Depending on the variety, almonds are ready to harvest from the beginning of August to the end of September. Harvesting should begin when about 95 percent of the nuts have shells that have been opened to expose the shelled almond inside. The hull split starts at the top of the tree and progresses downwards. If you want to know when to harvest almonds, Drupa itself will tell you.
When the drupes are ripe, they open and, over time, fall from the tree. This usually happens during August or September. A safe bet is to start choosing when you see that most (around 75%) of your drupes have started to split. This usually occurs during August or September, depending on the almond variety.
From August to October, mechanical tree shakers harvest the crop by shaking it vigorously to the ground. Protected by their outer shells and shells, almonds are naturally dried under the warm California sun for 7 to 10 days before being swept in rows by a “sweeping machine.”. After that, a harvester or “harvesting machine” goes over the rows and sucks the nuts into a cart that takes them to the edge of the orchard to transport them to the next stop on their trip. Harvest almonds late August through September.
Depending on the variety and growing conditions, you can start harvesting nuts in 2 to 4 years. Knock or shake the tree nuts when the hooves are fully opened. After shaking the walnuts to the ground, let them sit for 2 to 3 days to dry out a little in the sun. The drying process is completed when the nuts rumble in their shells and the grain breaks instead of folding.
After sweeping or raking the dried almonds from the ground, remove the shells from the shell, and then remove the nuts from the shell. Day by day, a drupe (shells) of almonds opens completely and its color changes from green to yellowish. This is the right time to harvest, the almonds are ripe and ready, they will look like in the photo below. If you don't take them now, very soon, they'll fall off the tree and eventually rot.
Between mid-February and mid-March, almond blossom buds burst into beautiful white and light pink flowers. When bees move from one tree to another, they pollinate almond blossoms along the way by moving pollen between the different varieties of trees that grow within each orchard. Depending on the size of your tree, you can pick it up manually or, in case you have a lot of almonds, shake the branches of the trees so that the nuts fall to the ground. In my next post, I'll show you what are the best storage options for shelled almonds and also how to peel almonds at home.
It can take five to twelve years for an almond tree to start producing almonds, but a mature almond tree can usually produce fruit for up to twenty-five years. Shelled almonds can happily last up to 8 months at room temperature, or shelled for about a year cooled to 32-45°F (0-7°C). Almond shells are used as bedding for livestock and shells are a valuable dairy food, with ongoing research exploring potential new uses in the areas of recycled plastics, fuel and regenerative agriculture. Almond pollen and nectar stored in the hive during flowering is an important source of food that bees use during the spring and summer months.
Although there are some slightly technical things you should know about harvesting and storage, collecting your own almonds is really a simple and easy process. Almond harvesting takes place from August to October in California, depending on the type of almond tree and the climate in the specific location where the trees are grown. If you have trouble removing them, stop picking almonds with your hands and use pruning shears to cut the stems just above the drupes. Protected by their outer shells and shells, almonds spend 7 to 10 days bathing in the California sun.
Almond trees require specific conditions, similar to those in the Mediterranean, to produce fruit, and that limits the areas in which they can be grown around the world. From November to January, almond trees go through a period of inactivity, shed their leaves and relax in cold, humid California winters. . .
