Of all my travel sourcing food ingredients for my company, my favorite U.S. trip is my annual trek to California to evaluate the almond bloom. California dominates the world market with a 2 billion lb. crop, and understanding the potential size of each year’s harvest (and possible export demand) as early in the year as possible is crucial to buying well. In addition, it is a spectacular bloom to witness. The acreage for almond growing extends from Sacramento in the north down past Fresno in the south, making U.S. 99 through the San Joaquin Valley the optimum way to spend a week touring the orchards.
The bloom is a critical period for determining the size and quality of the almond crop because, as with every crop, so many things need to go reasonably well. Santa Ana winds can blow the pedals to the ground, rain keeps the bees from pollinating the blooms, and frost is the ultimate fear for the tender flowers. Against this last dreaded potential, many growers will install massive fans in their orchards to make sure a frost does not settle on the blooms. Growers don’t have to worry about rain – there is very little in the valley – thus making irrigation standard, and expensive. Bee hives are imported from Minnesota and the Dakotas each February to pollinate the massive growing region, and the end result is a statewide sea of pink and white that can be seen from an airliner. The uninitiated often think that central California is getting snow when they see the bloom from 30,000 feet.
It’s easy to make counting bud sets, driving dirt roads all day in a pick-up, and making a quick lunch at a roadside taco stand sound like hard work, and maybe it is, but it is a glorious week of work nonetheless. Once estimates are made, and deals are done, it’s very gratifying work as well. When I return home in the Midwest, the thing I most miss almost immediately is the constant humming of scores of bees working even harder than I was.
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