It’s California Arbor Day

Almond Grove in Bloom

We’re celebrating trees on the blog today! We celebrate Arbor Day in California on March 7th in honor of horticulturist Luther Burbank’s birthday. Did you know that Luther Burbank got his start in the field when he chose the almond as the rootstock to fulfill a commission from an investor who wanted to cash in […]

Posted on March 7th, 2019

The Artistry of Almond Blossom Season

Gathering Almond Blossoms by John W. Waterhouse

It’s Bloom season here in Chico. It’s been raining more this year than most, but our bees did find a break in the weather to help pollinate the trees. Time will tell how well they were able to do. In the meantime, it is always glorious to see the almond trees burst into bloom. Locals […]

Posted on March 5th, 2019

Making the Most of Every Part of an Almond Crop (Almond Coproducts)

Almonds Cracking Open in July and August

Here at Maisie Jane’s we believe in using every part of the almonds we harvest. Did you know that almond orchards actually produce four different coproducts? There’s the kernels we eat, the almond hulls (frequently used to feed livestock), the shells (used for livestock bedding and as a fuel source) and the trees themselves when they are […]

Posted on February 26th, 2019

“Still Life and Blossoming Almond Trees” by Diego Rivera

Still Life and Blossoming Almond Trees

It is not unusual to find beautiful paintings and photographs of almond trees in blossom. Revered artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Pierre Bonnard have been captivated by the beauty of bloom season as have lesser known artists wherever almond trees can be found. What is far less usual, however, is to find a painting that […]

Posted on February 14th, 2019

We Couldn’t Do It Without the Bees

Maisie Jane's Honey

Meet one of our biggest business partners: the honeybees! The importance of bees for almonds is so valuable that the relationships between almond growers and the beekeepers we work with go back for years. Almonds, like many crops, are not self-pollinating. So between January and March we depend on bees coming into our orchards to do […]

Posted on February 12th, 2019

Healthy Food for a Healthy Planet

Almond Orchard

Did you know that an acre of almond trees grows 450 pounds of protein and 260 pounds of fiber and the “good” monounsaturated fats that helps keep your heart healthy? But the trees don’t only have healthy food value—they can have health benefits for the environment as well. In fact, a well-managed almond orchard could […]

Posted on January 17th, 2019

Maisie Jane’s California Sunshine Products is 25 Years Old!

25 Year Anniversary

Happy Birthday to us! Happy Birthday to us! This month marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Maisie Jane’s California Sunshine Products! It all started when Maisie was just 17 and was raising sheep for a Future Farmers of America (FFA) project. At the time her family had been growing almonds for three generations and […]

Posted on October 23rd, 2018

What Could We Do with Almond Hulls?

Almonds and Almond Hulls

Did you know that for every pound of almonds produced we’re also left with two pounds of almond hulls? That adds up to about 40,000 tons produced in California each year—an enormous amount of potential debris! Luckily, there are many uses for almond hulls. For example, ground hulls are rich in sugar, nutritious minerals and […]

Posted on October 16th, 2018

Are non GMO Products Best For You?

Non GMO Verified

There is a great deal of controversy about whether GMO products are harmful. GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are made by scientists in a laboratory by removing a gene from the DNA of another organism, (plant, animal, bacterium, or virus) and adding them into the DNA of the plant or animal they want to alter. That sounds […]

Posted on October 9th, 2018

What Would Happen If We Lost the Bees

Bee Stressors

This morning as I sat eating breakfast next to a wonderful Crepe Myrtle tree in full flower and buzzing with bees, I realized that a person could find it hard to believe that bees might be an endangered species. After all, I reported here myself last March about how Colony Collapse Disorder in honey bees […]

Posted on August 28th, 2018