Peaches have started to bloom.. Time to spray! Again!!

Here's what we decided:

1. Scala -- Brown rot, jacket rot, and shot hole control -- costs $16.56/ac
2.  Power Phos -- Fertilizer and pH adjuster -- costs $5.90/ac
3. Pros 90  -- Spreader -- $5.00/ac

Bees eagerly waiting for bloom arrival at Carpenter

Trees standing tall exuding peace, patience and confidence.

Bees are usually placed in the most warm, dry locations possible. We try to place them where morning sun will warm the hives. The sooner hives warm up in the morning, the sooner the bees will begin to forage.

Tearing down the peach orchard. Only to give way to new almond trees

Wood ash has been recognized as a valuable substance in agriculture since ancient roman times. Most importantly, it contains ash-derived potash, or potassium carbonate, a treasured nutrient for the trees.

When you burn wood, nitrogen and sulfur are lost as gases, but calcium, potassium, magnesium and trace element compounds remain in carbonate and oxide forms.

Winter spray for the remaining peach trees

Potash (for quality/size of fruit) $114/acre

Winter spray, Success (twig borer), Champ WG (leaf curl), oil (scale) $101/acre

Tearing down the peach orchard - phase I - Heart breaking, I know! This will give way to a beautiful almond orchard in future!

It's painful because these trees served us well and they have a good number of production years still remaining on them. But, considering all factors and Del Monte's guidance and outlook, we decided it's best to get out of peaches.

On a slightly positive note, this torn down orchard is assimilated into the soil as chipped wood (that's the plan, at least).

Usage overview for almonds: Urea and Potash

To assess the nutrient status of our orchard, we take leaf samples and have them analyzed.

Typically, Nitrogen is the only major nutrient that needs to be added regularly in almond orchards. Latest research indicates that applying smaller amounts of nitrogen several times during the growing season is greatly beneficial than applying one big dose.

1. Nitrogen: Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for the production of proteins, nucleic acids(DNA) and amino acids, and almond trees require an adequate annual supply for proper growth and productivity.

UN-32 (Urea Ammonium Nitrate with 32% nitrogen) is applied through the irrigation system at 220 pounds of N per acre and is split into equal applications in April, May and July.

2. Potassium: Potassium sulfate aka "potash" at 500 pounds per acre is banded along the tree row in late fall. Please note that we take away large amounts of K in the form of almonds so we have to replenish it from time to time.

Urea pellets (we don't use pellets; we apply a liquid form it via irrigation system which is more efficient):

Orchard removal logistics..

Orchard removal includes felling trees, grinding, stump removal and transportation plus land leveling.

So they put trees into a big chipper or grinder and shredding the wood into small pieces. Any wire in the trees is removed by magnets and a dirt separator is used so they end up with a clean product that is hauled off to a site where it is burned to produce electricity. The old method of pushing the trees into huge burn piles has been phased out by the Air Resources Board.

We see the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has a cost sharing program (EQIP, Environmental Quality Incentives Program) to encourage people to chip rather than burn. For orchard removal they will pay up to $75 per acre.

Fortunately for us, Lane served on the board of directors of the local resource conservation district for 10 years so he has contacts at NRCS and can find out more details. The following link is a two-page description of the program.

ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/CA/programs/EQIP/2007/AQ-Chipping_Fact_Sheet07.pdf

Here's a grinder at work:

And here's a tree removal monster machine: