Thursday, January 23, 2014

No leaves. No photosynthesis. No food. How do trees survive in winters?


They find their strength in fasting. Water fasting to be exact, as their roots continue to suck in water. 

Just like us, trees need water and food to live. Food in this case is carbohydrates generated by photosynthesis in leaves. These carbohydrates are utilized for:
  1. Living: Performing essential biological functions (e.g. respiration and generation of chlorophyll). You see, this chlorophyll is a tricky substance. It breaks down easily. So the tree has to work to manufacture it continuously to keep the leaves green. 
  2. Growing: Producing new cells for tree growth.
  3. Reproducing: Making flowers and fruit.
In summer, there's no problem. There's plenty of sunlight to fuel photosynthesis, which produces tons of carbohydrate to grow and give fruit. In winters, there's not much sunlight. So the output of photosynthesis drops dramatically. Hence it's not worth the effort to keep making chlorophyll. So, evolution came up with this neat idea: 

Every winter, the tree sucks in all nutrients from its leaves causing them to fall off, cuts down its energy needs, shuts down growth, and, enters a period of rest called "dormancy."

During dormancy, trees also break down their stored carbohydrates. This increases the concentration of sugars in the cell sap throughout the tree. The elevated sugar level acts as an antifreeze, helping protect the tree from freezing damage. 

Here are some latest pics from the orchards. Click on them for larger view.

Carpenter Ranch:





Whitmore ranch:


Saturday, January 18, 2014

Save water.. Save the planet.. Pee in the shower!

Fine, I won't insist! But, toilet flushing accounts for 27% of indoor water use in a home, you know!

You may have heard that California announced statewide drought emergency. When this happens, our first instinct is to check our ground water wells and make sure they are ready to go if and when needed.

So, we went ahead and got the deep-wells tested on our ranches. Here's what the results look like:


In other words:
  1. Water stands at 33 ft below the ground. This is when the pump is not running.                                                
  2. When the pump is turned on, water level recedes to 41 ft below the ground. Water level falls because we are drawing 700-1100 gallons per minute.                                                                                               
  3. Once you turn off the pump again, water level recovers to 33.5 ft below the ground. I know this is a bit higher than original level of 33 ft, but given a little bit more time, I think it would settle at roughly 33 ft.                                                                                                                                                     
  4. Overall, the deep-well is in good condition and the  underground aquifer has good water at shallow depths. For now, at least.
For everyone's sake, I hope this is going to be a wet spring and all the reservoirs will be brimming with water by the start of summer.