Ready for harvest, I think..

Yellow cling peaches are considered ripe to pick when there is no green left on the fruit. They should come off the tree with only a slight twist. The fruits found on the top and outside of the tree usually ripen first. Selection of picking dates is as much art as it is science.

Carpenter Irrigation and water usage overview..

While we are researching a new irrigation system for Whitmore ranch (the winning choices emerging are micro-sprinklers and drip), it is worth looking at what we are doing at Carpenter and how much water the orchard uses right now.

The water is pumped from a TID irrigation canal and passes through a filtration system into the low volume sprinkler system.

About 38 acre inches of water per acre are applied to the orchard from April to October averaging one irrigation per week over the 25 week period. 

Irrigations early and late in the season may be less than once per week, while during the summer period the irrigations will exceed once per week.