Thieves strike again at Carpenter and actually get something this time..

With apparently great effort, they breached the security of the shed and stole a Honda 4-wheeler we had in there. There was not much else of value in there and they apparently were not interested in anything else. We thought the lock mechanism was sufficient, but it wasn't.

We will be beefing up the shed security. There is a radio sending device on the Honda, and the sheriff has a helicopter up right now looking for a signal, so there is a remote chance we will recover the Honda. Let us pray for a miracle. Maybe they can catch the bad guys too. Needless to say, we are anxious to move ahead with the fence and lockup fence repair.

This only serves to remind us how important it is for someone to live on the orchard.

Carpenter almond orchard!

Carpenter almond ranch pics

Beautiful!! Lots of nuts, good growth, good weed control (for now anyway, we'll have to be back for the weeds several times before harvest). Low hanging limbs may have to be tipped back. Click on pictures for larger view.

Almond crop looks good so far..

This is mid-april crop. Pics were taken around ten days ago.

Cankers observed on some wood colony variety almond trees.

Can someone call the tree doctor please?

We noticed a condition on some of the Wood Colony that caused some concern.

Gary Layne (Mid Valley Ag), Prof Roger Duncan (UC David) and Aaron Hackler (Wilbur-Ellis) all came out to look at it, and no one could identify it with certainty.

It appears similar to Ceratocystis canker which often is caused by shaker damage, but many of these cankers are higher on the tree, on scaffolds and limbs, where no shaker has been. It is only on the Wood Colony variety. It could have been a fungal disease called Aerial Phytophthora. We ll have to continue to observe and evaluate our options.

Carpenter almond bloom: Beauty at its best!

Bloom time. Let the bees play!

A good chill during Dec/Jan months followed by a slightly warmer Feb coaxes the first almond tree blossoms from their buds.

Peach blooms at Whitmore ranch: