The spring is almost over here in the Guadalhorce Valley as the daily temperatures are now regularly between 20°C and 25°C. The trees on our farm have now been in flower for almost a month and the bees have been super busy collecting nectar which means they've done an amazing job at pollinating the blossoms. If you stand at the top of the hill and look down over the treetops it's like watching yellow-green waves -- there's so many blossoms on each avo branch that at times the groves look almost like a golden-green sea.
It's been a wet spring, thank goodness. After last year's low rainfall, this winter turned out to be fantastic for rain in the lowlands (where we are) and snow fall in the mountains behind our farm. This has resulted in the reservoirs filling right up and the aquifers replenishing with water. We rely entirely on well-water to irrigate the plants on the finca, so a good wet winter and spring means we'll have more than sufficient water during the hot summer months ahead. It's also good for the trees to get washed down with rain water as sand from the recent Calima storms that reached us from Africa a couple of weeks ago left a dirty film on the leaves inhibiting photosynthesis.
Over the last week I've started to see tiny avocados on the trees. These are going to be this year's crop of hass, bacon and fuerte avocados. We've also finished planting the new lemon seedlings, so they'll need extra care during the next six months. We're making sure they get plenty of water and all the nutrients they need in order to grow sturdy trunks and strong branches before the winter colds risk harming them next winter season.