I was just out setting our some more Ball traps for the olive flies.  We have 43 olive trees, most in the ground now 10 to 18 years; 8 just acquired yet to plant.  These new ones are Spanish and Greek varieties; the older ones are all Tuscan.

Watering is perhaps the biggest issue this time of year.  I just started watering last week, the orchards, which involves checking all drippers and drip lines. There are always repairs necessary, usualy nothing big.  This year, besides the numerous drippers, there was a new line under the mulch that gophers had punctured in 2 places and a 3/4” pbc line with a crack in it.  And some of the relatively young valves I put in 5 or 6 years ago, and breaking rather than turing, to open and close.  So I an starting to replace those.  I went to hand-operated gate valves for our 20 or so irrigation lines, having no confidence in the electronic automatic drip system - mostly because you have to check the line and drippers most every time you turn it on, so automatic doesn’t work.   Also, depending on rain and heat, there are different demands n different lines and even on the same line, depending on weather, soil, compost, gophers, mulch, and what the seasonal rainfall has been.

Cherries just finished.  Delicious.  Blueberries are starting to ripen.  Plums and avocados, at times are best producers, were nothing this year.

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