When the Almond Tree Blooms

I fell in love with oak trees on a chilly day in January 2011. I was visiting friends in Davis and decided to explore. I decided to check out the arboretum and eventually happened upon the oak collection. UC Davis Oak Collection UC Davis Oak Collection At that moment in my life, I had no home, no job, and no plan. I was bouncing around Northern California, from San Francisco down to Santa Cruz and then up to Davis. I was feeling a lot of stress from being transient, trying to find some direction in my life. When I began wandering the path through the oaks, admiring the stately trees, with their various forms and leaf shapes, I felt at peace. It was not long after that I decided to stay in Yolo County, with the dream of studying something related to agriculture at UC Davis. Although my plan didn’t work out quite as I imagined, I remained enchanted by those oak trees. UC Davis Oak Collection UC Davis Oak Collection California has many endemic oak species, and d...

I want to share some news with those of you still read this long-neglected blog: I got a job.   After I finish my Master of Professional Accountancy at UC Davis this June, I’ll be working full time for the California State Auditor in Sacramento.   I received the job offer and accepted it back in February; I meant to share this sooner but was deeply involved in my classes until I finished finals last week.     UC Davis Sunset When I took my first accounting course over two years ago, this isn’t where I imagined I’d end up.   I became interested in accounting through agriculture.   At first I knew little about what a CPA does and whether or not that’s what I wanted to become.   I figured I could take a couple more accounting classes and find a job at some farm business in the area, where hopefully I’d get a little hands-on accounting experience.   At the beginning of 2012 I realized I needed to leave the farm.   I’d had enough...

On the last day of 2011, three brave souls--Katy, Evan and Rawley--came with me for a farm tour at Pleasant Grove Farm.  Here's a little of what we saw: Grain Bins, Christmas Tree, Fuel Tanks Katy, Evan and Rawley do their thing on the catwalk Seed Cleaner Inside the seed cleaning mill Rawley on an old land grader Old electric well motors--may be where R2D2 is from Parts from cultivating implements The old parts (not junk!) yard John Deere CTS Rice Combine Tractors enjoying their 2 week farm vacation Rawley getting ready to harvest some rice...it's gonna be a long wait Corn Harvester This machine spends 3 months harvesting and 9 months as a very expensive cat perch Tractors and combines The Pleasant Grove Farm Machine Shop The Sutter Buttes to the north Harvesting the last bits of rice ' 'Winter' Wheat We celebrated the New Year together at Katy and Evan's farm in Esparto, eating tamales, black eyed...