Trees in bloom

Jack is looking at tiny bees (Mason bees) work on an apricot tree.  When we became farmers, we really started worrying about the weather.  The weather has been so wonderful lately - warm & dry - that all the fruit trees are starting to bloom early by 3 to 4 weeks.  This will be great if the weather stays nice, but if we get a cold freeze we could lose all the stone fruit like we did 3 years ago.  As long as the temps stay in the 30's we are ok.  But there is 2 1/2 months to go before the threat is over.  Yes, we can get freezes in late April.  Here's hoping for the best & a good summer crop.

Winter Snow on the Mountains

Lots of winter snow on the mountains.  Right now, we're in Rose Parade weather, but we've had two very cold spells - just before Thanksgiving & in early December.  We really enjoy the warm weather, but the trees want cold.  The more cold in winter, the better the summer crop.  There should be a few more cold spells before the thermometer starts easing up in February.  No snow for us yet, but looking forward to it.

Ribbons from the Fair

We just returned from the Antelope Valley Fair and boy are we pleased.  We entered 12 different fruits and 10 received ribbons - 4 firsts, 1 second, and 5 thirds.  Both our Asian pears took ribbons as well as both peaches submitted and all the apples.  Here's the breakdown:
First Place - Forty-niner peaches; Braeburn, Fuji, & Gala apples
Second Place - Shinko Asian pears
Third Place - 20th Century Asian pear; Golden Supreme apple; Rosi-Red Bartlett pear; Flavortop nectarine; Paradise peach

This is the craziest thing yet!

Several weeks ago we were visited by a pair of White Egrets.  I think that they found it hard to fly because it was blowing very badly.  This is not the first time we have been visited by egrets or their cousins the Great Blue Herons.  Like all previous visits, they ate all the goldfish in our pond.  They couldn't leave yet, so they ate apricots lying on the ground!  That is the craziest thing yet!  After several days, they flew off.  They must have been hungry after a diet of apricots.

Fruit is getting ripe!

Jack picked a small selection of two varieties of peaches & two of nectarines.  They are all about halfway to picking.  They all look great - no bugs, no bird pecks, no dings from rubbing against the branches.  We can hardly wait.

Well, well, well

On Sunday, St. Patrick's Day, Jack noticed that one of our water tanks was not filling.  A short investigation led to well #1 where the pump had stopped working.  Jack called our well man, Don Vickery, immediately.  Don's crew came out Monday afternoon to pull the pump.  It's 270 feet down & is attached to 20' lengths of pipe.  It takes a crane to pull it up.  The picture is of the wires that go down into the well & communicate with the pump.  Don's crew took only 3 hours to pull up the pump.  After 5 years of use, it had just had enough work.  It was a good thing this happened in March & not July when the trees need the maximum amount of water.  A new pump was ordered on Tuesday morning & installed on Thursday morning.  By lunchtime it was all over.  Jack & I went to Rick's Cafe to celebrate! 

Planting new trees

My own personal Johnny Appleseed, my husband Jack Brian, is planting the last of 32 new trees.  We have peaches, nectarines, pears, & apples.  We used a new supplier for the apples & the trees look terrific.  The only problem is waiting.  It will be 3-4 years before we harvest any fruit from these trees.  No instant gratification for the orchardist!

Replanting the orchard

We have removed 30 old trees that aren't producing well any more.  Replacement trees will be arriving in a week or two. Here Chocolate is inspecting the holes awaiting the new trees.  Want the old trees for firewood or smoking meat?  We will be giving away all the old wood.  Call me at (661) 261-3216 or email felice@brianranch.com.

Fall at the Orchard

Who says you can't get fall colors in Southern California?  All the fruit has been picked & the peach trees are turning mahogany. It's been a great season for the orchard in 2012.  We had lots of u-pickers:  families with young children, twenty-somethings looking to can fruit for the first time, even two church groups.  We had a grand time hosting them.  Jack particularly likes to take kids out on the hay wagon.  But fall is upon us & it's time to start thinking about pruning the trees.  But we can't prune until the leaves have dropped & that's about a month off.  I guess we just have to enjoy the fall colors.

Bees!

We walked into the orchard two days ago to find a swarm of bees attached to an apple tree.  They obviously came from nearby but we don't know where. We used to keep bees but we got rid of the last of our hives about five years ago.  Each of the hives had swarmed several times & we always see lots of honey bees on the blossoms in the spring so we know they are around.
We thought the swarm would have found their new home by now.  They'll be gone soon, but we tiptoe around the tree until they leave.

