Almond Living Magazine

Almonds and Honey Bees: An Essential Partnership

Every spring, California’s almond orchards mark the beginning of one of agriculture’s most important partnerships: the relationship between food production and honey bees. This co-dependence is foundational not only to almond production, but to the health of pollinators and food systems globally. 

The Almond Lifecycle: From Bloom to Snack Time

Almonds and the trees that grow them go through many stages in their annual lifecycle including dormancy during winter, the stunning bloom in February and March, “growing up” through the spring, and “cracking open” in summer. The year finishes up with harvest spanning from mid-August to October, followed by shelling and sizing. Only then is the crop, representing 80% of...

A Comprehensive, Living Map of California Almonds

The Almond Board of California (ABC) has partnered with Land IQ, a Sacramento-based agricultural and environmental scientific research and consulting firm, to develop a comprehensive, living map of California Almonds, orchard-by-orchard. This map is the result of over half a decade of research and because Land IQ’s approach does not rely on surveys or extrapolation, it has an accuracy of...

How long is an almond orchard productive?

This post was written by Kern County almond farmer Jenny Holtermann and originally appeared on her blog, You Say All-mend, I Say Am-end on Sept. 15, 2016. Jenny discusses the life cycle of almond trees, comparing the need to pull out a 28-year-old orchard nearing the end of its productive life while at the same time experiencing the first harvest...