, pickling cucs, yellow melons and asian pears are still cranking. Pomegranates, pumpkins and persimmons are not far behind.

Stay safe, turn off the news, get outside and pray for rain!