Field Trip!
Field Trip!
BY ON APR
Do you remember the good old days in school when you got to break out of the confines of your everyday classroom and get out on a field trip? Were these anyone else’s absolute favorite days? Well, given our current state of things, we here at Cobram Estate thought it might be nice to go on a bit of a virtual field trip out to our Californian groves! Even though we are all inside working, the plants are still living their lives and blossoming and pushing growth in this beautiful spring weather we are having in the Central Valley of California. So make sure you get your parents to sign your permission waver and get buckled up for a lovely mini-tour of Cobram Estates USA’s flagship grove: Debo!
Stop number one on the trip: Almond Blossom
These photos were taken mid-February during this magical time. If anyone is familiar with the Central Valley, then you probably know how many almond groves there are and how beautiful it is when all the trees bloom and you can hear the busy buzzing of the bees hard at work pollinating. On our way to Debo, there are numerous almond orchards and the photos below are of our neighbors. There is just something about the uniformity of the tree spacing and the delicacy of the pale pink blossoms which grabs your attention as you drive by. Look at that little honey be go!
Stop number two: Debo
To get out to the grove from the almond orchard, you follow a small, barely paved road into the rolling Dunnigan Hills. After a couple of minutes of winding road through fig trees, pine trees (can you say hello Greece?) and over a bridge, you come to Debo. The trees are planted on the rolling hills to take advantage of the natural breeze for pollination, and they are panted in the more traditional medium density fashion, meaning that the trees are more spaced out than most groves in California. This allows for much better light penetration into the canopy and less competing for natural resources, resulting in happier, healthier trees and yummier EVOO!
Looks like we might have missed a few olives out there last harvest! Whoops!
Nothing like the first push of grass after winter.
Look at these little blossom shoots beginning to push out. Olive blossom occurs in May, but we may be a bit earlier this year!
Last stop on the field trip: California poppies!
These beautiful flowers have been the California state flower since 1903 and yesterday (April 6th) was actually California Poppy day! We love having this native flower scattered through our groves, giving beautiful pops of color and encouraging the pollinators to take advantage of the natural diversity of plants and flowers. Plus, they are absolutely gorgeous but that is just a bonus!
Thank you all so much for joining us on this little trip outside. I’m sure you, like us here, can’t wait to get back to a bit of normalcy, but this is such a good opportunity to reflect on past adventures and plan new exciting ones! See you all out there once this all passes!