Winter rain is good, it fill the reservoirs and recharges the groundwater reserves. Our wheat was really looking thirsty in late January now it is vibrant and bursting into spring growth.
As we grow so many different crops what ever the weather it is good for some crops and less optimum for others. A case in point is our plum crop whose flowers got drenched during all this rain. All but the late opening flowers are very soggy and will not produce fruit this year. We will still have a crop, just not a heavy one. The peach blossom timed its opening just perfectly over the last weekend. I was not able to spray lime sulfur to reduce peach leaf curl as it was raining at the right time so there is a little more of this disease than I would like. The most important thing is that the blossom is strong and it is not raining.
The fields are still very wet so we have to keep the tractors out or they will damage the soil structure. It will be at least a week before we can start mowing and a little longer before the first beds can be prepared for spring planting. I am hoping that Roberto will be able to do some light weed cultivation at the end of the week.
We are spending our spare hours not picking working on the new greenhouse. We have lots of trays of plants just waiting for a place to go.
The picture below is of our plum blossom. Most is soggy and not pollinated, the later flowering buds will bear fruit.
