A NOTE FROM FARMER AL
Summer?
Is summer finally here? Reports are that tomorrow it will be hot! Meanwhile, we’ve been enjoying the coolest month of May that I can ever remember. Working conditions have been cool, chilly even, when we start the day at 6:00am. It’s had a chilling effect on the fruit as well. After our earliest start ever (we picked Apache apricots in late April) we’re now actually behind last year by a week on the start pick dates of each variety.
The irony of all of this is that just as the weather heats up, we’re now facing curtailments of our precious irrigation water by the state of California. Our “pre-1914” status, which has protected our water rights in the previous droughts, isn’t enough to help us now. Our 100 year old grandfather privilege has been usurped by the millions of residents who’ve migrated to California in recent decades. Apparently, these folks are fine with food grown somewhere else, such as Mexico and Chile. Their bowls are still full of food from the local Safeway, etc, even though California farms are relegated to Dust Bowl status.
But Frog Hollow farm will survive. Last year we drilled a 400 ft. deep well, which isn’t a great source of water, but will at least give us enough to keep the trees alive if we have to use it. We won’t use it if we don’t have to because the ground water here contains unhealthy levels of boron and some high levels of other minerals.
The good-but-not-great news is that our irrigation district, BBID (Byron Bethany Irrigation District) has made deals with neighboring districts (who apparently have even stronger rights than BBID) to purchase some
of their water. But it’ll require construction of pipelines and installation of pumps, valves, etc at a very high cost. Our water, which has been relatively inexpensive, will now be about 20 times more costly.
Nevertheless, the pace of picking is intensifying no matter what. This week features a delightful diversity of fruits: Golddust peaches, Goldensweet apricots, June glo Nectarines, Jade Nectarines, and Santa Rosa Plums