It’s been chilly and frosty.
This the most frost I have seen in the corralito, where our highest-chill fruit trees grow, in five winters. (Well, that first winter, the corralito had not yet been built, nor any trees planted.) A lot of people who want to grow deciduous fruits assume you need to have frost. You don’t; in fact, the prime temperature range for the accumulation of needed chilling hours is about 38–45, Fahrenheit, and obviously frost occurs at lower temperatures. And when the air temperature is at freezing, the buds’ receptivity to accumulating chill probably freezes, too, until it starts to warm up. Still, when the morning starts off this cold–the photo was taken around 7:30 a.m., when it was 31 degrees–the chilly air is likely to stick around, especially if you can give the trees some shade and if you are in a canyon or valley that tends to trap the cold air. Only by about 10:00 a.m. did the temperature rise above 45, and the high in the winter-shaded part of the corralito (structured so as to “cheat” on the chill) barely reached 60.
Down at the bottom of the canyon, near the neighbor’s vineyard and by the horse track beyond, it was really frosted. This view is taken from the veranda of the house, about 75-100 feet above the elevation of the corralito and about 200 feet above the canyon floor. The canyon floor itself is about 240 feet above sea level, while those twin peaks across the canyon rise to about 1,040. The topography helps channel chilly air and keep it from draining away too fast on a windless morning.
Fortunately, however, there was almost no frost up at the higher parts of Ladera Frutal, where the bananas are planted, about 170 feet above the corralito (525 or so above sea level).
This photo was also taken shortly after 7:30 a.m., but unlike the shaded corralito, this part of the finca was already bathed in glorious early morning sunshine. The very steepness of these canyon walls and the varying sun angles are what give us the luxury of such microclimates.
Nonetheless, even farther up the slope than this location–up at 550 or so above sea level–the low was 33. That’s the smallest difference from top to bottom of the slope that I have seen on any morning when the lowest part dropped to freezing. Usually, when it is this cold, the same clear, dry, and windless conditions that give us the frost help keep the upper reaches of the finca anywhere from five to fourteen (yes, 14!) degrees warmer than the lower. Although there was no frost up there on the higher ground, those subtropicals that I planted back in October could be in danger from this cold snap.
Planted by MSS
Planted in:
Around the finca
My mother loved lilacs. But our climate is too mild for most standard varieties to bloom here. In the last decade or so, however, some low-chill varieties have become available. I bought the one pictured here for my mother a few years before her death. Fortunately, it bloomed in time for her to enjoy it. Afterwards, I dug it up and took it to our home in Carlsbad, and then again to take it here to the finca. It is a well traveled lilac. This year, for the first time at the finca, it has bloomed–just in time for her birthday, which would have been this past Wednesday.
21 May 2006
This young coyote just stood and looked over the edge of the veranda, then into the house, then into the abyss again for quite a long time.
23 March 2006
Planted by MSS
Planted in:
Around the finca;
FRUITS;
Weather
UPDATE: The termperature actually reached 80 before noon! First time since way back in the depth of winter–Feb. 18.
Normally, it would be unremarkable that it is 70 degrees at Ladera Frutal. But the temperature just reached that level for the first time since February 27, which indicates a remarkably long cool period for us in any month. Yesterday’s high of 66 broke a string of four consecutive days on which the high had not even made it to 60. It was also the first day it had been above 65 since March 6. It is has been a chilly month.
But signs of spring abound. The ‘peppermint’ flowering peach, one of my favorite non-fruiting plants,* is in full bloom, as is the field of ‘wild’ flowers that surrounds it.
It is also the peak of kumquat season.
This is a ‘Meiwa’ kumquat, a less tart version than the more common puckery ‘Nagami.’
Yes, it seems it is spring.
For either photo, click on the image for a larger version, or you can go to my Flickr set, which includes other photos.
*It does produce a few fruit some years, and they are certainly edible, but one would not really want to plant this tree for its peaches.
05 March 2006
Planted by MSS
Planted in:
Around the finca
(click on the image for a larger version)
I finally got around to doing something about the eyesore that has been Ladera Frutal’s road frontage. This is our new row of little Tecate cypresses (Cupressus forbesii), 19 in all, planted on ten-foot centers at the very bottom of the finca. As the name implies, the Tecate cypress is native to far southern California and northern Baja, on the inland coast-facing slopes.
Stand back! This species of cypress is among the fastest growing conifers. They can grow six feet or more in a year. In fact, they have been in the ground only ten days and already they have put on more than an inch. Not many plants start to grow so soon after planting, and even an inch in ten days is pretty amazing.
Once they really get going, they ought to look like the row that you can see at the website of Las Pilitas, the very nearby nursery where ours were propagated.
Propagation: Seeds & scions (1)
Fruits and Votes grafted Cypress update
