Spring Delights in the Central Valley

There are a couple of things that I really look forward to in each spring season.  One of them is the emergence of the beautiful flowers on the fruit trees in front.  The other is the amazing smell of the orange trees in blossom.

February is the month that the fruit trees flower.  Bees seek out my yard when there is no wind and the sun warms the air to the degree that no sweater or jacket is needed. My mom always said that bees have a great union.  They do not work when there is not great conditions.  We often get wayward bees in the beginning of the season as the almond groves around us have bees in place and are waiting for the almond trees to blossom.  During the height of their blossom, our fruit trees may be in great position but will not get the bee attention because of the readiness of the almond trees to fulfill the bee's pollination needs.  The almond season is not very long.  My friend the beekeeper is busy transporting bees almost every evening during this time.  He starts with bees transported to Bakersfield 150 miles away in early January.  He ends up in the Northern Sacramento valley in late March. The trees reach their height of blossom for only a couple of weeks each year in February. Peach trees are in blossom for about 3 weeks.  The blossom season starts out with the pulots and ends with the pomegranate trees in May and early June. Pomegranate trees blossom after the trees get their leaves.  All of the other trees have blossoms before their green leaves arrive.

This time of the year, March headed to April, is the time that the citrus, particularly the orange and lemon trees produce their blossoms. First the oranges are in blossom.  Next will come the lemons into blossom with their amazing smell. This phenomenon seems to always be around Easter.  In the central valley, we are in prime position for navel oranges.  Our region is region is 9.  In many years we may be in region 8. Region 8 allows of for temperatures to be no lower than 30 degrees.  Region 9  has temperatures that may reach 26 for a couple of hours. 26 degrees could result in damage to citrus  trees. This low number occurs only once or twice in every 3 or four years.

The spring is also a time for starting the garden in the backyard.  Last year we had a great season of tomatoes and Italian sweet peppers.  A portion of the backyard was rototiller and I planted in the grooves the little plants that I grew from seeds in January,  The big issue last year was to get enough of the garden watered in the correct proportion to its needs.  Last year was a drought year.  Young tomatoes and peppers need to be watered more often than our water restriction allowed.  So I hand watered the garden with big orange bucket.  I was a little late in getting the seeds planted in their peat pods.  I supplemented my little Burpee seed tomatoes and peppers with 6 tomato plants that I bought in Costco. Theses plants were considerably bigger than my little seedlings.

This year I started the Burpee seeds on Super Bowl Sunday.  The first week of February is just a little late to start seeds in our area. The last average frost date is February 15.  The tomato seeds take 10 days to sprout.  They are no where near transplanting time until their second leaves are well established.  I think that they need at least a month to get to a stage that they can be considered a success. I used really big peat pods to start the seed. This allows them to stay in their peat a little longer without having to be transplanted into an intermediate pot. They are ready to get into their Summer spot.  I am making 3 elevated gardening beds this year.  There are 12 inches tall, 4 feet wide and 8 feet long.  They are made with redwood boards. I need to put a little stain/finish on the wood before they are filled with great soil.

Onward and upward to a great garden this year! :  ) Pat