Trees don't care about evapotranspiration..

True. But we certainly do.. It tells us when and how much to water our farm.

We can determine optimum time and amount of water to irrigate the orchard by tracking how much water is lost from the soil via evapotranspiration (the loss of moisture in the soil thru evaporation + the loss of water thru tree transpiration).

Here's an example. For almond orchards, we strive to maintain soil moisture level of 4-5 ft deep. But to keep it simple, consider this:

Let's say you measured soil moisture level at the end of Sunday to be 1 inch. And say, you can only tolerate half-inch depletion.

Monday ET = 0.15 inches --> 0.15'' of top soil lost moisture --> ok
Tuesday ET = 0.20 inches --> 0.35'' of top soil is dry --> ok
Wednes  ET = 0.15 inches --> 0.50'' of top soil is dry --> ok
Thurs     ET =  0.20 inches --> 0.70'' of top soil is dry --> NOT ok --> IRRIGATE NOW.

You get the idea..

How do we get daily ET numbers? It's calculated from daily satellite and weather data (temp, humidity, wind) and the type of crop (ground cover) at the farm. I find that different sources provide slightly different numbers. This ET number can be different for different parts of your farm based on soil type differences.

Alternative to doing this calculation is to install ground sensors to measure soil moisture up to several feet (like we did at Carpenter ranch). Based on the readings from these sensors, you can make irrigation decisions.

What exactly is evapotranspiration?

"Evapo what?." That's my reaction when I first heard that word.

Simply put, it is the amount of water vapor released into atmosphere by soil and plants on any given day.

Evapotranspiration = Evaporation from Soil + Transpiration from Plants

Evaporation: On average, water is evaporated across the earth's surface at the rate of 1/8th inch each day. At tropics, more evaporation occurs. At cooler areas, less so.

Transpiration: Transpiration is vaporization of the liquid water in the plant. Plants have small openings (called "stoma") in the underside of leaves that release water vapor into atmosphere. Read my previous post for more info on this.

If the crop is smaller (like strawberries), water is predominantly lost by the soil evaporation.
If the crop is alfalfa or well-developed almond orchard with full canopy, then transpiration becomes the main component of evapotranspiration.

Transpiration: How do plants release water into the air?

This is how transpiration happens:

• When sunlight falls on a leaf, its radiant energy excites the water molecules in the leaf. 
• The H2O molecules heat up, and they start bouncing around and eventually come up to the surface of the leaf. 
• When they absorb even more energy, bonds between adjacent H2O molecules break, turn into water vapor and evaporate into the atmosphere. 

Transpiration also cools plants, enables flow of nutrients and water from roots to shoots. The more water transpires from leaves, the more water is sucked in from the ground via roots by capillary action.

Potassium.. Where art thou?

Potassium is the third major plant and crop food, after nitrogen and phosphorus. Potash is important for agriculture because it improves water retention (because it regulates opening and closing of pores on leaves) and disease resistance of crop too.

Anyway, despite applying potassium annually at Carpenter the leaf tests and visual symptoms indicate that we continue to be deficient in this important nutrient. We have had decent crops and each crop removes a lot of potassium. So we need to increase the amount we apply to compensate for the amount being removed.

Our plan is to purchase two truckloads of potassium fertilizer this year for Carpenter (instead of the usual one), and one for Whitmore (half for the Candycots, the other half for the almonds).  We will begin to apply it as soon as the soil is dry enough to do so. If it stops raining for an extended period of time (10 days) we will be able to apply all of the potassium at both ranches before the end of December.

Uh ho.. Ranch house has some interesting guests..

Douglas (the tenant) alerted us to the presence of some insects which he thought might be termites in the kitchen skylight of the ranch home at Whitmore. When Lane looked at it with him, he found some shed wings and a neat pile of frass (insect poop). Lane declared it was that of drywood termites.

Later, Clark Pest Control  confirmed the presence of drywood termites in the rafters of the house. It appears to be a limited infestation, but they could not access and inspect all parts of the attic. They did not find any subterranean termites or other problems under the house. They recommended fumigation of the house.

Sri Ahobila Jeeyar Swamiji visits the orchard just after the harvest.

Irrational fear of chemicals

I know it's a touchy topic. Pesticides. Some say we are  dousing our farms and orchards with dangerous chemicals and that it will lead to silent spring.

First of all, we do not _douse_ our orchards with pesticides. Many people throw fertilizers and pesticides into the same bucket. Fertilizers are like vitamin supplements. Pesticides are like anti-biotics. We only use pesticides if and when needed.

Second of all, I, maybe, understand people's concerns about pesticide residues on fruits like apple and grapes. But, we grow almonds, which are inside a hard-shell, which in turn is inside a thick hull.

Finally, some people just don't like the word "chemical." The notion that chemicals are a distinct group of modern evils invading our food supply is ludicrous.

Every physical thing is exclusively made of chemicals.

No food or medicine can be "chemical free." The only thing that is chemical free is a perfect vacuum and perhaps those tiny spaces between atoms.

But any object sold to you is chemicals (unless, of course, it is a big box of nothing in which case it is probably not worth your money- also you should discard the box- it's jam packed with chemicals).

• We take from nature both the life saving penicillin and the dangerous anthrax..

• We make in laboratories the life saving insulin and BPA.

