Looking for a neat place to dump all your unwanted trash?

Look no further. That's what farms are for. Yes. Farms are easy targets for illegal trash dumping. I'm glad we have fences around our ranches.

Every now and then, Lane and I talk about the trash along the Whitmore Ave. fenceline. So we organized a cleanup on Monday morning and collected 13 trash bags! It was a joy to drive along Whitmore Ave and see the clean fenceline.

The plan going forward is, Lane will have the guys do a weekly cleanup like they do over at Carpenter. Thank you, Lane. I wish people had more pride and would clean up after themselves. Maybe now that it is clean, people will refrain from throwing trash, I think it has had a helpful impact at Carpenter.

Irrigation systems are not cheap!

This has been a year of big expenses. The irrigation system being the biggest one! I guess that's a big reason reason half the farms in california do flood irrigation.

After researching and debating between sprinkler system and the drip, we went ahead with the drip.

1. Sprinkler system:
• Pros: Cheaper establishment cost, keeps the soil surface smooth, requires less labor, good for frost protection.
• Cons: High electricity consumption, problem with wetted branches, uses more water.
2. Drip system:
• Pros: Efficient water usage, uniform tree growth.
• Cons: Needs to be irrigated frequently, no frost protection, higher establishment costs, higher maintenance, lack of reserve moisture in the soil.

Although we have plentiful water supply from TID and ground wells, we decided against installing sprinkler system, hoping the drip will pay off in the longer term. I am not so sure now really. The other day, I read a research article from UC on how sprinkler system is better. Oh well!

We hope the irrigation system will be the last of the development expenses. The next year should just be ongoing farming expenses. Still, income from Whitmore ranch is a couple of years away, so crossing my fingers!

We work hard all year long just to get to know these numbers..

Final crop production numbers are in.. Not a good crop year.. Oh well.. I'm sure we'll have a great one next year.

The poor weather was partially responsible for the low yields this year. The other big factor was that the Nonpareil variety bloomed early relative to the other varieties. Nonpareil yields were lower than expected industry wide, and the statewide crop is coming in lower than the crop estimate. In this area the best yields were derived from Monterey, Fritz and some Carmel varieties. That is certainly evident in our numbers!

A small step for a baby almond orchard. A giant leap for the health of mankind..