Besides being the most graceful fruit-bearing tree, the Date Palm is one of the most valuable. Few trees grow to be as tall or provide such a cornucopia of fruit. They are also infused with the power to resist heat and drought and are probably the oldest tree...
Our peaches are picked when they are firm and put right into a hydro-cooling bath. Washing accomplishes two things. First, it removes field dirt and cleans the peach fuzz. At the same time, the cold water “sets” the peach, arresting its tendency to continue...
Most of the wild rice that is available in grocery stores is similar to brown rice grown in rice paddies. It cooks uniformly, and is consistently the same year after year because it is cultivated rice. This type of rice is actually a hybrid developed by the University...
The Pistachio tree is subtropical and hardy. It thrives in high desert climates where the summers are long, hot, and dry, and the winters only moderately cold. This summer in California is especially hot and dry. The pistachio most likely originated in Central Asia,...
It was a very cold winter on the Oregon ranch where our sheep live. There was enough snow to have kept the sheep pent up in the barn–a cozy place that can be boring after a long spell. During the cold weather months “baa” sounds like their way of saying “brrr” or,...
