California stone fruit season begins
The California stone fruit season has already kicked off for Kingsburg Orchards in their Kettleman region ranches in Kingsburg. Harvest began this past Monday with yellow peaches, yellow nectarines, and white peaches and by the end of the week, they hope to start with apricots.
“These last couple of months the weather has been extremely favorable. Perfect springtime weather for our fruits to develop. Not a lot of rain, not too cold or hot, which has resulted in an excellent flavor, quality, and sizing. This is some of the best fruit we have ever seen in the early season. It is very similar to what we see mid-season,” Chad Allred with Kingsburg Orchards explains.
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021. BY XERCES SOCIETY.
Monarch butterfly larvae. (Photo: Charlie Starr IV)
Many insect pollinators are declining in California, including bees and butterflies. The Western monarch population has declined 99.9% since the 1980s, likely due to multiple factors including habitat loss and degradation, pesticides, and climate change. One important step we can take to protect these important animals is to increase the amount of habitat available to these species. To this end, The Xerces Society is offering habitat kits that contain climate-smart native plants to project partners who are willing to provide the time, labor, and land to develop habitats that support monarchs and other pollinators in California.