How Organic Almonds Are Grown
First, let’s start with what is organic farming. In its simplest sense organic farming is growing something living from something living. While I grow organic almonds, I spend much of my time farming my soil. My soil has living plant material and microbial animal material in it. This forms the living foundation to the tree. If I take care of the soil, it will take care of the tree.
Capay Hills Orchard completes the organic statement by being organic certified through the USDA. That means I follow the USDA National Organic Program regulations and I am inspected at least annually to ensure compliance. The USDA certifies many inspection agencies, mine is Yolo Certified Organic Agriculture (my county agriculture department). They do a thorough records evaluation and on-site inspection. Record keeping is a vital part of organic certification. It helps prove the actions you are taking and organic products you are using in your farming operation are correct. Everything from receipts to delivery tags. They know you have issues like weed control, nutrition, disease, insects, etc. to address so the paperwork helps prove what you are claiming. Anyone can say they are organic, certification proves it and gives the consumer confidence that they are getting what they paid for.
I will update this blog periodically with each aspect to organic farming and how I grow such superior almonds.
Our first aspect is soil nutrition. Our soil nutrition starts every year in fall after harvest. First spread tons of compost, chicken manure and gypsum. Compost is decomposed plant material that returns nutrients and organic matter to the soil in a form that plants can easily use. It also improves nutrient retention by increasing the soil's cation exchange capacity. Compost adds organic matter which helps with moisture retention and nutrient supply. Compost provides a slow release of nutrients, so plants get a steady supply as needed. It can also help balance soil pH levels, which can affect a plant's ability to access nutrients. Compost contains beneficial organisms like algae, fungi, bacteria, and nematodes that keep soil healthy. It can also increase the population of earthworms and microbes which also help make nutrients in the soil chemically available to the tree.
Gypsum is a natural, mined material, like a white powder. Gypsum improves soil structure and health by loosening compacted or clay soils and transforming tightly packed particles into larger clumps. This makes the soil more porous, allowing air, water, and nutrients to penetrate more easily. Gypsum neutralizes chemical salts in the soil, which allows more rain to infiltrate instead of run off. This improves water infiltration rates and hydraulic conductivity, which can protect against excess water runoff and erosion, especially during large storms. Gypsum is a moderately soluble source of calcium and sulfur, which are essential plant nutrients that can improve overall plant growth. Gypsum can also lower soil pH and boost electrical conductivity.
Chicken manure helps with nutrients and organic matter. It carries high nitrogen content and almonds are hungry users of nitrogen.
These 3 products are then integrated into the soil with a shallow, light till, providing a seed bed for our cover crop. A cover crop is a select plant that provides a certain benefit to the soil. These benefits can be nitrogen, organic material, soil moisture infiltration. I normally use vetch and bell bean which have high levels of nitrogen. They perform nitrogen fixation by taking nitrogen out of the air (78% nitrogen). And put it in the soil through the pants root nodules. Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process that converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, which is absorbed by organisms. Nitrogen fixation is essentially converting atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can more readily utilize. During spring the cover crop fertilizes the soil. We terminate the cover crop with sheep prior to the cover crop going to seed. The sheep also add manure fertilizer and save me time mowing with tractor.
We also nurture an environment for soil microbes to flourish. We do this by adding sugars and moisture to the soil through an irrigation system. These microscopic organisms help convert nutrients in the soil into a chemical form that the tree and use. Our soil also contains mycorrhizal fungi which are fungi that form a mutually-beneficial symbiotic relationship with plants’ roots. These fungi attach themselves to the roots of the cover crop (and then spread to our trees) and basically become extensions of the roots. Therefore, mycorrhizae increase the trees’ capacity to find and absorb water and even help to break down important nutrients for the health of the tree.
Next topic: Irrigation
You can buy unpasteurized raw almonds and almond butter directly from the California farmer at Capay Hills Orchard. Order off the website, www.chorganicalmonds.com or by calling or texting 530-507-8222. Talk or text directly with the farmer, Brian Paddock Alternatively email capayhillsorchard@gmail.com Please share this post with your friends.
Capay Hills Orchard is a small family farm growing the best raw almonds, raw almond butter and smoked almonds. Capay Hills Orchard is Veteran owned, Bee Friendly certified, and of-course Certified Organic using Regenerative farming practices.
Irrigation is actually a relatively new concept in almond farming. In the 30's through 60s most almond orchards were "dry farmed". Technological advances in microirrigation (like drip) prompted farmers to increase their yields by increasing density planting and adding irrigation. It forced productivity increases and is now the standard.
Our orchard uses a microspray irrigation system. The water originates from a deep well and is operated primarily from April through October with peak usage Late May through August. Our microsprayers distribute 5.9 gallons per hour of water in a circulator spray pattern between each tree.
Irrigation, for those of us who source water from a well, is very expensive. Our well is powered by solar, but it cost me dearly to pay for it. We test our water annually for a full panel of nutrients, so we know how the water composition affects the overall biological exposure of the tree. Water conservation is absolutely critical for 3 reasons: cost, water supply stewardship, and the right amount of water for the tree given the environmental conditions. Too much water is as bad as too little.
Irrigation timing is important, we have a pressure chamber which a UC Davis professor invented. With this device we can determine the stem water potential and compare it to a chart. From the chart and evapotranspiration tables, we determine the irrigation requirements of the tree. We really don’t care how wet the soil is, we care what the tree leaves are getting. With this tool we eliminate over-irrigating and are therefore using our water resource properly.
Our trees are colonized with mycorrhizal fungi, these fungi help the tree find water. Mycorrhizas are fungal, symbiotic associations between plant roots and beneficial fungi. The fungi effectively extend the root area of plants and help source moisture. Check out other BLOG on water use and do almonds use a lot of water? The answer may surprise you. https://www.chorganicalmonds.com/post/do-almonds-use-alot-of-water.
Next Topic: Harvest!
Since we are getting real close to harvest I figured it’s a good time to discuss this important topic. Back in the old days (1800’s, early 1900’s) almond growers would lay a tarp on the ground and the farmer would knocked the “L” out of tree with a rubber mallet, the result would be an “amond”, and some people still pronounce them that way, particularly those in the northern CA where the almond industry is the oldest. In fact, for 8 years this is how we harvested, but the tree got too big and harvest started stretching out too long and labor grew short supply and expensive.
Tarps have a huge advantage particularly since I like to provide unpasteurized almonds. Typical, conventional harvest is completed by a hydro mechanical shaker dropping the nuts (in the shell) onto the ground, then a sweeper/blower unit to push and blow the “product” into a row, then a pick-up machine to do some rough sorting of twigs and leaves. This typical method has 3 major drawbacks, 1. Exposure to the pathogens on the ground, 2. Three machines, 3 very dusty and dirty- in fact it looks like smoke from a fire. In the spirit of regenerative farming, you can’t call that style of harvest one which improves soil health or air quality, in fact, quite the opposite!
At Capay Hills Orchard we stick to the long-standing tradition of tarps, but have evolved to using a catch frame arraignment which includes a built-in hydromechanics shaker doing the heavy work. In involves 2 independent machines and as fairly efficient, about 45 seconds per tree. This method avoids rubbing the almonds in the ground thus offering a much safe product and far cleaner with no air quality concerns. This is a proper harvest in the spirit of organic and regenerative farming.
After the almonds are harvested, we sun dry them on a clean concrete pad for 1-2 weeks, then truck them (field run product) to a local organic huller and sheller. Using a huge multimillion dollar machine with several steps full of shakers, screens, rollers and scanners, they remove the hulls (sold for cattle feed) and shells (multitude of uses) and give us the kernels. We sort them with about 8 sets of human eyeballs then put them in a temperature and humidity controlled cold storage at our farm until sold. .
Next Topic: Weed Control
Weed Control is the most time-consuming and labor-intensive aspect of organic farming. Weeds can steal limited water and nutrients when they are present at the wrong time. We do not use any synthetic herbicides. Neither organic nor regenerative farming would find synthetic herbicides acceptable. There are organic approved herbicides which are typically natural acids. They are somewhat expensive and effective for broad-leaf weeds.
For Capay Hills Orchard, we have another set of tools to combat weeds. First, to help block out or compete with harmful weeds, we plant a beneficial cover crop (discussed earlier). Once the cover crop has grown but before it goes to seed (which uses valuable nitrogen), we introduce sheep which eat the cover crop down and any weeds to the ground. We will keep the sheep around until 90 days prior to harvest at which time they must be removed due to organic /food safety rules. The sheep also help with soil fertility.
