The Harvest Is Coming!

Look at these sweet little nut-buds. The openings, called hull splits, ensure that these will become actual edible almonds very soon. Hull splits are the opening of the almond husks that allow the nut meats to finish developing and dry. Specifically, for all you nut nerds (we resemble that remark): according to The Almond Doctor, […]

Posted on July 24th, 2020

This Independence Day, Celebrate Family Farms

Family farms are so important! In fact, according to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the USDA, more than 90% of farms in the U.S. are classified as small family farms. That’s a lot of family love grown into our food supply. But due to factors that include climate change, giant agribusiness and […]

Posted on July 2nd, 2020

It’s Honeybee Season!

bee in almond flower

The almonds are in full bloom and that means the bees are here, too! Yay! Almonds and honeybees have a very important relationship with each other. You can’t have almonds unless the trees are pollinated—they don’t pollinate themselves! And honeybees love delicious almond flower nectar, especially since almonds are one of the first flowers to […]

Posted on February 25th, 2020

Entrance of the Flower

Today, as I write this blog post, is the traditional day of celebration in Torrent, Spain called La entrada de la flor or the Entrance of the Flower. On February 1st, in the Valencian community, the Confrerie of the Mother of God make an offering of a branch of the first blooming almond tree to […]

Posted on February 4th, 2020

It’s Almond Shaking Season!

Shaking the Almond Trees

It’s the most wonderful time of the year— almond shaking season when we knock the “l” from the almonds. (We say “ah-mond” here in Chico, with “ah” pronounced like “Sam.”) Between mid-August and October, 80% of the world’s almonds are shaken from the trees in California. Some say the season actually begins in Chico. And […]

Posted on September 5th, 2019

Happy National Honey Bee Day!

Bee on Almond flowers

National Honey Bee Day is Saturday, August 17. The USDA designated the third Saturday in August an official “awareness” day about 10 years ago to recognize the importance of our bees and the beekeepers who tend them. What’s the buzz all about? Well, did you know that, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these […]

Posted on August 15th, 2019

Home in the Almond Grove

Hurtado Family

I came across a country rock song I never heard before recently by a band named Cracker that maybe some of you might know. Cracker was formed by singer-songwriter David Lowery (of Camper Van Beethoven fame) and guitarist Johnny Hickman. On their most recent album, “Berkeley to Bakersfield,” is a bittersweet song called “The Almond […]

Posted on August 8th, 2019

When Almond Hulls Split

Almond Hull split

We’re seeing our first hull splits! That means harvest time is on its way! Really? Well, not right away, but splits in July indicate a phase in the lifetime of the almond that lets us know that things are proceeding at a good pace. After almond bloom season in February and March, almond fruits start […]

Posted on July 25th, 2019

More Crop Per Drop—Water-wise Family Farming at Maisie Jane’s

Maisie Jane and Her Children

At Maisie Jane’s we are committed to sustainable family farming. That’s why we have put practices in place that will save 22% more water, our most valuable natural resource. Using holistic land management and new technology we’re joining other water-wise family farmers across the state of California in a quest to respond to changing weather […]

Posted on June 27th, 2019

Almond Tree in Blossom by Pierre Bonnard

The Almond Tree by Pierre Bonnard

The Almond Trees are in blossom! It’s such a glorious time of year. And every year as I write this blog my thoughts turn to the artists who loved almond blossoms just as much. In the late winter of 1941, Post-Impressionist French painter Pierre Bonnard wrote to his friend Henri Matisse: “Today I saw the […]

Posted on March 21st, 2019