Observations of an avocado🥑 farmer, dog guy, former Navy P3 pilot. Will be posting infrequently here if at all. BSky now my preferred platform.
Ventura County, CA
Joined December 2011
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If we can talk about this one fruit in a more adult way, maybe we can have better conversations about the crops at the center of the American plate.
saticoyroots.wordpress.com/2…
Shiny green and not quite ripe. These avocados 🥑 are on some of our younger trees, and will probably be harvested in the early part of the season (January-March) depending on weather, markets. We like to unload the young trees to help them grow.
Rare for us to start covercrop this early, but last week's rain was a chance to get a jump on areas where we might see water movement this winter. Hoping to get roots down before any major rainfall.
"Is that it?" Hope wonders whether this rain marks the end of our irrigation season. Unlikely, but it will certainly be a low water use year.
They said that avocado cold fusion was impossible. That only a mad man would attempt it. But who's laughing now? (Maniacal laughter ensues.)
Also, the heat might be starting to get to me.
Despite a very warm summer, our practice of infrequent, shallow irrigation and lots of mulch has kept the trees thriving. After 3/4 year, we are on track to have a very low water usage year.
At our secret upholstery lab in an undisclosed location, the refreshed seats for our 1991 F150 undergo farm dog test and evaluation. Unfortunately, the Anatolian shepherd simulator might not be heavy duty enough for accurate data.
Even with good starting soil moisture and high humidity, 105 degrees is pretty stressful for avocados. West wind is starting to come in and irrigation is started, but I'll be seeing some damage show up in the next few days.
Scattered raindrops and the rumble of distant thunder are unusual for September. And yet tomorrow we might send everyone home early due to expected heat stress.
Looking and feeling tropical after 4/10 inch of rain yesterday. Surprised to see a bump in soil moisture levels as deep as 16" in some spots.
Dramatic skies in Santa Paula this morning. I guess the summer monsoon is going to be our thing now. Forecast has solid chance of rain next week. Better than Santa Ana winds.
Roscoe and Hope wish all who celebrate a happy #nationaldogday. For those that don't, they wish an infestation of cats.
Selected over thousands of years to protect flocks from lions, bears, and wolves, Anatolian shepherds are a tough breed. But Hope does enjoy sitting in the shade with a pup cup after checking irrigation. (Note muddy paws) 21st century quasi suburban farm dog.
A break from avocado content: this cake by pastry genius Anastasia Chavez highlights 2 of our legacy crops: Meyer lemons and figs. Picked them Wednesday morning, cake Thursday evening. Great farm dinner by Totally Local VC. Thanks Chef Tim and Kat! Photo: Camarillo Barrel Works
Chris Sayer 🥑 retweeted
Absolutely disgusting.
"The US Navy is working to rename an aircraft carrier under construction that was set to honor a Black sailor hailed for his heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor ... there have been internal conversations about renaming it to honor Trump."
cnn.com/2026/08/20/politics/…
Occasionally mature avocado trees are heavily cut back to control structure, improve fruit size, and make future harvests safe and economical. Exposed bark is whitewashed with diluted white latex paint. New growth appears quickly, and will yield fruit a couple years from now.
Even in a well planned new planting, a few trees fail. We take the chance to diversify our genetics a bit. This newbie is Hass on Tami rootstock, selected for salinity tolerance. While we only have 2 commercial fruiting cultivars, we have 11 different roostocks.
