Spring and new life on the farm

Spring is here and the best sign of spring is new birth whether its baby chicks, bunny rabbits, blooming trees and in our case young almond trees. Over a month ago we had a big rain and wind storm that blew over 200 almond trees on our farm. So this spring, we replanted these trees. Every spring we go through all our fields and replant any openings where we lost trees throughout the winter and the previous growing season. If the orchard is over 20 years old we don't replant the openings because it takes 3-4 years for an almond tree to produce nuts and replanting does not make economic sense. An orchards life is generally 25-28 years before we remove it. So we have to think if we will get a good production out of the tree to replant or not. Most of our orchards are less than 20 years old, so we replanted all the openings except for one older orchard.

When we replant, we plant the tree into the prevailing wind and with a bamboo stake for support. This will ensure the tree has a defense against those wind storms and hopefully keep it in the ground for 20+ years. Replant trees are harder to grow than a whole orchard of young trees. The replant trees are surrounded by older, taller and bigger trees that tend to block out the sun needed for the tree to grow to its fullest. Because of this we need to pay extra attention and make sure these young replants get all the nutrients and care they need!

Enjoy your spring and all the new, young beautiful things nature is blessing us with!

Until Next Time,

Almond Girl