• Then there's a world of neutral:
• the delicious potato and it's poisonous leaves
• pesticides which help provide more people with affordable produce but with unknown effects on people and the environment. 
• the polymers which keep lettuce fresher reducing wasted food but end up in landfills failing to rot away.

Interesting stuff..

Love light of the trees is shining low?

Trees are light on nuts!? Or so it seems.  We don't know really. It's a little tricky to tell.

The crunchy green nuts.. The (green exterior) hull continues to harden and mature, and in Aug it begins to split open. In the following two months, the split widens, exposing the shell, which allows the kernel (nut) to dry.

When a harvest becomes personal..

Lane and I decided to pick the first harvest of candycots ourselves. Because the harvest is light. So, it's not worth the expense to hire harvest workers and it's a shame to leave them on trees. We had a lot of fun picking fruit and inspecting the orchard at the same time. Why is harvest light? We think it's "juvenile unpredictability" on the part of the trees.

Trying to get a glimpse into our future..

Our future with Candycots, anyway. Made a visit to the Candycot packing operation to get an idea. This is where we will be sending our fruit to get it packaged and shipped to whole foods and such. This is set up at Britton/Konynenburg's modesto ranch. The fruit looks beautiful this year and the flavor is amazing.  However, it will be a year or two before our candycot orchard bears sufficient fruit to call it a commercial operation.

Rust? A shower may be prescribed..

The crops look good, trees are growing well, and the oats are "in the barn." The mild weather has been pleasant, but is conducive to rust disease. We put a fungicide on this month to prevent the disease, but we will continue to watch for it.

Rust disease looks like the following:

The curious case of a green almond.

Lane is my teacher. He explains, with a well placed dissected green almond on his palm: "The process of solidification of the nut meats continues to advance from the tip of the almond toward the base. This is visible as the gelatinous material becomes opaque. As this process continues the nuts become heavier. This is an early-harvesting Nonpareil nut. Interestingly, the later-maturing Monterey and Woods Colony nuts are just as far along in this process." Good to know.

Oat bales dry and ready at Whitmore

This will be the last non-almond crop that we plant. If all goes well, almond trees should be planted in this space by end of fall/winter.

Growing oats has been Lane's project. He thinks growing hay has been interesting, much more passive than nuts and fruit, but kind of fun for a change.

All of these 1000 lb bales are ready to be delivered to cows to be turned into milk.

Oats harvesting at Whitmore

Oats were cut today. They will need about 10 days of drying before they can be baled and sold. Then we can begin getting this field ready to plant almonds this fall! But, do we make enough money to cover oats cultural costs. Remains to be seen!

That pleasant green pasture..

..Is our Oats field.

Oats flowering at Whitmore orchard

Almonds, Apricots and Oats. What's next? Kataru brand of breakfast cereal? :)

The oats look good, the seed heads are forming deep down in the stems and should begin to emerge in a week or two. The cots are still blooming, it is as thought there are two separate flushes of bloom. We are not expecting a commercial harvest, but should be enough for family and friends.

City of Modesto responds to Weed problem..

The city is so responsive. Here's what they got back to us:

"The field to the west of your property is not part of the permitted Bonzi lanfill that my agency has authority over. The property you are referring to is owned by the Bonzi family and trust and they have been contacted by the Stanislaus County Ag Commissioners Office regarding the squirrel complaint. If you are having any problems with weeds or squirrels from the permitted landfill to the north of your property I can look into the issue and work on resolving it. Currently the Bonzi landfill is being maintained on a regular basis which includes the disking of weeds throughout the property. If you have any more questions or concerns regarding the Bonzi landfill feel free to contact me.

Troy

DEPARTMENT OF RESOURCES RECYCLING & RECOVERY

"

Thank you, Troy! We appreciate your response.

Weed problems at Carpenter. Very annoying..

The abandoned open ground to the west of Carpenter ranch is fallow and a source of tumbleweeds (russian thistle) and vertebrate pests. In the spring, the tumbleweeds which grew the previous year blow into our orchard and create a management problem.

Some pictures to show the extent of the problem. 

With a great deal of effort, time and expense we were able to clean up what you see in pictures. Cleanup cost was about $2,000. Not happy about that.

On top of this, the next time we have a strong North wind the whole situation will repeat itself. Additionally the abandoned property is a refuge for rabbits, coyotes and squirrels, all of which damage our irrigation system. Furthermore the squirrels hoard almonds and impact our yield.

The solution is pretty simple for them. If the field is disked at the proper time in the spring it will clean up most of the weed situation and at minimal cost. Depending on rainfall, one, two or three diskings may be required. Time to talk to the city (attempts to contact the owner were in vain).

Still some late blooms out there at Carpenter orchard

But pollination will end in a few days..

Rain is good (in moderation), free water and no frost..

Applying 2nd fungicide ahead of rain predicted for next week. 

If you can hear sounds from this picture, you will hear..

..that Bees are buzzing! Carpenter bloom starting to wind down - early petal fall.  Weather this weekend is spectacular. 

Whitmore orchard growing up and getting prettier.. Blooms today

Carpenter bloom pictures

A sunny mild day with good bloom and lots of bee activity. We were applying fungicide to protect the blossoms from the rain.

Feeling adventurous! Apricots and Oats.. Apricots are hogging so much time hope they are worth the effort..

Oats will be the last crop on this part of this ranch before we plant almonds later this year.

lush green oats (what this picture doesn't capture is the pleasant ruffling sounds that oats grass makes as a gentle breeze passes by).

candycot pink bud: