It’s been quite a year. After 5 years on this property, planting trees and building a farm in the slowest of possible ways, we finally had a real harvest, and it was a great one! It’s hard to believe that the thin and spindly twigs of bare-root trees that are delivered in the dead of winter, then gently placed into the ground, will someday grow into healthy trees covered in fruit. And yet, so it is, and of the 600 or so trees we have planted, most are now thriving, and perhaps half fruited this year, most for the first time. I am so grateful to everyone who believed in our crazy mission to grow a diverse fruit orchard on these bare acres 62 months ago.
So I give thanks:
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to the farmers and teachers who helped guide us, especially Terence Welch, Jim Leap and the professors at the UC Davis Fruit & Nut Program
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to all of the folks who have worked on this farm, especially Travis Snyder, Sara Bush and Jane Kuhn
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to all our friends and family who lent a hand out of pure kindness and belief in what we are doing
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to the CASFS program at UCSC, for teaching these growing skills to a new generation every year
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to all the customers who have bought our produce and supported us on this journey
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and for the rain!, the bees, the soil, the birds and all the other wonders on this beautiful planet from whence it all comes
Thank you thank you thank you all.
A final Wickson apple
Persimmon leaves have the best fall color
Tamopan persimmon