Summer's Bounty

It's so great this time of year in the orchard.  So many fruits are ripe.  This is what we have to choose from today: three yellow peaches, one white peach, one white nectarine, one yellow nectarine, two apples, one pear, & one Asian pear.  The stone fruit are all sweet, tangy, & juicy.  Don't dare eat one without a bib!

Freezing Apricots Version 2

We're freezing apricots again. This time, we have a vacuum sealer, which should keep freezer frost off the apricots, leaving them much nicer when they are defrosted.  Jack likes to have several for breakfast every morning, so we're trying to freeze enough to last a whole year.

Cherries almost ripe

We're netting the cherry trees this week because the cherries are almost ripe.  We're trying to stay one step ahead of the birds...it's really hard because they can eat fruit really fast & they'll eat it before we're ready to pick it.  We have our big opening day in a week and a half...just in time for the air show on the same weekend.  What fun!

The Fruit is Getting Bigger

Here's Jack with one of the Patterson apricots. It's about the size of an olive.  At this point, they are pretty much beyond the danger of being damaged by frost. We're still keeping an eye on the peaches & nectarines since they are not as far along.  They look like little threads peaking out from the center of a fading flower.  April is a touchy month...it can be very warm, but it can also bring freezes.  As long as the temperatures don't drop below 28 for more than an hour or so, we should be okay.

Clouds of pink & white

It's the most beautiful time of year.

The trees are covered with clouds of pink & white blossoms.

These are the first to bloom - Patterson apricots.

All the apricots, peaches, nectarines, & plums are blooming - some have just broken bud &

 others are in full glory.

It snowed in the mountains yesterday, so if you look closely you can see the fresh snowfall in the background.

When the weather is warm enough, the bees are buzzing around, thousands to each tree.

So very soon they will have done their work, the flowers will fall off, & tiny fruits will appear.

Planting new trees

 

We just planted 39 new trees!  Here's my husband Jack Brian planting one of the new plums.  We removed some of the older trees to make room.  The first planting was in 1993 & we'd never moved any out before.  It was more than time...trees have a definite life span.  We planted 20 plums, divided between Santa Rosa & Satsuma, & 6 peaches - a new late variety called Late Alamar.  The rest were assorted peaches & apples as well as 2 figs.  Now we just have to wait 3 years until they are mature enough to bear fruit.  One of our pilots said he could already taste the figs!

Fall Colors

1. Yes, you can get fall colors in Southern California!  This is a Santa Rosa plum. In the background, you can see clouds over the San Gabriel mountains.  We had our first winter storm last Friday.  We were well below the snow line, but the ski slopes are open in Wrightwood.  The orchard is long picked out & we are selling our stores from the cold room. Leaf drop is not far off, then we will start all the winter tasks for the orchard:  pruning, dormant spraying, & planting the 20 plum trees that will arrive in February.  We need to expand the irrigation system & dig the holes for them.  It seems like a long time away, but it will be here before we know it.  Jack made me mark the locations of the trees with plastic chairs.  I'm sure he'll change everything before he trenches for irrigation pipes.

Pumpkin Patch

This year we decided to plant a pumpkin patch in response to many requests.
I planted several varieties & they open-pollinated, making for several types all on one vine. We have tiny green & yellow striped ones, lots of small round orange ones, & two oblong ones that look like orange watermelons
The pumpkins are now all ripe & ready to pick. This has been a grand success! The only problem is that I didn't plant enough. Next year the patch will be twice as big.

"Look at all those firsts!"

That's what the volunteer said to me when she handed me the blue ribbons at the Antelope Valley Fair. We won firsts for our Golden Supreme & Royal Gala apples & Shinko Asian pears. We also won second prize for Rosi Red Bartlett pears & 20th Century Asian pears. Yes, that's right, we won both first & second place in the Asian pear category. Yeah for us. It's a great boost in an otherwise disappointing fruit year.

We're Open for Business!

We finally opened for u-pick business this weekend. It was a long wait since we lost all the crops for the first half of the season. I really missed having people drive in, all excited to pick fruit straight from the trees. The little kids are the best - they think it's so interesting. Most people buy much more than they anticipated. We even had our first picnickers this weekend. So great to get back into the groove.
Sky King likes it too. He's picking his apple off the tree. And lots of petting for a friendly dog.