We talk about water a lot here in the Central Valley. All residents here are consumers and it’s on all of our minds. If you’re a Californian, you may talk about it with your neighbors as you’re watering your front yard, unless you’ve swapped out your water-loving yard for drought-resistant landscaping. You may be altering how you carry out your household tasks to reduce water consumption. Thank you. Maybe you’ve decided not to wash your car until Mother Nature does so. Yikes. Whatever you’re doing, chances are you’ve adjusted your daily lifestyle at least to some degree to be a better steward of this precious resource.
It seems to be a bit of an irony that a lot of the world’s most amazing fruits and nuts are grown in a region that seems to be increasingly more prone to dry spells as the years go on. This region is ideal for growing thanks to great soil, lots of sunny weather and water that flows from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to our east. It’s simply a place where fruits and nuts thrive! Those fruits and nuts are grown by farmers who have endured some seemingly extremely dry seasons over the years. And we’re sure you know: We’re heading into one of those seasons right now.
In order for our area to continue producing much of the fruits and nuts consumed in our country and throughout the world, we just can’t turn off the water. The fruits and nuts in our region need that water, drought or not. So what do we do to continue keeping our orchards in the best condition possible so you can continue counting on having California fruits and nuts available? Glad you asked. There are many innovations and methods underway in California to improve water delivery to our orchards. In response to the greater frequency of dry years in California, many farmers are using methods such as micro-irrigation, including drip irrigation systems, to deliver water to their orchards. This entails allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of the trees from tubes or pipes above or just below the surface around the trees. It can be a really efficient way of getting needed water to the orchards. Other farmers use what’s called flood irrigation, which was traditionally the irrigation method of choice. This entails opening valves or water gates to allow measured amounts of water to flood the orchards. That water is contained in the orchards to irrigate specific pieces of land. This isn’t a completely bad irrigation method though, because the water that isn’t used by the trees percolates back down to the underground water supply, otherwise known as the water table or aquifer.
This said, we are all constantly looking for ways to be even better stewards of precious water in our orchards, in our workplaces and in our homes. At Bella Viva Orchards, offering you lovingly-grown and carefully sourced fruits and nuts is our life and our passion, and we want generations to come to be sustained and enjoy the bounty and quality that our family, friends and dear customers like you have for years. We invite you to share our care for this deeply valued resource and challenge yourself to strive to be a wiser miser. We thank you, your community thanks you and Mother Earth really thanks you!