Until harvest we mow to control weeds which normally is twice. Often in fall after harvest, the sheep return until planting the cover crop.
There are other weed control options for organic farmer such as flaming the weeds with a propane burner. We do not use this method and there are some folks who cringe at the thought of this practice being organic approved, but so far it is. Additional there is a tillage or disking option. We prefer mowing and a side benefit is the organic material helps as a mulch and increases the soil organic matter.
Next Topic: Pollination
Before beginning this discussion on bees I need to define who I am. I am an organic small almond grower. We have a 14.6 ac farm with 12.5 ac in production, the remaining 2 ac is a planted hedgerow, my home, yard, driveway and dry creek. Compared to a typical commercial almond grower, we are very small. We are a true family farm. No year-round employees. I started farming in 2003, but my working career began with a degree in Civil Engineering from UC Davis, then I had a job as a geotechnical engineer, then pilot in the USAF, then airline pilot.
As an almond grower we must have healthy bees or zero nuts! It’s that simple. I suggest that farmers are more motivated than any other group to ensure bees are properly handled and cared for. However, not every farmer is educated to know how to care for them. Some media sources are portraying the “almond industry” as some kind of mean boogey man. It’s not true. The CA almond industry is huge, 7600 farms, 91% of which are family farms, 70% less than 100 acres. CA supplies 80% of the world’s almonds. Supplying the world with all those almonds requires water and bees.
Our Bee Management Plan:
Our annual supply of bees (1 hive per acre) comes from our neighbor, BZ Bee Pollination, about 1000 ft away, so no transportation stress. The hives are here for about 3-4 weeks. The owner, John Foster is fanatical about ensuring the health of his bees and ensuring they stay healthy. He is a bee keeper, pollinator and queen bee grower. He visits regularly check on them and make any necessary adjustments or health checks. The standard is 2 hives per ac, but since there are many natural bees in the area, one is enough. Our property is naturally frequented by bees daily, 365 days per year. We recognize the importance of local bees to our farm and community. To that end 75% of our property is surrounded by hedgerows of native plants which I specifically selected to serve as insectiary and forage, supporting beneficial insects and bees. We have a large variety of plants providing pollen and nectar during ALL TIMES of the year. In Fall we also plant a cover crop throughout the orchard (vetch, mustard, brassica, peas, beans, etc). It serves many purposes: soil health, nutrition for the trees and tons of flowers for the bees and butterflies to forage. We support Apis M Project, https://www.projectapism.org/ which has done so much good for promoting bee health across the country. So, even though our neighbor brings bee hives here every year, we still have a natural population that constantly visits our property to enjoy the plentiful pollen and nectar.
Next, being organic, there is technically nothing I could spray that would theoretically harm them, but that’s not good enough for me. I go to even greater lengths and some would say extreme ends to protect the bees, I don’t do a bloom spray. In fact I don’t spray a thing while bees are around. Many other growers and crop advisors think I’m crazy, even stupid. Most organic growers spray beneficial fungi to protect the trees from destructive fungal diseases which enter the tree from the blossoms. The labels state these organic approved sprays are safe for bees, but I’m not so sure. I guess I don’t want to take that risk to damage the bee population or irritate their feeding habits. By not spraying during the bloom I do take a significant risk that my trees will get a blight or some other ailment, this of course negatively affects my yield and bottom line.
Another thing, I don’t spray for pesticides at all, zero. We have biodiversity and insect warfare here instead and it works. My hedgerow harbors beneficial insects which feed on the bad ones. I don’t need to use pesticides. We follow ALL Bee Best Management Practices from the Almond Board, Project Apis M and Pollination Partnership among others.
Almond growers are good down to earth people, not heartless bee killers. They grow almonds which help feed bees. However, some growers continue age old practices of spraying various products and the timing and mismanagement of those sprays are contributory to the problem. More and more growers are changing their ways as they get educated (from the Almond Board), local County Farm Advisors and other farmers like me. I do my part to encourage other growers to plant bee forage, hedgerows, cover crops and to properly manage their sprays. Ultimately I hope they will convert to organic farming which will better serve the bee colony collapse and sustainable agriculture as a whole. So the problem is not almonds using so many bees, its proper stewardship of those resources.
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