A drive to Los Banos to visit an old friend opened my eyes to the abundance of the agricultural haven that was once the Santa Clara valley. Why must a place change so radically?
Beautifully written piece on CA agriculture then (Silicon Valley) and now - in the Central Valley. Robin Chapman is a good writer. I used to work with her mom Faye in Civil Engineering at Stanford.
Although San Mateo was not part of the Valley of Hearts Delight, we did grow
a Blenheim apricot tree in our backyard when I was a kid. On the day the fruit was ripe - all of it waited for a warm day to ripen all at once) we picked it and stayed up all night canning. My mother hated this but Dad was an apricot nut. He made the best apricot ice cream in San Mateo from the squishy pulp.
During WWII he spent a vacation or two picking apricots around Sunnyvale. One year he ate so many on the job that the foreman had to bring him him home, he was so sick.
The orchard by the Sunnyvale Community Center has a Blenheim apricot orchard and sells them when ripe for a small fortune. Worth it!
Beautifully written piece on CA agriculture then (Silicon Valley) and now - in the Central Valley. Robin Chapman is a good writer. I used to work with her mom Faye in Civil Engineering at Stanford.
Although San Mateo was not part of the Valley of Hearts Delight, we did grow
a Blenheim apricot tree in our backyard when I was a kid. On the day the fruit was ripe - all of it waited for a warm day to ripen all at once) we picked it and stayed up all night canning. My mother hated this but Dad was an apricot nut. He made the best apricot ice cream in San Mateo from the squishy pulp.
During WWII he spent a vacation or two picking apricots around Sunnyvale. One year he ate so many on the job that the foreman had to bring him him home, he was so sick.
The orchard by the Sunnyvale Community Center has a Blenheim apricot orchard and sells them when ripe for a small fortune. Worth it!