Happy New Year.
I love New Year. I know it’s still cold but I can’t help seeing midnight on Dec 31/1 Jan as the apex of Winter’s hill. Everything after it is downhill to Spring. And it’s usually now that I belatedly start making decisions about what to add to the farm in the next few months.
It helps that somethings are showing signs while everything might slow down down over Winter, it doesn’t stop altogether.
With some of the almonds having given up the ghost, I’m going to plump for the only thing to have completely survived the planting process on the farm. Everytime you plant any number (say 10+) you can expect to lose 10% to the randomness of an unexplained death. Even apples. The only thing to buck the trend completely has been pecans. Every one of the 40 I planted a couple of years ago is flourishing. OK, every one but the one I flattened in a dosy moment on the tractor.
So 30, 40, or 50 more will be finding themselves a home in the almond orchard coming Spring. April is the time to plant (so I’m not too late) as they are shipped from Canada where the seasons are slightly behind ours. Cold roots meeting warming ground should make for a reasonable chance of getting established quickly