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A productive day
May. 11th, 2007 17:30Today I went out to Brentwood to walk the cherry orchards.
We were looking for Cherry Buckskin Disease. We started in an orchard that's had it for a couple of years, and we found about four trees that had it this year; if the lab tests come back positive, those trees will be taken out in an attempt to halt the spread. So far as I know, only two orchards in the county have had it, after decades of clear survey results, so there's still hope that we can eradicate it. It makes the fruit inedible within a year, and kills the trees eventually.
So that was most of my day -- walking along a grassy path between trees, craning my neck up and to the right, up and to the left. Oh, and sampling the fruit to ensure good quality. ;) Coral Champagne isn't my favorite variety (too tart), but the Raniers are still a couple of weeks off, with Bing. So Coral is what we got.
My favorite cherry is Black Tartarian, though, and after we broke up the survey team I went out to Tachella Farms and asked whether theirs had been done and gone already. The answer was no, they had some, but they weren't going to be picked... I could have some if I wanted to pick them off the tree myself, assuming the birds hadn't gotten them. They're too small to sell, really, but they have a dark rich flavor I really like. So I spent about a half hour picking a bag of those, and now I have two bags of cherries -- one Coral Champagne, and one of Back Tartarian that's all mine. :)
I came home the back way along Marsh Creek Road, which is a totally different experience when driven toward Clayton instead of from it. I threw some Depeche Mode in and sang most of the way; my voice seems to be getting better, clarifying a bit, and my lower range is more solid. (I'm a contralto, so I have about half of the tenor range on a good day.) I only sing for myself, so it's not a huge deal, but I was pleased.
Time to pack things up and head down to Fremont for good Indian food and Doctor Who. Woo!
We were looking for Cherry Buckskin Disease. We started in an orchard that's had it for a couple of years, and we found about four trees that had it this year; if the lab tests come back positive, those trees will be taken out in an attempt to halt the spread. So far as I know, only two orchards in the county have had it, after decades of clear survey results, so there's still hope that we can eradicate it. It makes the fruit inedible within a year, and kills the trees eventually.
So that was most of my day -- walking along a grassy path between trees, craning my neck up and to the right, up and to the left. Oh, and sampling the fruit to ensure good quality. ;) Coral Champagne isn't my favorite variety (too tart), but the Raniers are still a couple of weeks off, with Bing. So Coral is what we got.
My favorite cherry is Black Tartarian, though, and after we broke up the survey team I went out to Tachella Farms and asked whether theirs had been done and gone already. The answer was no, they had some, but they weren't going to be picked... I could have some if I wanted to pick them off the tree myself, assuming the birds hadn't gotten them. They're too small to sell, really, but they have a dark rich flavor I really like. So I spent about a half hour picking a bag of those, and now I have two bags of cherries -- one Coral Champagne, and one of Back Tartarian that's all mine. :)
I came home the back way along Marsh Creek Road, which is a totally different experience when driven toward Clayton instead of from it. I threw some Depeche Mode in and sang most of the way; my voice seems to be getting better, clarifying a bit, and my lower range is more solid. (I'm a contralto, so I have about half of the tenor range on a good day.) I only sing for myself, so it's not a huge deal, but I was pleased.
Time to pack things up and head down to Fremont for good Indian food and Doctor Who. Woo!
